The ball hit the back of the net with a sickening thud.
Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer had already thrown his entire body across the goal line in a desperate, sprawling dive.
But Theodore Bjorn's header was simply too powerful, generated with terrifying neck strength, and the ball was traveling far too quickly.
Sommer's grasping gloves caught nothing but empty German air.
The ball flashed past his outstretched hand and slammed straight into the top corner of the goal.
Bang!
"THREE-ONE!" Rob Palmer roared, his voice cracking slightly.
"Theodore Bjorn adds a goal to his assist!"
"What a leap! What a header! The sheer power generated there is absolutely frightening!"
Terry Gibson chuckled in disbelief beside him. "You know, Rob, if Theodore had moved into the front line earlier—or if Zidane had instructed him to focus on attacking sooner—Real Madrid would probably be leading by five or six by now! When he steps forward, Mönchengladbach literally have no answer."
On Twitter, the reaction was a mixture of awe and expectation.
@Madridista_China: "Congratulations on the goal, King Theo!"
@EuroScout: "I stayed up until 3 AM for this, and it was entirely worth it. That header was powerful enough to shatter concrete."
@LaLigaTalk: "At that moment, the Mönchengladbach defenders were nothing more than Theodore's backdrop. Utterly helpless."
@RealMadrid_Stat: "Zidane can start making substitutions now. The game is over."
On the touchline, when Zidane saw Theodore score, his expression barely changed. He maintained his trademark, icy poker face.
To be brutally honest, Zidane did not feel that a 3–1 lead away from home in Germany was particularly safe just yet.
He knew the chaotic nature of the Champions League.
So, even after Theodore found the net to secure the two-goal cushion he had demanded, the Real Madrid head coach did not immediately turn to his bench.
...
Following the restart, the Mönchengladbach players began to grow visibly anxious.
Driven on by the frantic, desperate cheers of more than fifty thousand home fans, Mönchengladbach threw caution to the wind and launched a frantic assault toward the Real Madrid goal.
Midfielder Christoph Kramer had only just received the ball in the center circle when the Real Madrid press suffocated him.
Theodore and Modrić materialized in front of him simultaneously, forming a white wall.
Real Madrid's coordinated high press gave Kramer absolutely no time or angle to pick a progressive pass.
Panicking under the intense pressure of the two world-class midfielders, he had no choice but to launch the ball forward with a wild, aimless long clearance.
Bang!
Inside the Real Madrid penalty area, Mönchengladbach striker Alassane Pléa leapt high, desperately contesting the dropping ball with Raphaël Varane.
Unfortunately for the French striker, he was only 181 centimeters tall. Going up against the imposing Varane and Sergio Ramos, he possessed absolutely no height or physical advantage.
Predictably, Ramos bullied him out of the way and powered a commanding header clear.
The ball dropped near the top of the penalty arc. Luka Modrić brought the second ball under control with a velvet touch.
This was the perfect trigger for a lethal Real Madrid counterattack.
Bang!
Within the Real Madrid squad, Modrić's long-passing technique was arguably second only to Theodore's.
Without needing to look up, the Croatian maestro launched a spectacular, raking long ball.
The pass bypassed the entire scrambling Mönchengladbach midfield, dropping with terrifying accuracy right onto Karim Benzema's stride.
What followed was Karim Benzema's personal exhibition of world-class striking.
Facing the onrushing Yann Sommer, who had sprinted out of his box to sweep the danger, the French forward didn't panic.
He didn't smash it.
With breathtaking arrogance and technical perfection, Benzema gently scooped the ball with his right boot.
It was a flawless panenka-style chip.
The ball floated gracefully over Sommer's head, leaving the goalkeeper stranded in no-man's-land, and bounced softly into the empty net.
4–1.
Real Madrid had scored their fourth goal of the evening.
That sublime strike officially killed off any remaining suspense in the tie.
In the 65th minute, satisfied that the contest was dead and buried, Zidane made a triple substitution.
Vinícius Jr., Karim Benzema, and Theodore Bjorn were all withdrawn.
Ten minutes later, Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić were also replaced.
Inside the broadcast booth, Rob Palmer noted the tactical shift. "It looks like Zinedine Zidane is officially calling off the attack and declaring victory."
