Just as Promes dropped his shoulder, attempting to dance past Theodore Bjorn with his signature flair, Theodore moved.
He didn't bite on the feint.
Anticipating the change of direction perfectly, Theodore launched into a ferocious, perfectly timed sliding tackle.
He hooked his leg around the Dutchman, cleanly sweeping the ball away without making contact with the player.
Before Promes could even register he had been dispossessed, Theodore was already back on his feet, the ball glued to his boot.
The transition was instant.
It was a golden opportunity for Real Madrid to counterattack.
Up front, Benzema, Vinícius, and Ødegaard all recognized the trigger and started sprinting forward simultaneously.
Theodore had three passing options.
The Ajax defense, terrified of Benzema and the raw pace of Vinícius, instinctively shifted their block to cover the center and the left.
They completely ignored Martin Ødegaard on the right flank.
Theodore didn't hesitate. He opened his body and whipped a spectacular, sweeping cross-field pass toward the far post.
The ball traced a beautiful, arching curve through the humid New York air, dropping with pinpoint accuracy right into Ødegaard's stride.
Facing such a clear opening, Ødegaard controlled the ball with a velvet touch.
He didn't rush.
He slowed down just enough to draw the attention of the recovering defensive midfielder, Edson Álvarez.
Then, he quickly chopped the ball inside onto his favored left foot.
Álvarez stumbled, completely wrong-footed.
Bang!
Ødegaard unleashed a fierce, rising drive as the shot tore past Álvarez like a cannonball.
The next second, the net bulged.
Ajax goalkeeper André Onana had no time to react!
"1–1!" Martin Tyler yelled. "Ødegaard equalizes! And what a breathtaking pass to set him up! The connection between the Norwegian twins strikes again!"
"Theodore wins it, Theodore deals it, Ødegaard finishes it!" Gary Neville added. "That is exactly why Zidane put him on the pitch!"
After scoring, Ødegaard didn't celebrate wildly.
He immediately turned and pointed both fingers directly at Theodore.
Theodore sprinted over to his countryman, and the two embraced tightly.
Soon, the rest of the Real Madrid attackers jogged over to join the huddle.
On the touchline, Zinedine Zidane finally let out a long breath, punching the air with a tight fist.
The tactical system was working!
In Norway, the fans watching the livestream erupted in cheers.
"Theodore's passing is still absolutely terrifying! Great finish by Ødegaard too!"
"I knew it! The second Theo won the ball, I knew he was looking for Martin. I hope they both lock down starting spots!"
"This is why he's worth 320 million! Tackling, vision, assisting… he is the complete package!"
The broadcast camera cut abruptly to Erik ten Hag.
The Ajax manager looked furious, his jaw clenched tight.
He was seething at how easily his team had been carved open on the counter.
The goal had met almost no real resistance.
After the restart, Ten Hag marched to the edge of his technical area, furiously gesturing for his players to push higher and attack the Real Madrid goal.
In the 20th minute, the ball was worked out to Antony on the right wing.
The Brazilian "compass" was ready to show his skills.
He received the ball, and Real Madrid's veteran full-back, Marcelo, stepped up to confront him.
Marcelo, drawing on years of elite experience, didn't dive in recklessly.
He stood his ground, watching Antony's hips, waiting for the winger to make the first move.
Antony rolled his studs over the ball, attempting to execute his signature 360-degree spin move to humiliate the Brazilian legend.
Marcelo was having none of it.
The instant Antony exposed the ball during the spin, Marcelo launched a thunderous, crunching tackle, taking out both the ball and the man.
Antony went flying, crashing hard onto the turf.
"Beep!"
The referee immediately blew the whistle, awarding Ajax a free kick in a dangerous area.
Antony's flair had drawn the foul, giving Ajax a genuine attacking platform.
Ajax captain Dušan Tadić stood over the dead ball.
Following the whistle, Tadić whipped a dangerous, curling delivery into the penalty area!
At the far post, Éder Militão leaped highest.
Using his imposing physicality, the Real Madrid center-back overpowered his marker and powered a defensive header clear.
The second ball dropped near the top of the penalty arc and Theodore controlled it instantly.
For Ajax, this was a nightmare scenario!
"It's Theodore again!" Tyler shouted. "He's picked up the loose ball right on the edge of his own box!"
"This is where Madrid are lethal on the counter!" Neville warned.
