LALIGA makes real-time data the heart of every match with Surface Pro

LALIGA, a sports association based in Madrid and comprising 42 football clubs, is well-placed to understand the value of partnership. Just as players need to work together, communicate seamlessly, and make the right decisions on the fly, LALIGA knows how technology and people can work in partnership to support great results. “Over the last decade, LALIGA has stood out for its commitment to technology and innovation,” says Ricardo Resta, Mediacoach Project Director, LALIGA, citing examples of a dedicated business intelligence and analytics department and the launch of a global start-up competition to foster industry innovation.

The latest chapter in LALIGA’s ongoing drive to innovate? LALIGA EA SPORTS and HYPERMOTION chose Surface Pro for its first and second division clubs to access a wealth of data from anywhere and bring leading-edge technology to the sidelines of matches and practices. “The Surface Pro is an excellent device to help technical staff extract the full potential of data analysis from Mediacoach (a data analysis application), in the moment” adds Fabio Nevado, Mediacoach Football Analyst at LALIGA. By making the technology available to every club within the LALIGA family via Surface devices, LALIGA is boosting performance across the board and democratizing data for all its teams.

And, LALIGA has collaborated even further with Microsoft to create Beyond Stats, a fan-centered metrics platform that brings a stunning level of detail and access to fans around the world. “Giving fans the most cutting-edge experience deepens their loyalty, helps fill the stadiums, and instills a level of passion unseen in other sports,” says Alfredo Bermejo, Digital Strategy Director at LALIGA.

Consulting high quality data in the moment with Surface Pro 9

Resta describes three crucial moments when analyzing data on Surface Pro comes into play: before a match to align tactics and strategy, in real-time during a match to aid decision making, and after a match to analyze the match. Indeed, multiple stakeholders at LALIGA rely on Surface Pro, including coaches, assistant coaches, analysts, physical trainers, and medical staff.

Raúl Gallego, an analyst at Club Deportivo Alavés, uses Surface devices to analyze set pieces and goalie kicks, helping players and coaching staff anticipate their opponent's style of play. “With the Mediacoach application placed on the Surface Pro, we're able to show and demonstrate to players, in real time, how they defend, how they position themselves, so that they understand how to attack those defenses,” he says.

While the demand for real-time data and insights touches almost every role and phase of play, LALIGA staff didn’t always have the right hardware to access the data from anywhere. “Technological services and tools, and particularly those based on high quality data and video, require increasingly powerful and versatile equipment,” says Resta. “Today, the technical team can easily consult data during the match from the bench on their Surface Pro.”

Physical Trainer Sergi Perez, who works with the CA Osasuna, remembers the days of downloading matches from a server after the fact and waiting hours to review the footage. “The truth is that the evolution has been incredible,” he says, remarking on how the Surface Pro devices have helped solidify a modernization leap in how teams train. “The Surface is really helpful because it is very manageable, very light,” he says. “Being able to contrast the data with the image has been the big quality leap.”

The use of Surface Pro has also helped improve collaboration between LALIGA employees. Today, it’s easy to home in on the information that is relevant to them, and everyone remains aligned in real-time. Resta explains: “Each of the technical assistants can focus on a different aspect of the match: the set piece, tactical aspects, individual aspects. Using the highly accurate information they obtain, helps the coach in his decision making.”

State of the art hardware to help every club achieve more

Surface Pro has helped build a new, more connected culture for the 42 clubs (20 from EA SPORTS and 22 from HYPERMOTION). “We strongly believe one of the most important aspects for the individual and collective improvement of players and teams is knowledge,” explains Resta. LALIGA even hosts a series of seminars attended by technical staff from all the clubs to ensure that the application of data becomes a key part of how every club operates, with a particular focus on the live use of Surface devices during matches. “We are in constant contact with all the teams and users to provide training, support and help them get the most out of all the services,” says Resta.

By making data and hardware available to every club, LALIGA is bringing a wealth of knowledge, and potential improvements, to every corner of the business. “Making all these technologies and possibilities available to the teams puts them in a position to grow and improve the sporting and performance level of each one of them,” she adds. When every club is empowered to achieve more, all of LALIGA benefits. “This is how we plan to guarantee the growth and competitive improvement of LALIGA,” says Nevado.

Monitoring player health

LALIGA coaches rely on Surface devices to monitor player fatigue in real time and make data-driven decisions to protect players from potential injury. “During a match, LALIGA staff monitor physical performance live on Surface Devices,” explains Resta. “By consulting in real time all the data relating to distances covered at different intensities, the number and volume of efforts and speeds, they can make an informed decision about when to replace a player who has exceeded his effort thresholds and prevent possible injury.”

For LALIGA players, trainers, and coaches, Surface devices are the ever-present, ultra-portable access to that crucial data, from the sidelines of a match to a high-intensity training session. “The alliance with Microsoft and the use of Surface devices brought a new era for the way coaches access data,” says Resta. Yet, LALIGA is continuing to innovate with Microsoft to do even more. “Our partnership with Microsoft provided artificial intelligence and machine learning capacities which boosted the platform,” adds Resta. “We want to keep moving forward and deepening the performance improvements that we believe can be achieved with the help of latest Microsoft hardware and technology."