Inside the broadcast booth, Rob Palmer could not help but sigh in pure admiration.
"Theodore sprinted all the way from the center-forward position back into his own penalty arc to execute that defensive intervention!" "Real Madrid's midfield simply cannot function defensively without him!"
On the pitch, Theodore took control of the ball and began his personal performance.
Relying on his absolute pace advantage, he carried the ball forward with terrifyingly long, powerful strides.
At that moment, Theodore was a blur of white. With frightening speed, he charged straight toward the Villarreal half.
On the touchline, Unai Emery instantly realized the severity of the situation. It was a traumatically familiar scene.
Last season, when Emery was managing Arsenal, Theodore had scored against him with a ridiculous solo run from deep!
The moment Emery saw Theodore accelerate, he screamed frantically for his defenders to close him down.
On the pitch, none of the Villarreal players dared to hesitate. Iborra and Parejo quickly converged, attempting to surround Theodore.
But the absolute instant they stepped in, Theodore knocked the ball heavily forward with his right foot and engaged his afterburners.
Using his raw explosiveness, he blew past the two Villarreal midfielders in the blink of an eye.
Seconds later, Theodore had reached the edge of the Villarreal penalty area.
All the defensive pressure instantly fell on Raúl Albiol and Pau Torres.
Just as the two center-backs rushed out to confront him, Theodore had already pulled his leg back to shoot.
Bang!
The ball flew like artillery fire, smashing into the roof of the net at terrifying speed.
Because Theodore's shot carried so much raw power, Asenjo had absolutely no time to react.
3–1.
"A world-class strike!" Palmer roared. "Theodore Bjorn has scored his third goal of the match! A hat-trick!"
"Another spectacular solo goal from the unstoppable teenager!"
Terry Gibson shook his head in disbelief. "Theodore sprinted back into his own half at full speed to execute a crucial defensive tackle, then carried the ball eighty yards forward at sprinting speed, and finally finished with a thunderous long-range strike."
"At that moment, his speed, stamina, and shooting ability were all displayed to the absolute maximum. Villarreal's defenders had no way to stop him!"
After Theodore scored that stunning solo goal, the Villarreal fans inside the Estadio de la Cerámica fell silent once again.
"How… how is that even possible?"
"Real Madrid's No. 10 is an alien! I've never seen a player like this!"
"He's too strong. Theodore just tore our entire team apart all by himself!"
Even Villarreal's own supporters could not help but marvel at Theodore's brilliance, and pockets of fans reluctantly began applauding him.
The score had become 3–1 and Real Madrid were now firmly in control.
But for Unai Emery, surrendering was clearly not an option.
While the Madrid players were celebrating, Emery quickly called his attackers over to the touchline and issued frantic tactical adjustments.
After the restart, Villarreal began to push much harder.
Emery knew very well that if they wanted to salvage anything, they had to attack with reckless abandon.
Only attacking gave them any chance of a miracle.
In the 63rd minute, Gerard Moreno suddenly dropped deep into midfield to receive the ball.
When Trigueros saw the movement, he quickly zipped a pass into Villarreal's attacking core.
Moreno did not dwell on the ball. After receiving it, he immediately swept it out to Takefusa Kubo on the right.
Overall, the Japanese starlet had performed quite well since coming on.
Once the ball reached Kubo's feet, he faced Ferland Mendy's close pressing. Kubo smoothly pushed it forward with his left foot, successfully slipping the ball through Mendy's legs.
The next second, Kubo chopped inside.
At that moment, Modrić and Toni Kroos both rushed toward him simultaneously.
But seeing the double-team arrive, Kubo suddenly hit the brakes and laid a clever, disguised pass square toward the edge of the penalty area.
It was an excellent pass, successfully finding Gerard Moreno.
Most importantly, there was not a single Real Madrid player within five yards of Moreno. Without question, this was a golden scoring chance.
Bang!
One second later, Gerard Moreno's clinical shot flew into the corner of the Real Madrid net. Courtois' desperate dive was nowhere near it.
3–2.
"Gerard Moreno pulls one back for Villarreal!" Palmer announced. "The score is now 3–2! Real Madrid's lead has been cut to just a single goal!"
"There are still more than twenty minutes left. Villarreal absolutely have a chance to snatch something here!"
Gerard Moreno's goal instantly reignited the hostile atmosphere inside the Estadio de la Cerámica.
Twenty-four thousand Villarreal fans shouted Moreno's name simultaneously.
"After losing Casemiro to injury and moving Theodore out of the midfield pivot, Real Madrid's defensive intensity in the center of the pitch has dropped dramatically," Gibson analyzed. "When Gerard Moreno received the ball near the edge of the box, there absolutely had to be a Madrid player marking him."
"Unfortunately, Modrić and Kroos both got sucked in to defend Takefusa Kubo. That goal was completely caused by a structural defensive mistake from Madrid."
Gibson added, "If Theodore had been playing in midfield tonight, I guarantee you he would have stopped Moreno from getting that shot away."
After the restart, Villarreal's morale soared.
A few seconds later, the home side once again used their aggressive, coordinated running to steal the ball from Modrić in midfield.
Real Madrid's control in the middle of the pitch was beginning to collapse.
"They've been dispossessed again!" Palmer noted with concern. "Modrić and Toni Kroos are struggling to cope with this intensity!"
No sooner had Rob Palmer finished criticizing Real Madrid's performance than Gerard Moreno fired another shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Unfortunately for Villarreal, Moreno had rushed it a little, and the ball flew just over the crossbar.
