Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

Dangerous recoveries are key to Ancelotti’s system

Last time out, in their meeting with Sevilla, Real Madrid chalked up no fewer than eight dangerous recoveries. This tally places the Merengues top of the pile in this department in the last matchday, while they occupy sixth position when we take the statistics from the whole season into account.

Dangerous recoveries refer to those made when a team has more players in front of the ball than the opposition. Such scenarios result in numerical and spatial advantages that can improve a team’s chances of recording attempts on goal.

We can see in this clip how Vinicius Jr makes a dangerous recovery and there is just one opponent between him and the goal when he wins the ball back. Incidentally, this particular move culminated in Luka Modric’s goal.

Remarkable Coach

Rayo use width well in possession

When Rayo Vallecano are on the ball, they rank as the division’s bridesmaids in terms of team width. Andoni Iraola’s charges feature in second place when it comes to the area covered in the attacking phase. The Vallecas-based side’s width offers them greater space and passing options, as clearly reflected in this video. However, this is not the only area in which the capital club excel, with Rayo the top-performing team for the number of carries that beat the opposition’s midfield line (almost four per game). When these carries are performed at high intensity, their success rate is enhanced and this is very often the case, given that Los Franjirrojos feature amongst the league’s top five teams for actions completed at over 24km/hr.

Although we have so far shone the spotlight on Rayito’s build-up play, we must also draw attention to their impressive defensive transitions, with Iraola’s troops lying in second spot for the number of recoveries per minute, i.e. the recovery rate.

Key Player

Sharpshooter Leon is the name on everyone’s lips

Real Valladolid are currently enjoying one of their best runs of the season. We have to go all the way back to 2008 for the last time El Pucela recorded back-to-back wins on their own patch and Sergio Leon has had a big hand in setting that record straight after netting three times in the team’s last two home outings. However, not only is the frontman excelling in terms of the Castile and Leon-based outfit’s statistics, he is also performing supremely in the divisional stakes. He ranks third in LaLiga for the number of attempts on target (2.3 per match) and it is particularly striking that he posts 2.8 attempts per game, which means that virtually all of his attempts are on target. His shot conversion rate also situates him amongst the league’s top 15 players.

The Match up

Creative forces collide as Valencia host Barcelona

Gennaro Gattuso’s Valencia just cannot seem to manage to put a positive run of results together and this weekend they prepare to welcome a Barcelona side who excel on carries that beat the opposition’s midfield line, as we can see in this video. The Valencians, meanwhile, lie in seventh place in this particular ranking. However, if we look more closely at the teams’ carries, we can see that there is parity between the high-impact carries, with the Matchday 12 opponents both amassing 2.5 per game to place them in fourth and fifth place respectively.

However, it is well worth focusing on another aspect of both sides’ game: the defensive phase and more specifically on recoveries. The two teams have bagged places on the Spanish top-flight podium for dangerous recoveries. Los Che amass six per game, whilst the Azulgranas post almost seven per outing. The success of many attacking moves is largely dependent on the type of recovery, with dangerous recoveries representing highly advantageous situations.

Remember his name

Camello is top of the class at Rayo

When we look at Sergio Camello’s statistics, we can see that he occupies top spot virtually across the board in the Rayo team charts. He leads the way for high-intensity carries and the same applies to the number of attempts (almost three per game). The up-and-coming starlet is also the standout performer when it comes to attacking depth, i.e. he boasts the highest percentage of passes in the final third.

The balance between Camello’s tactial statistics and his physical performance really catches the eye. Indeed, he claims a spot on the Rayo podium for the distance covered at over 21km/hr. This speaks volumes of the quality and intensity of a player who has been earning rave reviews this term.

Metric of the week

Actions completed at over 24km/hr

The modern game is played at a high tempo and FC Barcelona, who are top dogs for the number of actions completed at above 24km/hr, are no stranger to that fact.

This metric assesses a player’s ability to complete actions at over 24km/hr. Such actions offer a club’s coaching staff crucial information when it comes to analysing a player’s physical performance and fitness, as well as monitoring player loads and reducing the risk of injury.

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.