"And you can't blame him, Rob," Gibson agreed. "Just three days from now, Real Madrid will travel to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in El Clásico. Now that the suspense has vanished from this match, Zidane has smartly chosen to wrap his key players in cotton wool."
Following the substitutions, Real Madrid decisively altered their tactical approach, shifting their focus entirely to game management and rigid defense.
Although Mönchengladbach, spurred by pride, continued to attack in numbers during the final twenty minutes, Real Madrid's defensive shape remained extremely solid and disciplined.
The home side were entirely unable to change the scoreline.
After ninety minutes, the referee blew his whistle.
The score stood at 4–1.
Real Madrid had conquered Borussia-Park!
Although Theodore recorded "only" one goal and one assist on the stat sheet, he was overwhelmingly voted Man of the Match.
Beyond his direct goal contributions, Theodore had absolutely dominated the midfield battle.
He repeatedly suffocated Mönchengladbach's key playmakers, executing crucial tackles and breaking up several dangerous counterattacks.
His all-around dominance allowed him to easily beat out Modrić and Benzema for the official UEFA award.
Having defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach away from home, Real Madrid solidified their grip on the top spot in Group B with six points.
Inter Milan, with one win and one draw, sat second. Mönchengladbach fell to third, while Shakhtar Donetsk remained rooted to the bottom in fourth.
That same night, the Real Madrid squad boarded a private charter flight back to the Spanish capital.
The Champions League was put on pause.
The entire Real Madrid organization would now turn their undivided attention toward preparing for the biggest match in club football: Barcelona.
At present, both Real Madrid and Barcelona boasted flawless domestic records, having recorded six wins and zero losses in La Liga.
However, thanks to the offensive explosions orchestrated by Theodore, Real Madrid possessed a vastly superior goal difference, placing them marginally ahead of Barcelona in first place.
…
The next day was a scheduled training day at Valdebebas.
Considering the squad had just endured a grueling away trip to Germany, head coach Zidane opted against heavy physical or strength training.
Instead, the morning was dedicated entirely to the video room, meticulously analyzing footage of Barcelona's La Liga matches from the current season.
Know thyself, know thy enemy.
A thousand battles, a thousand victories.
Although there were very few true tactical secrets remaining between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Zidane still hoped to identify a microscopic structural flaw by obsessively studying the Catalan side's recent match footage.
After hours of video analysis, Zidane convened the squad in the tactical briefing room.
Standing in front of the magnetic tactical board, Zidane addressed the room, his voice echoing with absolute authority.
"Barcelona's attack, as always, is entirely centered around Lionel Messi," Zidane began, tapping the number 10 magnet on the board.
"Apart from him, Ousmane Dembélé's raw pace on the flank can cause us severe problems in transition."
"Therefore, in the upcoming match, our primary defensive focus will be Messi. Our secondary focus is Dembélé."
Zidane began moving the magnets rapidly across the board to illustrate a pattern. "Whenever Messi receives the ball wide on the right, his instinct is to cut inside and look for the diagonal switch toward the left side. Eighty percent of the time, he is looking to release Jordi Alba overlapping."
"After playing that pass, Messi will instantly drift from the right flank into the central channel at the edge of the box. At that exact moment, Alba will look to cut the ball back directly into Messi's path."
Zidane paused, locking eyes with his defenders. "At that point, Messi will almost always get a clear shooting chance. This is one of Barcelona's most lethal and frequently used attacking patterns. You must be hyper-aware of this specific sequence!"
Zidane then turned his intense gaze directly toward his eighteen-year-old phenom.
"Theo. Your primary task in this match will be defensive. During the first half, your job is incredibly simple, but incredibly difficult: Lock down Lionel Messi."
The room went dead silent. Zidane was assigning an eighteen-year-old the task of man-marking the greatest player of his generation.
"Do your absolute best not to give him a single inch of space to breathe, let alone pass or receive the ball," Zidane ordered.
Theodore nodded calmly, betraying no nerves whatsoever. He met Zidane's gaze with complete, unshakable confidence.
"Don't worry, Coach," Theodore replied, his voice steady. "I know exactly what to do."
In truth, Theodore had been eagerly anticipating sharing a pitch with Lionel Messi for a very long time.
He wanted to test himself against the absolute pinnacle. He wanted to defeat Messi using his own, overwhelming strength.
He wanted to make Messi understand, unequivocally, who the true number one player in world football was now!