Luka Modric kissed the bald head of Real Madrid's physical trainer, Antonio Pintus, in celebration after the comeback against Manchester City.

The midfielder was screaming the coach's name at him after a memorable comeback that put Los Blancos into the Champions League final.

The Croatian, who at 36 is in the best form of his career, wanted to pay tribute to the man who, together with Carlo Ancelotti, drew up Real Madrid's plan for managing minutes and the fitness of the players.

It has worked a treat so far, crowing them as champions of LaLiga Santander and the Supercopa de Espana, and with a Champions League final still to come.

Pintus arrived at Real Madrid as a Galactico. His signing was announced by the club on their official website last summer with an official statement, something that had previously only been done for first-team players or head coaches.

After his separation from Zinedine Zidane, the club opted to bring back the Italian fitness coach, with a clear objective - to avoid the plague of injuries that cursed the team last season, harming their chances in LaLiga Santander and Champions League.

Ancelotti was aware of the need for an upgrade in this area. Hand in hand, the two Italians designed a physical plan that basically includes two peaks of form, at the beginning and, crucially, in the final third of the season.

The point is that now, with the title recently won and a place in the final of the Champions League, the Italians' work is yielding huge benefits for the players, who have suffered under the harsh methods of the duo, in which continuous running is key.

Supreme physical performance against Manchester City

The data from the match against Manchester City, as was the case against Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, shows that the team's physical response in moments of maximum demand was one of the determining factors in the victory over the English side.

It wasn't the only key, of course, but the physicality is adding to the team's footballing strengths.

Although Pep Guardiola's side covered more ground on Wednesday, Real Madrid's efforts were of a higher quality.

Los Blancos outscored the Citizens in sprints over 21 kilometres per hour and in speeds over 24 kilometres per hour, which is what really makes the difference at the elite level.

In the latter, the number of efforts by Los Blancos was 5.45 percent higher than the visitors.

Taking the sprints as a whole, the differences in Real Madrid's favour soared, with over 10 percent more for Los Blancos.

The English players ran more at low speed, between 14 and 21 km/h, but Real Madrid completed more high-speed runs and sprints.

History repeats itself at Real Madrid

MARCA readers will remember seeing similar reports after the second legs against PSG and Chelsea.

Against the French champions, the comeback began with a sprint by Karim Benzema to put pressure on Gianluigi Donnarumma, and the goal that came as a result changed the match and the tie.

Then came Modric's lung-bursting sprint to give them the lead, at which point PSG crumbled.

Something similar happened against Chelsea, the most physical opponent for Los Blancos in this Champions League. In fact, Thomas Tuchel's side dominated the physicality from the first to last minute, but in extra time Real Madrid prevailed.

The same plan was followed as against City, with a familiar ending for the kings of Europe.

With five games still to play, including the Champions League final, Real Madrid are in a state of complete bliss.

They were crowned champions of LaLiga Santander with four games to go. They also overcame Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City in Europe.

Their objective is to continue competing and winning domestically until the end to reach their Paris date with Liverpool in full flow, starting with the derby against Atletico Madrid.

There is no time to relax. Carlo Ancelotti and his men know that.

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Ancelotti's secret

Over the last few days, many have approached Ancelotti to ask him about the secret that surrounds this team, beyond the daily work and the quality of his players, qualities that it seems they have to demonstrate every day because many question them.

Apart from the usual components of a team of Real Madrid's stature, Ancelotti pointed out that his players are different because of the humility of the group.

"There is no secret," Ancelotti insisted.

"What there is is the humility of each and every one of the players. Nobody thinks they're better than anyone else."

It's something he's been thinking about since just a few days after returning to Real Madrid.

Putting the ends before the means is a motto that has been applied by players who already know what it means to be champions, but they know their work isn't done yet.

Everybody except for Gareth Bale is delighted

Although some players, like Jesus Vallejo, haven't always played, the only player in the Real Madrid dressing room to have expressed dissatisfaction has been Gareth Bale, through his agent.

The most palpable example of the humility of the group, that no one is above the rest of the team, took place on Wednesday night, early on in the game at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Karim Benzema was on the edge. He had pushed his body to its limit.

Yet, his commitment throughout the match was evident. He gave everything and even had the strength to win the penalty that proved definitive.

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Knowing that Rodrygo had been decisive in getting to that extra time, the Frenchman had no qualms about offering the scorer of the first two goals the chance to take the decisive penalty.

Benzema knew the Brazilian was brimming with confidence, but he was ultimately the one to take the penalty. Rodrygo knew that it was the No.9's to take.

In recent weeks, Benzema had missed three penalties. But no teammate came close during these two Champions League matches to questioning that the penalty was going to be taken by the striker.

There is nothing but respect and confidence in the leader of a team.

"The goal of the group is ahead of the individual," Ancelotti explained.