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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.

Dato de la Semana ENG

It’s your Game

Matchday 28

Atlético de Madrid

2 - 1

Cádiz CF

FRI 11.03.2022

20:00

Season 2021/2022

Riyadh Air Metropolitano

Levante UD

1 - 1

RCD Espanyol de Barcelona

SAT 12.03.2022

13:00

Season 2021/2022

Estadio Ciutat de València

FC Barcelona

4 - 0

CA Osasuna

SUN 13.03.2022

20:00

Season 2021/2022

Spotify Camp Nou

RCD Mallorca

0 - 3

Real Madrid

MON 14.03.2022

20:00

Season 2021/2022

Estadi Mallorca Son Moix

FC Barcelona

4 - 0

CA Osasuna

SUN 13.03.2022

20:00

Season 2021/2022

Matchday 28

Spotify Camp Nou

Xavi continues to build expectation levels

There is no mistaking that Barcelona’s game has changed. There are a series of factors that have led to this evolution in a style that continues to be based on positional build-up play, whilst possession remains a prominent feature. The first aspect that we wish to highlight is the team’s press following a turnover, which is central to the recoveries made in the opposition’s half. Only one top-flight team outperform the Catalan giants when it comes to the number of players involved in the press after a turnover (an average of three), whilst the Azulgranas are the league’s bridesmaids in terms of the number of players involved in each possession. This contributes to ensuring that Barça’s attacking transitions involve a goal threat, with Xavi’s troops ranked second in the top-tier standings for dangerous possessions, with over five per match.

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Arrasate contract renewal brings renewed hope at Osasuna

A large banner hung from a building in the centre of Pamplona a few days ago to announce that Jagoba Arrasate had renewed his contract at the club. The decision to reward the coach isn’t based exclusively on his commitment to the cause, but also owes to his on-field results and the team’s highly effective system. By way of example, this video demonstrates that an impressive 13% of the Rojillos’ recoveries are dangerous recoveries.

What’s more, no other side in the league is subject to as much pressure as the Navarrans, who are involved in the most double-pressure passes (almost 15 per match) in the division. Meanwhile, the boys from El Sadar lie second in the league table for the distance between their players and the opposition when they receive a pass. We mustn’t forget that despite these statistics, Osasuna continue to be one of the league’s biggest advocates of direct football and lie second in the division’s charts for the number of opponents beaten per pass.

PLAYER FOCUS

Dembele is top LaLiga Santander performer in build-up play

The trickery and pace that Ousmane Dembele offers in every move is clear for all to see and is reflected in many statistics. As illustrated in this video, the French wizard features amongst the top 15 players in the division for carries leading to shots, whilst he is also one of the league’s front runners in terms of the ground covered with these carries.

He also ranks amongst the division’s top 15 players for the number of passes in the final third (over 19) and is also one amongst the top performers for the number to attempts (over three per game). In short, he combines powerful carries with the ability to take shots and play passes in the danger zone.

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Metric of the Week

Matchday 30

Metric of the week 30 ENG

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.