It seems easy to blame lack of possession (i.e. negative tactics) on Madrid’s defeat against Barcelona but numbers don’t tell the whole story. In fact, as Castrol EDGE Performance data shows, one of Real Madrid’s main problems in both the league and Champions League this season has been poor finishing in front of goal – i.e. their conversion rate.
On Wednesday night at the Bernabéu Real Madrid fired in 10 shots (including blocked) to Barcelona’s 11, yet ended up losing the game as they were unable to convert any of these into goals. This season the merengues have had more shots than any team in the Champions League, but have converted only 14% of these into goals, compared to 17% for Barcelona.
Champions League in 2010/11 – Teams in last eight
|
Team Name |
Total Shots Attempted |
Goals to Shots Ratio |
||
|
Shakhtar Donetsk |
88 |
21.6% |
||
|
Tottenham Hotspur |
91 |
20.9% |
||
|
FC Schalke 04 |
110 |
19.1% |
||
|
Barcelona |
152 |
17.1% |
||
|
Internazionale |
122 |
14.8% |
||
|
Real Madrid |
171 |
14.0% |
||
|
Manchester United |
108 |
13.0% |
||
|
Chelsea |
157 |
10.8% |
||
Of the teams to reach the last eight, only the two English sides Chelsea and Manchester United have had a lower chance conversion rate than Real Madrid, while half of the sides have converted at least 17% of their efforts. Part of the problem can perhaps be attributed to Cristiano Ronaldo, who on Wednesday was responsible for eight of Real Madrid’s 10 shots. This season only Didier Drogba has had a lower chance conversion rate in the Champions League
Lowest conversion rate – Champions League 2010/11 (min 20 shots)
|
Player Surname |
Team |
% shots from Outside Box |
Goals to Shots Ratio |
||
|
Eto’o |
Internazionale |
30.4% |
34.8% |
||
|
Anelka |
Chelsea |
38.5% |
26.9% |
||
|
Messi |
Barcelona |
27.9% |
25.6% |
||
|
Borriello |
Roma |
9.5% |
19.0% |
||
|
Di María |
Real Madrid |
45.0% |
15.0% |
||
|
Rooney |
Manchester United |
47.8% |
13.0% |
||
|
Sneijder |
Internazionale |
69.2% |
11.5% |
||
|
Villa |
Barcelona |
19.2% |
11.5% |
||
|
Ronaldo |
Real Madrid |
62.3% |
11.3% |
||
|
Drogba |
Chelsea |
38.5% |
7.7% |
||
The Portuguese’s conversion rate of 11.3% is only above Didier Drogba’s of these players. This is perhaps linked to the proportion of his shots that come from outside the box (62.3%): all but one of the other nine players in the list have had at least half of their shots from inside the area.
Also See:
Busquets’ Passing Skills More Important To Barcelona Than His Acting Skills
UEFA versus Real Madrid and Barcelona
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