Although it did not go in, the chance once again ignited the atmosphere among the Villarreal fans.
Behind the goal, in the hardcore supporters' section, Villarreal fans raised their fists and roared Gerard Moreno's name.
On the Real Madrid bench, Zidane kept rubbing his bald head. It was clear that the Madrid manager was nervous.
As a coach with high football intelligence, Zidane instantly identified the problem in his team.
Their midfield defensive intensity was too weak.
They simply could not withstand the impact of Villarreal's youthful attacking storm.
By now, the match had reached the 72nd minute.
Zidane glanced at the bench, but there were barely any useful options available.
After thinking it over, Zidane finally made a substitution. Rodrygo came on for Vinícius Jr.
However, after entering the pitch, Rodrygo did not take up Vinícius' original position on the left wing.
Instead, he moved into the forward line, while Theodore Bjorn, who had previously been playing as the center-forward, dropped back into midfield.
In other words, Real Madrid's formation changed from a 4-2-3-1 into a 4-3-3.
The front three became Ødegaard, Rodrygo, and Hazard, while Theodore partnered Modrić and Toni Kroos in midfield.
The main reason Zidane made this adjustment was to strengthen Madrid's midfield physically and defensively.
Inside the broadcast booth, the moment Terry Gibson saw Theodore drop back into midfield, he immediately praised Zidane's decision.
"Zidane has found the problem! Theodore has returned to the midfield position he's best at!" Gibson noted.
"This is the right choice. Now that Theodore is back in midfield, Real Madrid's intensity will improve!"
Sure enough, once Theodore returned to midfield, Madrid's defensive strength rose by several levels.
In the 76th minute, Villarreal had another attacking opportunity.
Midfielder Iborra once again played the ball to Takefusa Kubo on the right.
Once again, Kubo was facing Ferland Mendy.
After several left-footed changes of direction, Kubo succeeded in cutting inside. It was clear that Ferland Mendy's stamina had begun to fade.
But this time, Kubo did not get the chance to pass or shoot.
The moment Kubo slipped past Mendy, a familiar figure appeared in front of him.
It was Theodore.
Theodore knew Kubo's technical characteristics very well.
Although the Japanese star had excellent technique and decent explosiveness, he was not physically strong.
Theodore had played in the Premier League before. His ability in physical duels was top class in La Liga.
This time, Theodore did not show Kubo any courtesy.
He went straight into the body challenge.
With a burst of force, Theodore sent Kubo to the turf.
Then Theodore successfully took control of the ball.
"This is Theodore's value!" Palmer said. "When Theodore wasn't in midfield, Kubo could always create danger there. But now that Theodore has dropped back, Kubo's technical strengths have been completely locked down!"
After winning the ball, Theodore did not continue dribbling forward. Instead, he chose to move the attack into Villarreal's half at the first opportunity.
Bang!
With one of his trademark long passes, the ball dropped at Hazard's feet on the left wing.
Looking at tonight's match as a whole, the Belgian star had not had many chances to perform.
For most of the game, Hazard had simply been drifting through it.
Now, after receiving the ball out wide, Hazard finally had an opportunity to show something.
Hazard carried the ball forward with confidence, but only three seconds later, Villarreal full-back Alfonso Pedraza dispossessed him.
The ball was controlled by Villarreal holding midfielder Iborra.
He wasted no time.
The very next second, he passed the ball to Yeremy Pino on the left.
Since coming on, the young player had only produced a few bright moments.
The moment Yeremy Pino received the ball, he was met by Carvajal's defending.
This time, however, Pino looked very calm.
After several stepovers, he suddenly shaped to pass. Seeing this, Carvajal stretched out a leg to block it.
The moment Pino saw Carvajal commit, he knocked the ball forward. Using his pace, he broke past Carvajal's defense.
Near the byline, Yeremy Pino chose to cross.
Bang!
The ball quickly flew toward the goalmouth.
At that moment, Villarreal striker Gerard Moreno had already made his run to attack the delivery.
Unfortunately for Villarreal, Theodore intercepted the ball midway and cleared it.
This was Theodore's ability. He always seemed to appear exactly where he was needed most.
That headed clearance once again defused Villarreal's attack.
In the final stages of the match, every Villarreal player fought with everything they had, and Villarreal committed a large number of players forward in attack.
But they still could not score.
In just ten minutes, Theodore made five key clearances.
He had completely transformed into Villarreal's nightmare.
With Theodore and the Real Madrid players working together, the final score remained 3–2.
Away at the Estadio de la Cerámica, Real Madrid relied on Theodore's hat-trick and his brilliant defending in the closing stages to take all three points.
After this round of matches, Madrid successfully extended their winning streak to ten league games, sitting top of La Liga with thirty points.
But after the match ended, Real Madrid head coach Zidane could not bring himself to be happy.
His team had looked ragged in the final stages.
If Theodore had not repeatedly made those clearances near the end, Villarreal might have equalized—or even scored a late winner.
At the post-match press conference, Zidane spoke with disappointment.
"Although we won tonight, this was not the best version of Real Madrid. Recently, our schedule has been far too congested. Aside from playing twice a week, the team has also had to play consecutive away matches. Matches of such intensity have caused us many injuries."
Zidane spread his hands, helplessness showing on his face.
He continued, "Four days from now, we will once again go on the road. On the 26th, the team will face Inter Milan in the Champions League group stage. Without question, that will be a difficult match. But no matter what, we will continue fighting until the end!"
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