Real Madrid are the most successful club in history and they are not afraid to go against the modern trends. With the first ever defence of a Champions League title, Los Merengues have seldom flown so high, and they used their wings to do so. They will try again in the European Super Cup against Manchester United. This is how Real Madrid reimagined the cross and brought it back as a deadly weapon.

Classic wingers might very well be the most entertaining artists of the game. Quick, agile, sometimes brilliant and often frustrating, there are few things better than yelling at your team’s winger from the stands for not getting past his marker even once, only to be swept off your feet minutes later by a breathtaking solo run. In the ideal scenario, this run is followed by a perfect cross and a header finding the net. These are the goals made possible by an individual artist out wide, who so often balances that fine line between utter madness and sheer genius.

But new tactical trends have left the classic winger an endangered species in Europe. New insights into efficiency in the game have led to whole new tactics on the flanks. As — on average — only 1 in 70 crosses actually result in goal celebrations, managers are finding new positions and new roles for players like Arjen Robben and Cristiano Ronaldo.

And it was Ronaldo who perfectly illustrated Madrid’s reimagination of the cross. In the 64th minute of the Champions League final, Modric delivered the ball from the touchline to Cristiano Ronaldo, who had escaped the attention of Juve’s defence with a clever run. The Portuguese’s cool right-footed finish not only decided the final in favour of the Spanish side, it also represented Madrid’s 40th goal resulting from a cross this season (in La Liga and the Champions League).

This remarkable statistic is proof that Real Madrid have found a way for the cross to be more than useful, even in modern football. Los Blancos are more effective when it comes to crossing than any other European team. In the Spanish, English, Italian, German and French leagues — the ‘big five’ — only 1.5% of crosses result in a goal. Real Madrid average 3.5%. That’s two extra goals per every 100 crosses, a difference that, at the end of the season, might just mark the difference between top of the table or best of the rest.

Looking at Real Madrid’s extraordinary efficiency from the flanks, one can only wonder how Zinedine Zidane’s outfit has managed this. Is it sheer individual class from players such as Ronaldo and Marcelo? Is it their position on the field, from where they send their passes? Is it a revolutionary tactical insight from Zidane? Or is it a mere lucky circumstance?

It’s high time to take a closer look at Real Madrid’s royal wings.

SET-PIECES

The first step in breaking down the subject is to categorise all forty goals scored by Real Madrid from crosses this season. It immediately offers an early explanation for Madrid’s successful wing-play: set-pieces. Madrid scored no less than sixteen goals this season from corners or free-kicks. With their exceptional deliveries, Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez are especially important to these goals. The finisher is quite often the header specialist, Sergio Ramos.

But even when leaving these sixteen goals out of consideration, Real Madrid’s statistics remain remarkable. No other team can come close to their 24 goals from crosses in open play. A further look at four characteristics of each of the plays leading up to those goals — position, moment, direction and speed — reveal a clear tactical plan.

POSITION

The pattern of runs shown on the field in the run-up to these goals hint to clear instructions for the players to follow whenever the ball makes an appearance on the wing. The first thing Real Madrid have done is to get rid of the age-old idea that, whenever this occurs, a striker needs to move to the near post and someone else to the far post. Instead, frontman Karim Benzema almost always moves away from the ball as soon as it is played out wide.

This triggers a number of mechanisms:

1. The winger on the ball has more time and space, as Benzema commits defenders with his run away from the ball.

2. The central defender closest to the ball is given a choice; he cannot both stay on the striker and cover the near-post area at the same time.

3. The striker ends up in the same zone as the winger from the other flank, allowing the option for Madrid to surprise the opponent by suddenly moving both players in the opposite direction.

4. Madrid players often manage to escape the attention of their markers by positioning themselves on their blind side, as it leaves the defenders unable to keep an eye on the ball and their opponent simultaneously.

In many cases, this results in a situation as shown above. Bayern defender Boateng finds himself isolated covering the near-post zone, leaving Benzema and Ronaldo in a ‘2-on-2’ with other centre back Javi Martinez and right back Philipp Lahm. In many of these ‘2-on-2’ situations, the Madrid-duo have the advantage, as Ronaldo easily trumps most wing-backs in terms of athleticism and physical strength;the same goes for Gareth Bale. All they have left to do is a quick position-swap between Ronaldo and Benzema, and the Portuguese is free to put it in the net.

