"Ah! Real Madrid have left a man completely unmarked inside the box!"
"Lee Kang-in turns and shoots!"
"The ball comes crashing back off the post!"
"Madrid survive!"
"Real Madrid's defenders completely ignored the South Korean's presence there…"
Inside the broadcast booth, Rob Palmer's voice was full of shock.
On the touchline, Zinedine Zidane's expression was furious.
He stepped into the technical area, shouting aggressively at his central defenders.
If not for the post coming to Madrid's rescue, Lee Kang-in's shot had a massive chance of going straight in.
Far away in Asia, South Korean fans were glued to their screens, anxiously waiting for a breakthrough!
"Lee oppa almost scored against Real Madrid! What a pity! Shibai!"
"Lee Kang-in just needed a little more luck!"
"Based on the opening phase of this match, Lee oppa has performed much better than Theodore! He is the strongest player born after 2000!"
"Exactly. I've barely seen Theodore at all. I really don't know why everyone keeps hyping this Norwegian kid up. He isn't even as good as one of Lee Kang-in's legs!"
"Tonight's match will be Lee Kang-in's coronation! He will destroy Theodore!"
Clearly, after seeing Lee Kang-in's shot hit the post, the South Korean fans on the global live feeds immediately got carried away.
The comments were flooded with excessive praise for Lee Kang-in and attempts to belittle Theodore.
In the proud minds of those fans, it seemed only Lee Kang-in and Son Heung-min could be considered the very best footballers in the world.
And just as the South Korean fans were feeling smug, Theodore decided it was time to intervene.
In the 20th minute, Theodore Bjorn actively dropped deep into his own half to receive the ball.
Captain Sergio Ramos saw Theodore's movement and did not hesitate.
He immediately zipped a pass into his feet.
In the away section, the traveling Real Madrid fans became instantly excited when they saw Theodore receive the ball in that pocket of space.
They knew very well that Theodore was fully capable of turning defense into attack with one swing of his boot.
Sure enough, Theodore immediately shaped his body to launch a long pass.
Seeing that, the Valencia midfielder responsible for marking him, Uroš Račić, quickly stretched out a long leg and went to ground, attempting to block the passing lane.
But just as Račić committed to the slide, Theodore suddenly changed his attacking intention.
He did not pass.
Instead, he dropped his shoulder and knocked the ball heavily forward.
Since Račić had already committed his weight and fallen to the turf, Theodore blew past him with insulting ease.
Immediately afterward, Theodore accelerated.
He surged forward with frightening pace, ripping straight through the center of the pitch.
The pressure instantly shifted onto Valencia's retreating players.
The first defender to rush in front of Theodore was Yunus Musah.
Musah possessed decent pace, but compared to Theodore, he was still far too slow.
Just as Musah reached Theodore's side, Theodore suddenly shifted gears again.
With a sharp, devastating change of rhythm, he slipped past the American midfielder effortlessly.
By now, three Real Madrid attackers had already begun making dangerous runs into the Valencia penalty area.
Vinícius Jr., Karim Benzema, and Martin Ødegaard were all arriving.
However, Theodore had no intention of passing. He chose to keep carrying the ball.
He was determined to go all the way himself.
Having read his terrifying intention, Valencia's players rushed toward him one after another.
The second wave of defenders consisted of full-back Daniel Wass and midfielder Carlos Soler.
But once Theodore got into his stride, trying to stop his charge with only two players was never going to be easy.
Sure enough, even though Wass and Soler had managed to get alongside him, Theodore deliberately lowered his shoulder and leaned his massive frame directly into Soler.
Soler simply could not withstand the physical impact and was knocked flying to the turf.
The next second, Theodore pushed the ball forward again and successfully escaped Daniel Wass's desperate lunge as well.
By now, Theodore had already charged into the Valencia penalty area.
The pressure immediately fell onto goalkeeper Jaume Doménech and center-back Gabriel Paulista!
"He cuts inside!" Palmer roared.
"The shot!"
