With all this data, does football know too much about itself? 

FOOTBALL DATA: Odilon Kossounou of Bayer Leverkusen challenges Jamie Bynoe-Gittens of Borussia Dortmund. Pic: Christof Koepsel/Getty Images

Few things degrade quite so rapidly as the element of surprise, once exposed to the pressurised, accelerated conditions provided by elite soccer. In most cases, its half-life will extend no more than 90 minutes. Even in extreme, extenuating circumstances, it is unlikely to be more than twice that.

Two games — one at home, one away — is all that is required these days to know everything there is worth knowing about any given rival. Two games provide three hours of footage that an opposing manager and their coaching staff can mine for insights. They generate reams of data for analysts to pore over and pick through.