The most important (as you say) is to maintain the CL (track). To achieve this in a crosswind the ac will need to point into wind (heading). The difference between the two is drift. I’m not sufficiently IT literate to draw the triangle of vectors that we all learn about on Nav 1, but Hdg/airspeed + W/V = Track/GS.
I was on the jumpseat on Saturday watching my colleague landing with 35kt crosswind and trust me - there a whole bunch of drift! Until he neatly removed it in the flare with appropriate use of rudder to align the ac with the runway.