Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Direct attacking play is just the ticket for El Cholo’s Atleti

Atletico Madrid lie in fourth place in the LaLiga Santander standings for the number of forward passes per game, with the capital club chalking up an impressive 75% success rate in this department. This statistic goes a long way to explain the team’s direct attacking approach, which is mirrored in the following clip. However, we shouldn’t focus all of our attention on the direction of the passes, with the distance of these passes and the average number of opposing players beaten by the passes (almost three per pass) also representing key metrics.

The graphic features a radar that shows the direction of the passes based on the fact that the team’s own goal is on the left side and the opposing goal is on the right‑hand side. We can clearly see from the diagram that the majority of Atleti’s passes are played forward towards the opposition’s goal.

Remarkable Coach

Pellegrini’s high tempo Betis keep marching on

The Sevillians record an impressive ball circulation rate, ranking fifth in the league charts in this area, with an average of 15.4 passes per minute of possession. This metric measures the number of passes played per 60 seconds of possession. This is one of the hallmarks of Betis’s game, who show an impressive ability to combine to break through opposition lines and advance up the pitch.

Not only do Manuel Pellegrini’s men excel in terms of their intricate passing, they are also ruthless in front of goal. Indeed, the Andalusians are sitting pretty in fourth in the league table for the fewest number of shots required to score a goal.

Key Player

David Garcia has a head for heights

The Osasuna centre‑back has been head and shoulders above the rest in aerial duels for a number of years now. This season has been no different as he continues to excel at both club and league level. Indeed, Garcia features amongst the top 10 players in the division for the number of aerial duels. We are keen to shine the spotlight on the aerial duels he wins, which result in him retaining or recovering possession. As we can see from the graphic, it is not only close to his own goal that he stars in this department. He is also very effective in duels in and around the middle of the pitch and excels in the opposing penalty area. There can be no question that Garcia offers a fine example of the blueprint advocated by his coach, Jagoba Arrasate.

The Match up

Barcelona & Valencia collide in high stakes bout

Who would have possibly predicted that FC Barcelona’s form would nosedive in the space of just a few days? The team’s defeat last time out against Almería has left Xavi’s troops with plenty to think about. Despite that reverse, the team’s brand of football continues to offer the benchmark in the Spanish top flight. Meanwhile, Valencia have renewed hope under the new incumbent of the Mestalla hot seat, Ruben Baraja, following their win over Real Sociedad. The Catalan giants will be keen to tighten their grip on the top spot, whilst the Valencians are itching to haul themselves out of the dreaded drop zone.

If we compare the Matchday 24 opponents in statistical terms, we can see that Barcelona have the upper hand when it comes to dribbles, distance in possession, passes in the final third and attempts on goal. However, Valencia come out on top for distance covered out of possession and the number of crosses.

Remember his name

Gabri Veiga is earning his stripes

The fresh‑faced Celta Vigo starlet features amongst LaLiga’s top 10 goalscorers. While he is fully deserving of his place in that elite club, he is also excelling in other areas. The emerging goal‑getter has also landed a spot in the division’s top 10 for both attempts and attempts on target. As if that wasn’t outstanding enough, the attacking midfield ace strikes real fear into opposition backlines with the runs he makes to lose his markers and his carries. The graphic shows the areas of the goal where Veiga’s goals have hit the back of the net and where they’ve been scored from. He would appear to have a tendency for scoring in central and low areas of the goal and although most of his strikes have come from inside the box, he has also notched from outside of the area, as we can see from the arrows in the graphic.

Metric of the week

Successful crosses

Broadly speaking, crosses are long‑distance attacking passes that are played in from wide areas towards the opposing penalty area. We define a successful cross as one that reaches a team‑mate, thereby enabling a team to retain possession of the ball. Such crosses very often result in attempts on goal. As we can see in this footage, Girona FC are serial crossers, with many such deliveries resulting in attempts on goal for the Catalan outfit.

Beyond Stats ofrece métricas increíbles en la industria del fútbol: no se limita a recopilar los datos que se suelen usar para los análisis estándarque llegan a los aficionados, sino que va más allá, recopilando una cantidad ingente de información durante el partido, casi en tiempo real, gracias a la herramienta Mediacoach de LALIGA, que es capaz de revelar nuevas percepciones sobre el juego a un nivel más profundo permitiendo trazar patrones y obtener proyecciones de futuro.

Los datos brutos recogidos (Raw Data) son tratados para su análisis por un equipo multidisciplinar compuesto por expertos en Business Intelligence & Analytics y análisis futbolístico de LALIGA a través de procesos de Machine Learning e Inteligencia Artificial que se han hecho posibles gracias a la tecnología Azure que provee Microsoft, capaz de procesar grandes volúmenes de datos. Tras su tratamiento, se genera un algoritmo que permite la visualización de las métricas que llegan al aficionado por medio de Beyond Stats. Estas estadísticas permiten a los aficionados entender mejor por qué su equipo ha ganado un partido, lo ha perdido, o tener una visión panorámica de su rendimiento y expectativas, lo que permite una inmersión inédita en la experiencia del espectador de fútbol.

En todos los estadios de LALIGA encontramos hasta dieciséis cámaras perimetrales fijas de alta resolución para el tracking óptico que siguen en el terreno de juego la situación de jugadores, árbitros y balón, recogiendo datos físicos y técnico-tácticos a un ritmo vertiginoso de 25 veces por segundo.

“Encontramos hasta dieciséis cámaras perimetrales fijas de alta resolución para el tracking óptico”

Estos dispositivos permiten la integración, a través de la herramienta de análisis Mediacoach, de dos tecnologías: tracking y eventing. El tracking se apoya en la información de seguimiento recogida por las cámaras perimetrales del estadio, y permite elaborar métricas como las referidas a distancia recorrida, velocidad máxima y media, o número de sprints. Mediante el eventing se registran los eventos más objetivables: número de pases, córners, o faltas cometidas y recibidas. La información captada a través de tracking y eventing se integra y almacena en el sistema formando un conjunto de datos de gran volumen.