Cristiano Ronaldo Is Benefiting from James Rodriguez's & Luka Modric's Returns

Cristiano Ronaldo is smiling again, and it's no coincidence that his return to goal-scoring form has corresponded with the returns of James Rodriguez and Luka Modric from injury.

The midfielders' comebacks, occurring as they have just in time for the business end of the season, bode well for the 2014 Ballon d'Or winner as he looks to fire Real Madrid to silverware after a forgettable start to 2015.  

James' case is a curious one, as his direct replacement during his injury—Isco—was arguably Real Madrid's best player during their lean spell. Therefore it appears counter-intuitive to drop the 2012 Golden Boy winner upon the Colombian's return to fitness.

However, the fact of the matter is that when James is on the field, Real Madrid's direct brand of attacking football becomes more precise and clinical.

The stats speak for themselves. Prior to Real Madrid's encounter with Rayo Vallecano last weekend, B/R's Rik Sharma pointed out that Real Madrid have maintained an 80 percent win rate with James on the pitch, and 57 percent without him. That percentage stands after the World Cup's leading goalscorer produced a strong performance—capped off by a goal—in Real Madrid's 2-0 victory. So what is it about James—in a qualitative sense—that makes him a better attacking sidekick to Ronaldo than Isco?

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

It all comes down to his direct and quick-release style of passing, something that Ronaldo has always thrived on. Isco is more of a tiki-taka style of player who tends to take his time on the ball and favors short, triangular exchanges—not ideal for a player like Ronaldo who likes to attack spaces at pace.  

With James by his side, Ronaldo can make early attacking runs behind the defense, get on the end of direct vertical passes and finish off chances. 

Modric may not play as close to Ronaldo on the pitch, but his impact on the Portuguese superstar is just as telling. The Croatian returned to action a month ago and instantly made Los Merengues a better counter-attacking side. This is down to two key characteristics that form the backbone of his midfield mastery.

For one, Modric has a phenomenal ability to evade attentions in tight spaces and rapidly dish out passes to teammates in attacking positions. The swiftness of his transitional play causes opposition defenders to scramble to get into position, creating the confusion and space that Ronaldo so ruthlessly exploits. 

Secondly, Modric is also an excellent ball-carrier who can dribble up the center of the field and draw players towards him before releasing a pass to a teammate ahead of him. This serves to speed up the attack and again plays to Ronaldo's strengths on the break.

Andres Kudacki/Associated Press

During Modric's lengthy absence, Real Madrid's midfielders tended to play a lot more horizontal and backward passes when denied space and time on the ball. With him back on the field, the midfield build-up is a lot more vertical and direct, making Ronaldo more of a factor in attack.

What this means is that with both Modric and James on the field, build-ups from the midfield are more direct and precise both on the right and on the left, where the two are stationed respectively. This means more smash-and-grab attacks for Ronaldo to take advantage of.

Los Merengues' coach Carlo Ancelotti is acutely aware of this fact, implying in a recent press conference that the two returnees were crucial to Ronaldo's return to form.

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He's really enjoying his football again because the team are playing with more speed and that gives him more freedom in front of goal. 

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In the aftermath of the 9-1 mauling of Granada, Goal.com writer Ben Hayward opined that the returns of James and Modric have led to the so-called BBC triumvirate (Benzema, Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo) being "switched on again." However, its anchor Ronaldo might still be off air today if the two returnees had, as reasonably expected, taken time to find form post-injury.

Indeed, the manner in which the two have recovered from long layoffs has caught even the most optimistic Madridistas by surprise.

Modric was Real Madrid's best player in his first start after his three-month layoff, dictating proceedings in a 2-0 triumph over Levante. James picked up two assists within 52 minutes of his return from a broken foot, helping inspire a 9-1 thumping of Granada. The major beneficiary of their impressive form, as Ancelotti suggested, has been and will continue to be Ronaldo. 

Merengue Bites podcast panelist Kaushik Lakshman opined on a recent episode that "with him [James] and Modric together, it feels like Madrid's midfield is finally back."

And with it, so too is Cristiano Ronaldo.