"Congratulations, Theo. That's your hat-trick."
"You've been unbelievable tonight."
Inside the penalty area, Eden Hazard walked over and sincerely congratulated the teenager.
Theodore nodded politely in response.
In truth, Hazard had originally intended to ask Theodore to look for him and provide an assist before the match ended, but the words died in his throat.
Their private relationship was amicable, but distant.
Although both had transferred from the Premier League to Madrid for astronomical fees, they operated in different stratospheres of influence within the squad.
Despite Madrid spending €120 million to acquire Hazard, his first season at the Bernabéu had yielded a meager one goal and four assists across twenty-two appearances.
Those numbers, coupled with his persistent injury issues and lack of fitness, were impossible for the demanding Bernabéu crowd to accept.
Perhaps last season, Madridistas were still holding out hope that the brilliant Chelsea version of Hazard would eventually appear.
But since the arrival of Theodore Bjorn, the fanbase had almost entirely forgotten that the Belgian superstar even existed.
Theodore had already seen through what Hazard was thinking.
Although Theodore looked eighteen, he possessed a tactical maturity and emotional intelligence far beyond his years.
He knew exactly what Hazard wanted.
...
After the restart, Inter Milan's players were clearly deflated.
They did not even dare organize any proper attacks. For most of the time, Inter focused on circulating the ball in their own half.
They were waiting for a mistake.
Before long, that mistake arrived. It came from Real Madrid.
Casemiro received the ball in midfield and noticed that Inter's midfielders had all shifted their defensive attention toward Theodore.
No one stepped up to pressure him. So, Casemiro chose to carry the ball forward.
As a Brazilian holding midfielder, Casemiro had plenty of confidence in his technique.
Before long, Christian Eriksen rushed in front of him. Even then, Casemiro chose to keep dribbling.
Casemiro underestimated Eriksen's anticipation. The Dane suddenly slid in and hooked the ball away.
In an instant, Casemiro lost possession. Another Inter Milan player, Ivan Perišić, collected the loose ball.
Seeing this, Toni Kroos immediately moved toward him.
Perišić had only come on in the second half, so his stamina was full.
Facing Kroos' challenge, Perišić did not bother with any tricks. He quickly knocked the ball forward with his left foot.
Using his fresh pace, he forced his way past the Real Madrid midfielder and immediately delivered a cross.
He wanted to move the attack into Real Madrid's penalty area as quickly as possible. Perišić's timing was good.
At that moment, Inter's two forwards, Lukaku and Lautaro, were prepared to attack the delivery.
The ball dropped in front of Lukaku. The Belgian striker leapt into the air, giving everything he had to score with a header.
But just as Lukaku was about to head the ball toward goal, Theodore suddenly appeared in front of him.
He jumped early and cleared the ball before Lukaku could reach it.
"Theodore clears it with a header!" Palmer noted. "Inter Milan's attack fails once again. Against Theodore, Lukaku's aerial threat is neutralized."
After Theodore headed the ball clear, the second ball was controlled by Toni Kroos.
This should have been a good chance for Real Madrid to counterattack, but Inter Milan had learned their lesson.
The moment Kroos received possession, several Inter midfielders rushed toward him. Vidal, Perišić, and Eriksen swarmed the German.
Kroos had no passing lane.
The only thing he could do was send the ball back to Theodore.
By then, Theodore had moved out to the left flank. The moment the ball arrived at his feet, he burst forward.
Theodore raced down the left side at full speed.
His pace attribute had reached 98, and his stamina attribute was at 100.
With those two qualities supporting him, almost no Inter Milan player could keep up.
Seconds later, Theodore charged into Inter's half.
When Inter wing-back Achraf Hakimi saw Theodore breaking forward, he quickly rushed into his path, trying to stop his advance.
The instant Hakimi appeared, Theodore knocked the ball forward.
One heavy touch with his right foot.
He broke past Hakimi on the outside.
There was no stopping him.
Theodore drove into the penalty area.
After nearly seventy minutes of battling him, every Inter defender had gained a clear understanding of Theodore's ability.
They knew that once Theodore entered the box, he was likely going to score.
As the defending side, Inter had to strike first. Center-back Stefan de Vrij did not hesitate.
He launched himself into a sliding tackle!
Inside the penalty area, he brought Theodore down!
Peeeeeeeeep!
The referee blew the whistle immediately and pointed straight to the spot.
In the 74th minute, Real Madrid were awarded a penalty!
According to the pre-match instructions, Theodore was Real Madrid's designated penalty taker.
However, Theodore picked up the ball and tossed it to Eden Hazard.
"You take it."
After saying that, Theodore turned and walked away to the edge of the box.
That caught Hazard completely off guard.
All this time, Hazard had wanted to break his goal drought.
But in tonight's match, he had barely managed a few touches of the ball.
"Thank you, Theo."
Hazard walked over and placed the ball on the penalty spot himself.
"Oh? It's Eden Hazard taking the penalty!" Palmer said in surprise. "Theodore has chosen not to go for his fourth goal. Instead, he has handed the penalty to Hazard!"
Gibson added, "Ever since the former Chelsea man arrived at the Bernabéu, he has never truly found his rhythm. It looks like Theodore is hoping to use this penalty to help Hazard end his goal drought."
On the global live feeds, fans praised the decision.
"Selfless from Theodore!"
"For Theodore, scoring is already too easy. Better to give it to Hazard and build his confidence!"
"Exactly. The score is 5–1. The suspense disappeared long ago!"
At the penalty spot, Hazard took a deep breath. He struck the ball with his right foot!
Bang!
The ball flew straight into the top-left corner.
The score became 6–1!
After scoring, Hazard did not celebrate wildly. Instead, he jogged toward Theodore.
"Thank you, Theo. You helped me break my goal drought."
Theodore smiled. "Keep going. I believe you can rediscover your peak form at Madrid."
…
Once the score reached 6–1, Inter Milan's players completely lost their will to fight.
For the final fifteen minutes, the Inter players offered almost no resistance.
In the 80th minute, Zidane replaced Theodore with Luka Modrić.
Real Madrid had to face Valencia three days later.
Their schedule was extremely congested.
...
Peep! Peep! Peep!
The referee blew the full-time whistle.
The score was fixed at 6–1.
Theodore Bjorn finished the match with three goals and two assists.
On top of that, he had given the penalty to Hazard.
After the match, Theodore was unsurprisingly named Player of the Match.
In the post-match interview area, Inter Milan head coach Antonio Conte showered the teenager with praise.
"Theodore was incredible tonight. Even though I'm the head coach of Inter Milan, I have to say his performance was dominant."
"When the ball reaches Theodore's feet, Real Madrid's attack begins. Before this match, I prepared tactics specifically to limit him, but unfortunately, they had no effect at all."
Conte continued, "After this match, Inter Milan's hopes of finishing first in the group are basically gone. But in one week, we will face Real Madrid again at home. We will fight for our honor."
After the match, European media outlets covered the game extensively.
The English media were full of praise for Theodore.
Daily Mail: "Theodore Bjorn is tearing through the Champions League group stage! He was directly involved in five goals against Inter Milan, single-handedly handing the Nerazzurri a crushing defeat!"
Birmingham Sports: "Theodore Bjorn, Aston Villa's eternal pride, led Real Madrid to a comfortable home victory over Inter Milan. The superstar who emerged from Villa's academy is creating an era of his own!"
The Guardian: "With Theodore Bjorn in perfect form, Real Madrid win a crucial battle. Their qualification as group winners now seems certain."