"GOOOOOOOOAL!"
"The ball flies past Gabriel Paulista like a cannon shell and crashes into the net!"
"Although Doménech made a desperate dive, he grabbed nothing but thin air!"
"One-nil! Once again, it is Theodore Bjorn who scores for Real Madrid!"
"Theodore has stormed through the entire Valencia team on his own!" Terry Gibson shouted in amazement.
"After receiving Ramos' pass deep in his own half, he relied on his unstoppable pace to break past four Valencia players before finishing the move himself! That is sensational!"
On the global live comment feeds, fans were deeply shaken by Theodore's unstoppable solo goal.
"He's too strong… Theodore really deserves to be called the best player in world football!"
"His physical impact is terrifying. They can't even foul him to bring him down. Valencia's midfield looked like paper in front of him."
"I missed peak Ronaldo. I missed peak Messi! But I'm lucky enough to witness Theodore!"
Inside the South Korean live streams, the commentators had fallen completely silent.
Their faces were filled with disbelief and shock.
The South Korean fans in the comments were suddenly speechless as well.
"Is… is he really human?"
"Valencia's defending is a total joke! It's not even as good as our national team's defense!"
"They're doing this on purpose, right? Aside from Lee Kang-in, everyone at Valencia is absolutely trash!"
…
In the Mestalla stands, the several thousand Real Madrid fans erupted into pure delirium.
They bowed toward the pitch, shouting Theodore's name in unison.
Theodore performed his trademark celebration, launching into the air and swinging his fist wildly toward the traveling support.
The suffocating pressure was now firmly on Valencia's players.
After the restart, Valencia pressed with desperate aggression. Unfortunately for the home side, Real Madrid's midfielders were all technically elite.
Facing Valencia's frantic press, they were not affected in the slightest.
With a few simple, intricate passes, they escaped the pressure easily.
Once again, the ball arrived at Theodore's feet.
Valencia's players immediately panicked. In an instant, four players swarmed toward Theodore at once.
Seeing the trap collapse, Theodore decisively slipped a pass with his right foot.
Bang!
The ball dropped perfectly into the penalty area, where Karim Benzema expertly held off the defender with his back.
The next second, Benzema turned sharply and fired.
Clang!
The ball violently struck the post and bounced clear.
Benzema had missed another golden chance.
In the away section of the Mestalla, the Real Madrid fans had already begun raising their arms in premature celebration the moment Benzema struck the ball.
No one had expected such a close-range effort to come back off the woodwork.
Disappointment washed over the faces of the Madrid supporters.
Inside the broadcast booth, Rob Palmer's voice carried the same frustration.
"Benzema's shot has hit the post! It has to be said, hitting the post from that range is probably harder than actually putting the ball in the net!"
"It's a recurring theme with Karim at the moment," Gibson added. "He is missing glorious opportunities. If Madrid drop points in this match, the spotlight will certainly be on him."
Having survived that massive scare, Valencia immediately pushed the battle back toward the Real Madrid half.
Midfielder Carlos Soler received a long pass from Gabriel Paulista. Instead of moving the ball on, he chose to carry it forward himself.
Although Soler's technique was decent, trying to advance through Real Madrid's midfield was never going to be simple.
Very quickly, Soler found himself surrounded by a swarm of white shirts.
Among them were Luka Modrić and Theodore Bjorn.
Tonight, Zidane had set Real Madrid up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Theodore and Modrić operating as the double pivot.
The moment Soler slowed the ball down, the two top-class midfielders stepped in front of him.
Even so, Soler stubbornly chose to dribble.
His stubbornness ultimately left Valencia exposed.
With one explosive step, Theodore closed the distance to Soler's side.
This time, Theodore did not bother with any tackles. He simply used his body.
A brutal, legal shoulder-to-shoulder collision immediately knocked Soler entirely off balance.
Then Modrić reacted sharply, stretching out a foot and elegantly scooping the ball away from Soler's feet.
A perfect counterattacking chance for Real Madrid.
