When I began exploring the advanced goalkeeping statistics available on FBref.com, I noticed an interesting pattern - goalkeepers in the Bundesliga seemed to play the ball outside of their box very frequently, while goalkeepers in the Serie A seemed to play the ball outside of their box relatively infrequently. The average number of actions that keepers in each of these leagues made outside of their respective pentalty areas in each of the last three seasons is illustrated in the plot below.

In the next plot, individual data points represent goalkeeper-year combinations. Although there are a few outliers in the Bundesliga, the plot shows quite clearly that these few points are not the only ones driving the difference. Goalkeepers in the Bundesliga in general play the ball further up the pitch and more frequently outside of their penalty areas than goalkeepers in the Serie A. This is almost surely the result of a combination of factors and the degree to which the cross-league differences are attributable to the keepers themselves is unclear. Nevertheless, the pattern is an interesting one.