Headed goals can rise even when crossing volume falls; count delivery, first contact, shot accuracy, and conversion before calling it a crossing trend.

Headers have fallen from almost one in five Champions League goals in the competition’s first decade to about one in six in the second decade and around one in seven since.¹ Those figures describe the body part on the final shot, not how often a team crossed, where the ball came from, or whether the delivery was high, low, early, cut back, open play, or set piece.