After winning possession, Modrić sprayed the ball as quickly as possible out to Vinícius Jr. on the left wing.
In truth, Vinícius had not had many chances to show his talent tonight.
Valencia captain José Gayà had been marking him tightly almost the entire time.
This time was no different.
The moment the ball arrived at Vinícius' feet, Gayà rushed straight in front of him.
Vinícius did not choose to pass. After throwing in a rapid series of stepovers, he suddenly chopped the ball inside with his left foot.
There was no denying that Vinícius possessed terrifying pure pace. Gayà simply could not keep up.
In an instant, Vinícius left the Spanish full-back firmly behind and soon appeared near the edge of the penalty area.
From that position, Vinícius had a clear sight of goal.
He lifted his head, glanced at the goalkeeper's positioning, and pulled his leg back to trigger a shot.
Unfortunately for him, just as Vinícius was about to strike, Gayà had managed to recover from behind.
Seeing Vinícius about to pull the trigger, a desperate Gayà instinctively reached out and hauled the Brazilian down by his shirt.
Vinícius immediately crashed to the turf.
The referee did not hesitate.
Peep!
After stopping play, Lahoz rushed toward Gayà and pulled a yellow card from his pocket without hesitation.
Real Madrid were awarded a free-kick in an incredibly dangerous position.
At that moment, the entire away section inside Mestalla began chanting Theodore's name.
The Madrid fans were demanding that Theodore take this free kick!
"The free-kick is only around twenty-seven meters from goal," Palmer noted. "For Theodore Bjorn, this is prime territory."
"Sure enough, Theodore has stepped up to the ball," Gibson added, anticipation building in his voice.
As for the Valencia players, absolute tension covered every face in the wall.
The most nervous of them all was naturally goalkeeper Jaume Doménech.
His eyes remained fixed on Theodore, refusing to blink.
Once Valencia's wall was meticulously set, referee Lahoz blew the whistle.
Theodore was not nervous.
He stood calmly in his stance, exuding an aura of absolute confidence.
After the whistle sounded, Theodore took his deliberate steps backward.
Then, he accelerated.
Bang!
Theodore struck the ball with vicious power, and in an instant, it flashed over the wall.
Although the Valencia wall jumped with everything they had, they failed to make contact.
Like a bolt of lightning, the ball knuckled unpredictably toward the Valencia goal.
Doménech hurled himself across his line.
His body stretched as far as possible in midair, but he still could not reach it.
The angle and dip of Theodore's strike were simply too precise.
The ball arrowed straight into the top corner.
Bang!
It hit the back of the net!
2–0!
"GOAL!" Palmer roared. "Theodore scores directly from the free-kick!"
"As the player with the highest free-kick conversion rate in world football right now, Theodore does not miss from there!"
"A set piece from that position is basically a penalty for the Norwegian!"
"The first half isn't even over yet, and Theodore has already scored twice," Gibson marveled. "He is in absolutely devastating form tonight."
On the live comment feeds, the screen was filled with global praise for Theodore.
"Theodore's free-kick technique is godlike!"
"In my memory, Theodore's free-kicks basically always go in. That conversion rate is honestly terrifying!"
"It's only 2–0. Keep scoring, don't stop. Madrid need to completely thrash Valencia and silence those arrogant fans!"
"Exactly. Before the match, I saw a lot of fans running their mouths online about Lee Kang-in. They need to be taught a lesson!"
Once the score became 2–0, the Real Madrid players clearly relaxed a little.
After the restart, Valencia striker Maxi Gómez played the ball into Soler in the middle, and Soler quickly shifted it out wide to Yunus Musah.
As demonstrated earlier, Musah had a certain level of dribbling ability.
On the flank, the moment Musah received the ball, he began his performance.
Facing Marcelo's defending, he went straight for an audacious nutmeg.
That caught Marcelo completely by surprise.
By the time Marcelo tried to recover and foul him, Musah had already slipped the ball through his legs and cut inside.