This would have been LaLiga del Big Data 2021-22

LaLiga 2021-22 closed and left a classification that, like every season, places each one in their place according to the merits performed. But in today’s world, where data floods everything and football is no less, we can know the statistical performance of each team and thus develop a classification based on certain advanced metrics.

Specific, we will use six, each of which helps us answer various questions related to that performance. You have all these concepts more developed in this BRAND glossary of advanced analytics in footballbut summing them up a lot, they are and mean the following:

1. Expected Points (xP): the points that each team should have achieved based on the expected goals.
2. Expected Goals (xG): Probability of a shot ending in a goal based on the quality of the shot.
3. Expected Goals Against (xGA): are the expected goals but that a team receives from the rivals
4. The PPDA: are the passes allowed for each defensive action and serve to determine the level of defensive intensity of a team
5. The ODC: it is like the PPDA, but reduced to the last 18 meters. That is, the passes that he allows around his area or within it.
6. The pitch of the field: The percentage of possession a team has in a match, but only in terms of touches or passes in the attacking third.

Therefore, How should LaLiga have been 21-22 if we looked at these advanced statistics?

Expected Points

Based on the expected points we can state that Sevilla is the one that has made the most revenue since it has obtained 13 points more than expected. We remember that this is based on his offensive production, so it can be said that he has obtained great effectiveness in games where perhaps he did not generate as much.

The same thing happens to real Madrid, second in this classification. The whites they got 12.4 points more than they should. surprise the fourth place of Elche, whose offensive production is not the highest, but who knew how to get a slice of it. Under, Levante has gone to Second because its effectiveness has been very badhaving scored almost 18 points less than he should have.

Expected Goals

If we base the classification on the quality of the chances generated and how they have taken advantage of them, here too Sevilla would be the champion. Lopetegui's they have scored 6.2 goals more than expectedindicating his efficiency in the auction. Almost in similar numbers have been their neighbors, Betis.

Quite the opposite of the Basque teams, which have occupied three of the last four positions. Very bleeding is what Real Sociedad, which scored 16 goals less than it should. Surely there has been the difference between playing the Europa League and the Champions League.

Expected Goals Against

If we look at what happened from the point of view of the quality of the chances that the rivals generate for each team, Real Madrid has made the difference, where his defense, with Courtois at the helm, has shown his solvency. because the whites They have generated chances for them to have scored 46 goals and they have conceded 31. They are 15 fewer.

In this classification, a team that has always been characterized by its solidity at the back is surprising: Atletico Madrid. Simeone's they have conceded seven more goals than expected, being the worst team after Levante. Possibly this is where the difference of not being able to fight LaLiga against Madrid has been.

PPDA and ODC

Now we focus on defensive intensity level of the teams. The Barcelona He has not been faithful to his style in many aspects, but he has maintained the intensity in the pressure that characterizes him. And, in this sense, the culés have been the best, allowing just 7.4 passes on average before taking a defensive action.

The big surprise here is Real Madrid, which is the fourth that puts the least pressure. But that's not bad (this metric only defines the defensive style of the teams), since it was precisely when Ancelotti ordered the team to fall back and not be so intense that he began to make fewer defensive errors and widen his distance in the actual ranking.

On the other hand, if we focus that pressure on the last 18 meters, that's where Atlético is the most intense. He has only allowed 135 passes in that space all season.

field slope

Finally, the classification in relation to this metric tells us that Barcelona is not only the one that has accumulated the most possession in general throughout the season, but it is the one that has used it the most in the last third of the field, with 68% of his total possession.

Here it is normal to see a classification more in line with the real one, but there are also striking things, such as fifth place in the Celtic. Or the case of Athletic, who had as much possession time as his rivals, but was able to tilt the field slightly in his favor. That is, when he had the ball, he did it closer to the area than the opposite.

In this way, we have played with the new statistics that football is beginning to offer us to see how the teams have behaved. It has not been more than a fun way to see it, but deep down it is something that must be taken into account, because they tell us a lot about the performance of these throughout a season.