If you've seen clips from Spanish football analysis in recent times you'll be well aware how fond they are of adding comically dramatic music to football in order to present it as some sort of soap opera.
Usually this treatment is reserved for on-pitch drama where they hire a lip-reader, but this time it was an offside goal from Sergio Ramos against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and it actually makes for an enthralling watch.
It's no secret that Sergio Ramos is one of the most dangerous aerial threats in world football whenever he marches up for a corner, and he has scored so many important goals for his side that Ramos scoring a late winner or equaliser has almost become a meme to rival Arjen Robben cutting inside, on social media.
But how exactly does he always find so much space? How does he always manage to lose his marker? Well, Spanish TV station 'El Chiringuito TV' have given us by far the best understanding. Using a camera specifically on Ramos as he makes his way up from the back, they were able to decode his system for blocking off his marker by using a player who is not an aerial threat to impede the opposition defender.
In this example it was Marcos Asensio, and had Ramos timed his run better the goal would have counted but unfortunately for him he was correctly flagged a yard offside.
¡TREMENDO! Sergio Ramos y Toni Kroos VOLVIERON a EJECUTAR un plan CASI PERFECTO. El VÍDEO de @EduAguirre7 con IMAGEN de @frankcameraman. pic.twitter.com/XneUFVNWQA
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) April 14, 2017
Is the dramatic music and analysis of every facial expression Sergio Ramos makes a bit over the top? Yes.
Is this still an excellent look at how Real Madrid effectively utilise set-pieces? Also yes.
Boateng, who was tasked with marking Ramos, couldn't even get off the ground and Ramos was given a running jump on Arturo Vidal. If you were to look only at the replays you would think that shoddy marking was responsible and the German defender would likely face criticism, but it was a deliberate ploy by Real to generate the freedom for Ramos to attack.
So next time you see Sergio Ramos making his way up the pitch, keep an eye on the players around him and what they are up to.
