Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Marco Asensio’s effectiveness dominates the rankings

Asensio is capitalising on every single minute out on the field of play to amass a set of metrics that position him as one of the standout players in the squad. He is the Real Madrid player with the second highest percentage of shots ending in a goal, as seen in the video, but there is a lot more to it than that. He is also the player in the squad involved in the second highest number of high-impact attacking actions; second on goals per game, behind Benzema, with 0.6; second in terms of attempts on target; and second in the assist standings, with one every four games. And we can also highlight his creative endeavours, playing the fourth highest number of long passes for his team and boasting the fifth best dribbling stats. The graphic shows all the details of his goals. All of these figures are per-game averages, based on the number of minutes played.

Remarkable Coach

Pezzolano, a high-impact start

Real Valladolid have not lost a single game since the Uruguayan coach took charge of the team. They drew the first one and went on to win the second, against Villarreal. Their goalscoring rate has undergone a notable uptick, as have their goals conceded, mainly due to the initial 3-3 draw against Mallorca. They have upped the intensity of their play, spurred on by the incoming coach. In figures, we can highlight the change in high-intensity carries. On the last matchday, they were the team with the third highest number of this type of action in LaLiga Santander. In contrast, before Pezzolano was brought in, the team stood in a lowly 17th place. This is just one of the changes in the fresh approach, while maintaining the foundations of the good work done by Pacheta with the squad beforehand. In the video we can see how these actions are vital in creating goals.

Key Player

Iñaki Williams makes his mark again

The Athletic player scored both goals 3in his team’s victory in the derby against Real Sociedad. He has netted eight times this season, making him the top scorer for his side, level with Sancet and among the Top 15 of the competition as a whole. However, if there is one thing that sums up Williams’ play since the season started it is his intensity. He is one of the five LaLiga Santander players involved in the most actions at over 21, 24 and 28 kilometres per hour per game. To locate these actions and put them in context, we have prepared a graphic of the ones he produced against Real Sociedad in the latest match.

The Match up

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid, a LaLiga top three clash

If we focus on the numbers ahead of this match, we find two teams with fairly similar creative figures. Their stats are similar for both total shots and shots on target, although Atletico just pip their opponents to the post on the latter, while Barcelona are slightly ahead on total shots and the passes to create these chances. However, when it comes to regaining possession, focusing now on the defensive phase, we can pick out more differences. Atletico block more of their opponents’ shots, clear the ball more and cover a greater distance out of possession at over 21 km/h. These characteristic traits put Barcelona in the top spot and Atletico third in the table, just two points behind Real Madrid. What’s more, as we can see in the video, Atletico Madrid are the third team in terms of passes made per possession.

Remember his name

Taty Castellanos is not just his team’s top scorer

Goals are the end result of Castellanos’s play, but lots of shots precede them. He is the player in the team who unleashes the most shots, with almost three per match. This figure puts him in the Top 15 in LaLiga. He is also the Girona player with the most attempts on target. With his seven goals, he is the best player in his side in this department, and also on goals per game, at 0.29. In the video we can appreciate his influence on the game and his intensity when taking on chances.

Metric of the week

Percentage of shots on target

This is a way of measuring the qualitative performance of each team’s shooting. It tells us, in percentage terms, how many attempted shots are actually goal-bound. This figure can help us to understand a club’s ability to capitalise on their goalscoring chances. Taking Real Betis as an example, they are second, behind Real Sociedad, on the percentage of shots on target this season. 38.2% of shots by Pellegrini’s men are going in.

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.