Beyond Stats

Fact of the week

High intensity is non-negotiable at Athletic

Right since the early weeks of the season, Athletic Club have excelled in the fitness stakes. As we can see in this week’s video, no team in the Spanish top flight have chalked up more highintensity actions, i.e. those performed at over 28km/hr, than the Bilbao-based outfit. What’s more, the Basques top the LaLiga Santander standings for actions performed at 21km/hr and 24km/hr. As we know, intensity is an aspect that helps us to explain Athletic’s performance in a number of other areas of the game. For example, Ernesto Valverde’s troops feature amongst the top five teams for the number of recoveries per minute. Meanwhile, the boys from San Mames secure the final place on the podium when it comes to containing the opposition, i.e., they are the division’s third topperforming side as far as limiting the opposition’s threat is concerned. This graphic displays Athletic’s highintensity actions performed in the final third.

Remarkable Coach

Xavi closes in on LaLiga crown after bagging top spots

FC Barcelona, who currently lead the way in the LaLiga standings, are very close to winning the league title after having recorded some mighty impressive statistics along the way. As well as registering high possession statistics, both overall and in the opposition’s half, the Camp Nou-based outfitare one of the leading teams in the buildup phase. Many players are involved in each of their possessions and they boast a highball circulation rate. The Catalan giants are the league’s bridesmaids for the number of passes per possession and the thirdbest team when it comes to the number of passes completed per minute.

As we can see in the video, carries are also one of the most frequently used tools employed by Xavi’s troops. Barcelona lie second in the LaLiga Santander charts for carries that break the opposition’s midfield line, which allow the Azulgranas to gain numerical advantages in the attacking phase.

Key Player

Tireless Borja Iglesias reaps rewards

Real Betis sharpshooter Borja Iglesias is one of the top three scorers in LaLiga Santander. The following graphic and video offer information about the nature of his goals. Interestingly enough, the Spaniard is one of the division’s top goalgetters, despite the fact that he does not feature amongst the leading players for attempts on goal, but crucially, his name is to be found amongst the top 10 players in the league for attempts on target. In other words, his shot conversion rate is very high, and he makes the most of his chances. He tops the Betis standingsfor the number of attempts on goal, attempts on target and theteam’s goal charts. He converts one in four attempts on goal, a return that places him top of the Verdiblancos’ ranking and eighth overall in the league.

The Match up

Atleti meet Betis in topofthetable tussle

This encounter looks set to have a big bearing on things towards the top end of the LaLiga Santander table, with Atletico Madrid keen to tighten their grip on third place and Betis out to secure the coveted fourth spot. Diego Simeone’s charges have posted some eyecatching statistics this term. The Rojiblancos occupy second position in the standings for ball circulation, i.e. the number of passes per minute, with over 17. The capital club land the final spot on the LaLiga Santander podium in terms of shot conversion. As for Real Betis, they also excel in the ball circulation stakes, occupying fifth place in this department. However, the Sevillians’ shot conversion rate isn’t as impressive as their Matchday 27 opponents, but they will be looking to the prolific Borja Iglesias to address theirdeficiencies in this area. The following video reflects Atletico’s impressive ball circulation rate.

Remember his name

Jet-heeled Balde is serial assist provider

The freshfaced wing-back has announced himself on the biggest stage in recent months and his statistics reflect his impressive emergence. Alejandro Balde has racked up more actions at over 21km/hr than any of his FC Barcelona teammates, while he is the runnerup in the team charts for actions completed at over 24km/hr and 28km/hr. Meanwhile, he also ranks second in the Barça standings for the top speed recorded this term in league games and eighth overall in the competition. Crucially, the youngster takes full advantage of his high intensity to create goalscoring chances and indeed leads the way in Barcelona’s assist charts. Balde’s ability to tee up his teammates is reflected in the video and graphic, which displays the positions where he provides assists that bothculminate in an attempt on goal or a goal.

Metric of the week

Highintensity carries

This category of carries can also be referred to as carries that result in an attempt on goal. Carries can be defined in many ways, given the vast number of characteristics they involve. These actions can vary in terms of their length and where on the pitch they take place, etc. In addition, we can also assess carries on the basis of the end result. For example, one category of carries are those that result in an attempt on goal. As we can see in this video, Real Sociedad lie in fifth place in the standings for the number of carries that result in an attempt on goal per game.

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.