Before the Ajax midfield could even attempt to counter-press, Theodore launched another raking long pass, once again picking out Ødegaard on the right wing.
Ødegaard was a highly versatile player, capable of operating as a forward, a winger, or a number 10.
Tonight, Zidane had deployed him wide on the right.
This time, after receiving the ball, Ødegaard didn't have a clear path to goal.
Ajax had learned their lesson.
Full-back Nicolás Tagliafico and midfielder Ryan Gravenberch scrambled across to double-team him, cutting off his angles.
Ødegaard hesitated, shielding the ball, looking for support.
Suddenly, a white shirt appeared in his peripheral vision.
It was Theodore. After launching the 60-yard pass from his own box, the teenager had sprinted the length of the pitch to join the attack.
Seeing his friend arrive, Ødegaard didn't hesitate.
Bang!
He slipped a crisp pass backward, right into Theodore's path in the central channel.
Theodore received the ball roughly twenty-five yards from goal. He took a micro-second to scan André Onana's positioning.
The next second, he decisively unleashed his right foot!
Bang!
The ball rocketed toward the Ajax goal like a heat-seeking missile.
Onana reacted instantly, launching into a spectacular dive, but it was futile.
The strike was too pure, the velocity too immense!
The ball buried itself into the absolute top corner—the dead center of the postage stamp.
2–1!
Real Madrid had successfully overturned the deficit.
With one goal and one assist, Theodore had single-handedly flipped the script.
After the score became 2–1, a noticeable shift occurred on the pitch.
The Real Madrid veterans—Modrić, Casemiro, Varane—began explicitly looking for Theodore, funneling the play through him.
He had earned their trust.
And Theodore did not disappoint.
For the remainder of the half, he was absolutely unplayable. He repeatedly found pockets of space near the top of the penalty arc.
With his long-shot attribute maxed out at 100, leaving him unmarked in that zone was tactical suicide.
Over the next twenty minutes, Theodore unleashed five long-range bombs from roughly the same position.
Out of those five shots, three found the back of the net.
It was an absolute slaughter!
By halftime, the scoreboard read 5–1.
Ajax's defensive structure had completely disintegrated under the barrage.
At the start of the second half, Zidane made wholesale changes.
Sergio Ramos replaced Militão. Rodrygo replaced Ødegaard. Toni Kroos replaced Modrić.
Theodore, however, remained on the pitch.
In the 55th minute, Theodore once again collected the ball and drove toward the edge of the Ajax penalty area.
By this point, whenever the Ajax defenders saw the teenager running at them, sheer panic set in.
Edson Álvarez and Gravenberch rushed out desperately, attempting to close him down.
Facing the double-team, Theodore remained supremely confident.
He nudged the ball slightly with his left foot, then accelerated!
Utilizing the terrifying explosive speed granted by the Bale Peak Card, Theodore blew past both Ajax midfielders in a blur of white.
Within two seconds, he was inside the penalty area.
Lisandro Martínez scrambled across to block his path, but Theodore didn't break stride.
He snapped a low, vicious shot before the Argentine defender could even set his feet.
The ball flashed past Martínez and tore into the net, leaving Onana rooted to the spot once again.
6–1!
It was a total demolition.
A "Children's Day" scoreline against the Dutch champions.
Theodore had scored five goals and provided one assist in less than an hour.
He had directly orchestrated all six of Real Madrid's goals!
Shortly after the sixth goal, Zidane decided he had seen enough.
He substituted Theodore.
The moment Theodore's number went up, the 30,000 fans inside Yankee Stadium rose to their feet, delivering a deafening standing ovation.
In just sixty minutes, he had completely conquered the American Madridistas.
With Theodore off the pitch, Real Madrid's attacking intensity noticeably dropped.
They controlled possession for the remainder of the match, but breaking down Ajax became significantly more difficult.
The referee finally blew his whistle to end the suffering.
The final score stood at 6–1.
Real Madrid secured a massive preseason victory, fueled entirely by Theodore's five goals and Ødegaard's strike.
...
In the mixed zone after the match, a reporter from Marca cornered Erik ten Hag.
"Mr. Ten Hag, your thoughts on tonight's result? Real Madrid's new signing, Theodore Bjorn, scored five goals against your defense. Do you still maintain that spending €320 million on him was a mistake?"
