The effects of ball possession in world class football

In search of the perfect game, Pascal Schichtel has immersed himself in the world of football data in his bachelor thesis. He aimed his research to find out whether success in professional football can be attributed to ball possession rates. Football games are particularly remembered for their striking difference of game balance and outcome. For example, in 2012 FC Barcelona lost a match 1¿2 to Celtic Glasgow¿s squad, who took advantage of their 47 seconds of possession in the second half to score a goal. How can such a divergence of game control and match result be justified? Are varieties of success and failure in any case to be expected or is success just independent from high possession figures? This study - based on a newly developed research design, the so-called Profit Value Model - will give answers.