"Theodore has a massive chance here!" Rob Palmer shouted on the global broadcast. "As long as he gets past Bartra, he's one-on-one with the keeper!"
Just as Palmer finished his sentence, Theodore shifted the ball from his left to his right foot and simply accelerated.
In the blink of an eye, Theodore vanished, leaving Marc Bartra grabbing at thin air.
The veteran center-back had no time to even attempt a professional foul; the teenager was simply too fast.
Theodore bore down on the Real Betis goal. The pressure now rested squarely on the shoulders of Joel Robles.
The Betis goalkeeper didn't hesitate. Realizing his defense was breached, he rushed off his line, spreading his body to make himself as big as possible, attempting to smother the shot.
Unfortunately for Robles, he was a fraction of a second too slow.
Without breaking stride, Theodore opened his body and calmly slotted the ball past the charging keeper with the inside of his right boot.
The ball rolled smoothly into the bottom corner.
4–1!
"HAT-TRICK!" Rob Palmer bellowed. "Theodore Bjorn is ripping La Liga apart! That is his third goal of the evening!"
"The score is 4–1, and he's orchestrated every single one of them! Three goals and an assist!"
"This goal has essentially killed the contest, Rob," Terry Gibson noted beside him. "There are still forty minutes remaining, but you can see the belief completely draining out of the Real Betis players. They look physically and mentally broken."
Gibson's analysis was spot on.
Following the restart, the shift in the Betis players' mentality was palpable.
While they continued to run and fight, the underlying conviction was gone. They no longer posed a genuine threat to Thibaut Courtois' goal.
The frustration began to manifest in sloppy, unforced errors.
In the 54th minute, Casemiro, operating with renewed aggression, successfully stripped Guido Rodríguez of the ball in the center circle.
Casemiro immediately looked up and slid a pass out to Rodrygo on the right flank.
The young Brazilian forward hit top speed, blowing past Emerson Aparecido and William Carvalho.
Cutting inside the penalty area, Rodrygo fired a powerful, low-driven shot.
The strike beat Robles and nestled into the far corner!
5–1.
It was officially a rout.
Ten minutes later, with the three points securely in the bag, Zidane opted to protect his most valuable asset.
He substituted Theodore, replacing him with Luka Modrić.
Theodore jogged off the pitch to a mixed reception of frustrated boos from the home fans and rapturous applause from the traveling Madridistas.
Zidane offered him a warm smile and a pat on the back as he took his seat on the bench.
Shortly after, Benzema and Toni Kroos were also withdrawn to rest their legs.
The referee blew the final whistle.
The score remained 5–1.
Real Madrid secured their third consecutive victory, solidifying their position at the summit of La Liga.
...
By the end of Matchday 3, Theodore's individual statistics were already becoming absurd: 10 goals and 6 assists in just three league matches.
Both metrics placed him comfortably at the top of the league leaderboards.
As October rolled in, the fixture list intensified.
Real Madrid were now facing a two-game week.
On October 1st, Real Madrid returned to the Santiago Bernabéu to host Real Valladolid.
Valladolid currently languished in 14th place.
In their opening three matches, they had managed two draws and a loss, still searching for their first victory of the campaign.
At 8:00 PM local time, the match kicked off under the Madrid lights.
Perhaps underestimating the opposition or prioritizing fitness ahead of the impending Champions League fixtures, Zidane opted for heavy rotation.
Theodore, Modrić, and several other regular starters were rested on the bench.
However, as the old adage goes, arrogance often precedes a fall. Real Madrid struggled immensely in the first half.
While Valladolid's league position was uninspiring, their manager, Sergio González, was a pragmatic tactician.
He deployed a rigid, unapologetic "parking the bus" strategy.
Every single Valladolid player dropped behind the ball, forming two impenetrable banks of four and five deep in their own half.
Faced with such a suffocating defensive block, Real Madrid's rotated attack looked devoid of ideas.
Benzema, Ødegaard, and Vinícius circulated the ball endlessly around the perimeter but failed to carve out a single clear-cut shooting opportunity.
The halftime whistle blew.
The score remained a frustrating 0–0.
Zidane was furious!
He marched down the tunnel, his expression dark.
He didn't wait. As the teams emerged for the second half, the fourth official raised his electronic board.
Theodore Bjorn was coming on.
It was undoubtedly the correct decision.
The moment Theodore stepped onto the pitch, the tempo and intensity of Real Madrid's attack spiked drastically.
Less than five minutes into the second half, the deadlock was broken.
Theodore received the ball deep in midfield. Instantly recognizing the danger, Valladolid committed two men to stop him.
Míchel Herrero and Fabián Orellana converged on him simultaneously, intent on disrupting his rhythm.
But Theodore was untouchable. He executed a rapid La Croqueta, shifting the ball from his left foot to his right, and burst forward, leaving both Valladolid players tackling thin air.
He had broken the first line of the press.
Seeing him drive forward, Benzema and Vinícius immediately made darting runs into the Valladolid penalty area.
However, Theodore kept his head up. He noticed the box was still swarming with purple and white shirts.
Even if he picked out a pass, his forwards would be smothered instantly.
So, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
"He keeps driving!" Palmer noted on the broadcast. "The pace is just too much! He's slicing through the midfield like a hot knife through butter!"
Before the Valladolid center-backs could step out to close the angle, Theodore arrived at the edge of the penalty area.
Bang!
He unleashed a venomous, swerving strike and the ball arrowed straight into the bottom corner.
1–0!
Real Madrid finally breached the wall.
"What a strike!" Terry Gibson praised. "A solo effort of the highest quality! The sheer velocity gave Jordi Masip absolutely no chance!"
The tension inside the Bernabéu evaporated, replaced by roaring applause.
Five minutes later, they struck again.
This time, Theodore turned provider.
After executing a synchronized counter-press with Modrić to win the ball back in midfield, Theodore instantly slipped a perfectly weighted, slide-rule pass through the disorganized Valladolid defense.
The pass rolled perfectly into the stride of Karim Benzema inside the penalty area.
The French marksman didn't hesitate.
He opened his body and stroked a clinical finish past Masip.
2–0!
Having conceded twice in the span of five minutes, Valladolid's defensive resolve completely shattered.
Ten minutes later, Theodore added a third, rising highest to power a header into the net from a corner.
3–0.
The match was officially over.
After Theodore's headed goal, the broadcast camera cut to a VIP box high in the stands.
Sitting there was the legendary Ronaldo Nazário—"El Fenómeno."
Ronaldo was a revered Real Madrid icon, but tonight, he was present in his capacity as the majority owner and President of Real Valladolid.
Watching his team being systematically dismantled by the eighteen-year-old Norwegian, Ronaldo's expression was a complex mixture of awe and resignation.
He hadn't expected a miracle against Real Madrid, but witnessing Theodore's sheer dominance firsthand was sobering.
After ninety minutes, Real Madrid secured a comfortable 3–0 home victory, extending their winning streak to four matches and maintaining their grip on first place.
Theodore, with two goals and an assist off the bench, was named Player of the Match.
...
In the tunnel after the game, Ronaldo Nazário sought Theodore out.
"Theodore, incredible performance," Ronaldo smiled, offering a warm embrace. "If Zidane had kept you on the bench, maybe we could have escaped with a point!"
"The greatest respect I can show your team is to play at one hundred percent, legend," Theodore replied with a respectful grin.
Ronaldo laughed, clapping the teenager on the back. "You know, Theo, playing for Real Madrid right now… there's no challenge for you. It must be boring. Why don't you come join Valladolid? If you lead us to a La Liga title, you'd be immortal!"
Just as Ronaldo made his pitch, Zinedine Zidane appeared in the corridor.
"Ronnie, are you trying to poach my best player in my own stadium?" Zidane joked, walking over.
"The club paid 320 million for him. If you want him, it's going to cost you a billion! You could sell your entire club and you still wouldn't afford his left leg!"
The three men laughed. Zidane and Ronaldo, former Galáctico teammates, shared a deep, mutual respect.
"Congratulations, Zizou," Ronaldo smiled. "But next time we meet, Valladolid will be ready."
"Keep dreaming, Ronnie!" Zidane chuckled.
...
The relentless schedule continued.
Just three days later, Real Madrid traveled to face Levante in Matchday 5.
Real Madrid were Levante's historical kryptonite, having won their last twelve consecutive meetings.
Zidane was supremely confident, and his confidence was justified.
In the 9th minute, Modrić whipped in a cross, and Benzema scored with a glancing header. 1-0.
In the 23rd minute, Theodore executed a crunching tackle on Levante's Nikola Vukčević in midfield, instantly releasing a through ball to Ødegaard.
The Norwegian midfielder drove to the edge of the box and fired a low shot into the corner. 2-0.
The match ended 2-0. Real Madrid controlled a staggering 83% of possession.
Levante parked the bus from the first whistle, offering zero attacking threat.
Theodore registered an assist but didn't score.
Against opponents offering zero resistance or ambition, he preferred to orchestrate the tempo from deep, conserving his energy.
With five straight La Liga victories secured, Real Madrid turned their attention to the continent.
The UEFA Champions League was back!
Their first group-stage opponent: Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Ukrainian giants were a formidable side, having won their domestic league for four consecutive seasons and regularly reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League.
...
October 18th. 7:30 PM. The Santiago Bernabéu.
The iconic Champions League anthem echoed around the stadium, sending shivers down the spines of the players and fans alike.
This was Theodore Bjorn's Champions League debut.
In the broadcast booth, Rob Palmer set the scene.
"Welcome, European football fans, to the opening night of the UEFA Champions League group stage! Tonight, the kings of the competition, Real Madrid, host Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk!"
"These two sides met in the 2015 group stage, with Real Madrid winning both encounters comfortably. However, Shakhtar's manager was humble in his pre-match presser, stating he would be thrilled to escape the Bernabéu with a single point."
"Let's look at the Real Madrid lineup," Palmer continued. "Zidane has selected his strongest 4-3-3."
"Courtois in goal."
"Mendy, Varane, Militão, and Marcelo at the back."
"Casemiro, Modrić, and making his highly anticipated Champions League debut... Theodore Bjorn!"
"Vinícius, Benzema, and Rodrygo lead the attack!"