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Matchday 30

Quality recoveries & build-up play that offers guarantees

This video illustrates how recoveries can be distinguished not only in terms of their effectiveness, but also their quality. Barcelona record the fourth-most advantageous recoveries in the league, i.e. situations that involve a numerical advantage and where the side in possession has more players ahead of the ball than the opposition.

Given the importance of build-up play in the system deployed by Xavi’s troops, the team’s set-up at the start of the attacking transition is key. This video shows how the Barcelona players react in these situations. It’s worth pointing out that 15% of the Catalan giants’ recoveries put them at an advantage.

It’s your Game

Matchday 12

Valencia CF

2 - 0

Villarreal CF

SÁB 30.10.2021

16:30

Season 2021/2022

Camp de Mestalla

Atlético de Madrid

3 - 0

Real Betis

DOM 31.10.2021

15:15

Season 2021/2022

Riyadh Air Metropolitano

Real Sociedad

1 - 1

Athletic Club

DOM 31.10.2021

20:00

Season 2021/2022

Reale Arena

Sevilla FC

2 - 0

CA Osasuna

SÁB 30.10.2021

14:15

Season 2021/2022

Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán

Atlético de Madrid

3 - 0

Real Betis

DOM 31.10.2021

15:15

Season 2021/2022

Matchday 12

Riyadh Air Metropolitano

Defensive contention up against intricate build-up play

The Wanda Metropolitano is set to play host to a meeting of two excellent teams who are in fine fettle and have amassed the same number of points so far this term. Atletico Madrid come into the game in second spot in the LaLiga Santander standings for total distance covered and are top of the class when it comes to defensive containment and the number of shots taken by the opposition. Diego Simeone’s troops manage to be solid defensively without relinquishing any of their attacking menace and are the division’s top dogs when it comes to shots taken by the opposition, whilst lying amongst the top five for shots taken.

Another aspect of the Madrilenians’ game that’s well worth highlighting and that once again relates to their defensive endeavours is the small size of their convex hull when out of possession, which speaks volumes of the team’s effort in the defensive phase. Indeed, Atleti’s convex hull without the ball is amongst the fifth smallest in the division.

Matchday 12 pits the Colchoneros against a Real Betis side that has managed to strike the right balance in all areas of the pitch so far this term. The Andalusians rank as one of the top five teams in terms of passes per possession and one of the top three performing sides when it comes to the attacking build-up phase. The Sevillians are third in terms of possession that ends in the final third and are sitting pretty in second when it comes to shots taken per game.

 

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It’s all about passing, dribbling and shooting for Pellegrini

Betis create chances and put them away, it’s as simple as that. The Andalusians are the league’s pacesetters on carries that lead to shots. The Verdiblancos are solid in possession and accurate with their passing. Indeed, Manuel Pellegrini’s men are amongst the leading sides in the convex hull stakes when in possession. Playing over a wider area promotes ball circulation due to the fact that there is greater spacing between players and more space in which to play. This is one facet that the Betis boss works on to ensure that his men take full advantage of their on-field positioning.

In contrast, Atletico’s game is focused on sound defensive foundations and they top the pressing after losing the ball standings as they aim to win the ball back as quickly as possible. When they’re unable to regain possession, one tactic that we’ve seen on countless occasions in recent years from El Cholo’s recruits involves them forming a compact unit in front of their goal to successfully cut off spaces in the inside channels. Indeed, when out of possession, the team boasts one of five smallest convex hulls in the league.

PLAYER FOCUS

Luis Suarez, the insatiable fox in the box

No shortage of column inches have been dedicated to the Uruguayan hitman’s playing style, talent and countless qualities. He has opened the current campaign just as he ended the last: scoring goals and acting as a focal point in the Atleti frontline. Suarez currently lies level with Mikel Oyarzabal in second spot in the LaLiga Santander scoring charts. He’s a key part of Simeone’s starting line-up week-in, week-out and has chalked up more high-impact actions than any of his teammates. He has also chipped in with one assist and occupies a top-10 berth for the number of shots taken across the division. His work ethic and quality mean that he is closely marshalled by opposition defences and it’s little wonder that he’s the most tightly marked player within the Atletico ranks, with opponents stationed an average of 3.07m away from the deadly frontrunner when he receives the ball. There’s just no stopping this tireless goal-getter!

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Metric of the Week

Matchday 30

Find out the meaning of each metric

Number of players involved per possession offers clear indication of team’s style

There are a number of ways in which a team’s possession can be defined, with the number of players involved in them being one of the methods that we analyse. This criteria measures how many team members touch the ball during the course of an attacking transition. Teams whose game involves more intricate build-up play and possessions typically feature more players per possession.

As this video illustrates, Real Madrid are the LaLiga Santander champions for the number of players involved per possession, with an average of 3.67 per outing.

HOW IT'S MADE

Beyond Stats offers incredible metrics which go beyond the ordinary in the football industry: it does not limit itself to gathering the data normally used for the standard analyses that reach fans, but goes one step further, collecting a vast amount of in-match information, almost in real time, thanks to LaLiga’ s Mediacoach proprietary tool, that is capable of revealing new perspectives on the game at a deeper level, allowing patterns to be traced and future predictions to be made. 

In every LaLiga stadiums we have up to sixteen high-resolution, fixed perimeter cameras for optical tracking which follow the positions of the players, referees, and the ball on the field of play, collecting the physical and technical/tactical data at the dizzying rate of 25 times a second. These devices permit the integration, through the Mediacoach analysis tool, of two technologies: tracking and eventing. Tracking is based on the positional information collected by the stadium perimeter cameras and allows for the generation of metrics such as distance covered, top and average speeds, and number of sprints. Eventing allows more objective events to be recorded: number of passes, corners, and fouls committed and received, for example. The information captured through tracking and eventing is integrated and stored in the system forming a high-volume set of data. 

The raw data collected is processed for analysis by a multidisciplinary team composed of LaLiga experts in business intelligence & analytics and football analysis, through machine learning and artificial intelligence processes made possible thanks to the Azure technology supplied by Microsoft, which is capable of processing large volumes of data. After processing, an algorithm is generated that permits the visualisation of the metrics that reach fans through Beyond Stats. These statistics allow fans to better understand why their team has won or lost a match, or to benefit from a panoramic view of their performance and expectations, gifting football fans an unprecedented immersion in the experience.