This movement pattern is easily recognizable in the video above. Pay close attention to James Rodriguez’s run in the build-up to the goal. As soon as he sees the ball being delivered to Dani Carvajal on the flank, the playmaker moves away from the ball to the centre of the pitch. One of the defenders gestures for someone else to pick him up, but it’s too late, as the high-paced Madrid attack now outnumber the defence four to three in the box. Before the defence has a chance to catch up, Rodriguez heads home the cross coming in from the right.

In other situations, instead of crossing from the flank, Madrid benefits by passing the ball into the space close to the winger, created by the clever running pattern. With gifted players such as Ronaldo, Bale, Isco, Marco Asensio and James Rodriguez, just a square metre of space can be enough for them to strike. Those goals are not included in the 40 goals scored from crosses this season by the Spanish side, underlining Madrid’s efficiency from the wing.

MOMENT

Besides getting the position right, Madrid have excellent timing, too. They do not randomly pump crosses into the box, hoping for a lucky coincidence. Instead, they wait for the right opportunity. With the vast majority of Real Madrid’s goals from crosses, the man on the wing had both enough time and space for a perfect delivery, instead of forcing a cross under pressure from a defender.

Two regularly occurring situations are most noticeable when taking a closer look at the timing of the crosses. The first is the early cross, surprising the opponent before he is close enough to block. The second is to use quick ball circulation to create space near the touchline for the wing-back to receive and cross the ball. It is no wonder that wing-backs Dani Carvajal (6), Marcelo (5), Danilo (1), Nacho (1) and Fabio Coentrão (1) are together responsible for 14 of the 24 assists from crosses in open play.

These tactics demand discipline from the players positioned on the flank. Whenever, for example, Marcelo is facing heavy marking, he needs to get the ball back into midfield instead of forcing a run under pressure. It is then up to architects Luka Modric and Toni Kroos to quickly move the play to the other flank, taking maximum advantage of the space there.

DIRECTION

Where attributes such as position and timing are fairly trainable, choosing the right direction for your cross more heavily depends on the situation. It is the context — mostly the defence’s response to the events on the pitch — that decides what the best option is. This leads to a mixture of low crosses, high ones to the far post, or a fast cross to the middle of the box.

The direction of Madrid’s crosses are consistent in that they almost exclusively end in the six-yard-area. This makes sense, as even the most gifted headers do not usually score from further out. The right positioning and timing need to be constructive factors in creating a situation in which the ball can be received in this particular zone.

An interview with Luka Modric, after the Champions League final against Juventus, indicated that Zinedine Zidane does give his players the necessary guidelines, even for crossing directions. ‘Juve’s defence is excellent with high crosses, but not so much with the low ones,’ said the Croatian playmaker. ‘We worked on it in training and scored three out of four goals that way. Compliments to the coach for analysing this detail. It made the difference in the final.’

SPEED

Pace is the final crucial factor in Real Madrid’s wing play. To effectively run and free yourself up to score from a cross is a tough job against a well organised defence, and acceleration, strength and jumping ability are essential. Cristiano Ronaldo is the master in this respect, scoring no less than nine goals from crosses this season by sprinting away and leaving a defender in his dust. Alvaro Morata (6) and Karim Benzema (5) have also shown themselves to be quite gifted at this, too.

Pace is, in more than one respect, the crucial factor in their efficiency from the flanks. Madrid’s Galacticos have the ability to think and act quickly, not granting the opposition defence the time to get properly organised before a cross comes in. It is a vastly different approach than teams that resort to the cross as a final straw, unable to break down a closed defence-line.

Madrid’s successful wing-play is part of a clear tactical plan designed for these individual players. A plan in which full-backs are wingers, wingers are expected to finish instead of assist, and strikers keep defenders busy to create space. And with it, Zidane and his men have proven that even in 2017, crosses can be a very effective tool and that those who dare to spread their wings might just fly a little higher.

Data: Opta Sports