Research

17 Nov Do Black Players Really Run More? A Scientific Examination of a Long-Standing Football Myth

Posted at 14:02h in Research

Last Thursday, during a guest lecture I gave at Stanford University’s “Science of MythBusters” course, we explored how scientific reasoning helps test long-standing beliefs by confronting them with rigorous data rather than intuition.A newly published study provides a clear example of this approach applied to...

11 Nov Do Real Madrid and FC Barcelona dominate because they keep the ball—or because they control the space?

Posted at 13:52h in Research

https://youtu.be/EFYyQPsNVkQ Football has long equated dominance with possession.But what if the real indicator of control isn’t how long you keep the ball, but how fast you can reach it? In collaboration between LaLiga’s Football Intelligence & Performance Department, the University of Zaragoza and the Universidad Rey Juan...

07 Nov Counter-Attack and Progression: The Two High-Sprint Phases that Win Matches

Posted at 13:55h in Research

High sprints = running faster than 24 km/h (not just >21 km/h). In LALIGA 24/25, the phases that demand them most are Counter-Attack (No.1) and Progression (No.3)—and the teams that win post more of them. The moment that decides matches Minute 70. 1–1. You can press after...

29 Oct “The Game Is Won in the Middle Third.”

Posted at 13:50h in Research

In football, control is often confused with possession. But data from LALIGA EA Sports 2024/25 suggest something more precise:it’s not about having the ball, but about where you have it. What the data tell us Using match-by-match data from every team in LALIGA EA Sports 2024/25, we...

24 Oct Automatic Detection of Defensive Inferiority: A Tracking-Based Proximity Network Model

Posted at 12:42h in Research

https://youtu.be/29g5fRImKMI Turning spatial structure into objective alerts — frame by frame. When a defensive line stretches five extra meters, the signal is subtle, then decisive: one defender becomes outnumbered locally, a passing lane opens, and the overload bites. This model turns that moment into data. It transforms...

16 Oct We Always Said Physical Data Don’t Predict Success. Until Now.

Posted at 12:04h in Research

For the first time, a physical metric mirrors the league table itself. The Assumption We All Shared Every coach, analyst and physical trainer has repeated it countless times: “Physical data don’t explain who wins football matches.” And for years, the evidence backed that up.Running more metres — total, above...