Ten Hag scoffed, his face was full of bitter defiance. "One match proves absolutely nothing. Furthermore, this was merely a friendly. We utilized tonight strictly to test our tactical shape and fringe players."
He crossed his arms tightly. "If I had deployed my strongest XI with full intensity, as Zidane clearly did, perhaps Ajax would have been the victors tonight."
Ten Hag might have suffered a historic humiliation on the pitch, but he refused to concede defeat in the press conference.
When the same Marca reporter relayed Ten Hag's comments to Theodore in the tunnel, the teenager simply shrugged, completely unfazed.
"Ten Hag's opinions have absolutely no effect on me," Theodore replied coolly. "I will only say this: tonight, Real Madrid are the victors, and Ajax are the losers. The scoreboard speaks for itself."
...
Back in the dressing room, the atmosphere was electric.
Sergio Ramos and Luka Modrić made a point to approach Theodore's locker.
Ramos threw a heavy arm around Theodore's shoulder. "You were unplayable tonight, kid. Keep that standard up, and I genuinely believe we will win everything this season."
Theodore nodded respectfully. "Of course, Captain. I came here to win every trophy available."
Modrić offered a wry, exhausted smile. "Theodore, if you're going to play like that every week, maybe I really should start looking at retirement homes."
It was a joke, but the underlying respect was palpable.
The dressing room hierarchy had shifted.
The veterans recognized that the teenager wasn't just a commercial signing, he was a legitimate monster.
Following the match, Zidane had solidified his tactical vision for the starting XI.
Over the next two weeks, Real Madrid played another friendly against Bayer Leverkusen.
Zidane utilized the match to test his squad depth.
Theodore, Modrić, Kroos, and several other key starters were rested entirely.
A heavily rotated Madrid side managed a 3–2 victory, with young forwards Vinícius, Ødegaard, and Rodrygo all getting on the scoresheet.
Following the Leverkusen match, the squad flew back to Spain.
Three days later, Real Madrid hosted Fiorentina in a final, behind-closed-doors friendly at Valdebebas.
It was the final tune-up before the La Liga season began.
In the first half, a rotated Madrid side struggled to break down the Italians.
The score remained 0–0 at the break.
At halftime, Zidane began injecting his starters. Modrić and Casemiro entered the fray.
However, even with the veteran midfield duo on the pitch, Real Madrid failed to exert sustained pressure on the resilient Fiorentina defense.
Finally, in the dying minutes of the match, Zidane deployed his ultimate weapon.
Theodore checked into the game!
The impact was instantaneous. The tempo of Real Madrid's attack shifted gears immediately.
In the 86th minute, Theodore received the ball near the center circle.
He didn't look for a pass.
He dropped his shoulder and drove straight at the heart of the Fiorentina midfield.
When Theodore accelerated, he was a terrifying force.
Utilizing his raw pace and immense core strength, he simply bulldozed his way through the center of the pitch.
He was unstoppable.
The Fiorentina midfielders, realizing they couldn't tackle him cleanly, resorted to a cynical, desperate foul to halt his progress.
Real Madrid were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the penalty area.
Theodore claimed the ball immediately.
With his set-piece attribute maxed out, a free kick from this range was essentially a penalty for him.
He placed the ball, took a slow, deep breath, and analyzed the goalkeeper's positioning behind the wall.
He stepped up and struck it with vicious intent.
The ball whipped over the wall with terrifying pace, curling viciously before dipping violently at the last possible micro-second.
It slammed into the back of the net.
1–0!
Real Madrid secured a precious, late victory on home soil.
With that strike, they completed a perfect pre-season, winning all three of their friendlies.
The exhibition matches were over.
The real work began now!
...
September 1st was approaching rapidly and Real Madrid's first match of the La Liga season awaited.
Their opponent: Real Sociedad.
Last season, the Basque club had finished a highly respectable sixth in La Liga.
They were a dangerous, tactically astute side.
During the summer window, they had strengthened significantly, acquiring the legendary playmaker David Silva on a free transfer following his departure from Manchester City.
Silva's vision and experience would undoubtedly elevate their midfield.
Alongside Silva, they boasted dynamic, lethal attackers like Alexander Isak and Adnan Januzaj.
Securing a victory in their opening away fixture at the Reale Arena would be an immediate test of Real Madrid's title credentials.