The EFL Cup victory at Wembley was a massive milestone, but Aston Villa had zero time to celebrate.
The relentless churn of the English football calendar demanded immediate focus.
Next up was an FA Cup clash against Watford.
With the Hornets mired deep in a Premier League relegation dogfight, their manager practically surrendered the cup tie before a ball was kicked, fielding a severely weakened side composed entirely of reserves and academy prospects.
It was a bloodbath.
Aston Villa showed absolutely no mercy, annihilating the Watford reserves in a historic 10-0 victory!
Theodore Bjorn, playing as if he had a personal vendetta against the Watford backline, registered a devastating double hat-trick of contributions: 3 goals and 3 assists.
Villa breezed into the next round.
Following the FA Cup massacre, Villa hosted Sheffield United in the 28th round of the Premier League.
The Blades were another side staring down the barrel of relegation.
Like Watford, they possessed neither the quality nor the confidence to compete with the league leaders.
Villa cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory, with Theodore adding another goal to his ridiculous season tally.
...
The very next morning, the squad boarded a flight to Greece.
The UEFA Europa League Round of 16 awaited against Olympiacos.
In the first leg at the Karaiskakis Stadium, Theodore Bjorn once again proved why he was considered the best teenager on the planet.
In a terrifying first-half display, he orchestrated a 4-0 lead, bagging a perfect hat-trick and providing an assist. The tie looked dead and buried.
Seeking to protect his star player's legs during this brutal schedule, Dean Smith substituted Theodore at halftime.
However, taking the Norwegian maestro off the pitch completely destabilized Villa's control.
Olympiacos, spurred on by their fervent home crowd, suddenly found their rhythm in the second half.
Striker Youssef El-Arabi and veteran midfielder Mathieu Valbuena struck in the 77th and 87th minutes, slashing the deficit to 4-2.
Panic set in.
Dean Smith was forced to throw on two defensive midfielders in the dying moments just to stop the bleeding and preserve the victory.
The warning signs were glaring. Playing two intense fixtures a week was finally taking its toll.
Despite Smith's best efforts to manage minutes, heavy legs and mental fatigue were evident across the squad.
After returning to England, Aston Villa faced a massive test: an away fixture at the King Power Stadium against Leicester City.
Disaster struck before a ball was even kicked.
During the pre-match warm-up, Theodore Bjorn went down clutching his ankle after an awkward landing.
The medical staff rushed over.
While the initial assessment deemed the sprain minor, Dean Smith made the agonizing decision to pull his star player from the starting lineup entirely.
He refused to risk a long-term injury for a single Premier League fixture.
Without Theodore, Aston Villa looked toothless.
Brendan Rodgers deployed a rigid 4-1-4-1 formation, packing the midfield with bodies to suffocate Villa's remaining creative outlets.
Missing their linchpin, Villa's passing was slow and predictable.
They dominated possession for the first half-hour but failed to register a single shot on target.
Just before halftime, Leicester struck.
James Maddison intercepted a sloppy pass and instantly threaded a ball through Villa's disorganized high line.
Kelechi Iheanacho raced onto it.
Spotting Emiliano Martínez rushing off his line, the Nigerian striker executed a delicate left-footed chip.
The ball floated over the keeper and bounced into the empty net.
1-0.
Leicester City held on to that narrow lead, securing a monumental victory.
They had done the impossible.
They had handed Aston Villa their first defeat of the season!
While the loss snapped their historic winning streak, it barely dented Villa's position at the summit of the Premier League table.
They still held a massive points advantage.
...
In the post-match press conference, Dean Smith remained calm.
"No team in the world is invincible," Smith stated. "Leicester defended brilliantly today. But obviously, losing Theodore in the warm-up was a massive blow. The injury is minor, a result of the incredibly congested schedule we are facing. I'm not complaining, but the FA needs to look at how they protect teams competing in Europe."
Despite Smith's reassurances, the English tabloids went into a frenzy.
"THE INVINCIBLES FALL!" screams the Daily Mail. "Has the Villa bubble finally burst?"
"Rift in the Camp?" speculated The Sun, baselessly claiming a massive fallout between Smith and Bjorn.
Some clickbait outlets even claimed Theodore's season was over.
Theodore quickly shut down the nonsense. He posted a photo of his ankle wrapped in ice on Twitter.
"Minor tweak. Precautionary rest. See you Thursday. #UTV"
....
Three days later, Aston Villa hosted Olympiacos for the second leg.
Desperate for clicks, several pundits predicted that Villa's "crisis" would deepen and the Greek side would pull off a miracle comeback.
Theodore Bjorn silenced them in the most brutal way imaginable.
Returning to the starting lineup, he delivered a performance of terrifying, biblical proportions.
4 goals. 4 assists!
Aston Villa utterly annihilated Olympiacos 8-0 at Villa Park, securing a 12-2 aggregate victory and marching into the Europa League quarter-finals.
The crisis narrative evaporated instantly.
With Theodore Bjorn pulling the strings, the Aston Villa machine was back online.
But their greatest enemy remained the schedule.
Following the European demolition, Villa had exactly two days of rest before traveling to Carrow Road to face Norwich City in the FA Cup Round of 16.
Fortunately, Norwich manager Daniel Farke prioritized Premier League survival over a cup run, fielding a heavily rotated side.
Villa won 3-1, with Theodore comfortably notching another hat-trick.
Following the cup progression, Villa returned to Premier League action for matchday 30.
Their opponent: Chelsea.
In their first meeting at Stamford Bridge, Theodore had single-handedly orchestrated a chaotic 4-3 victory for Villa. Now, Frank Lampard's men arrived at Villa Park seeking revenge.
Chelsea sat 4th in the table, fighting desperately to secure Champions League football.
From kickoff, Lampard's strategy was obvious. Chelsea sat in a deep, compact defensive shape. They had no intention of playing open football.
More importantly, Lampard deployed a specific "anti-Bjorn" protocol.
He tasked N'Golo Kanté and Ruben Loftus-Cheek with a relentless, aggressive double-team on the Norwegian teenager.
"Kanté is following him like a shadow," Martin Tyler noted on the Sky Sports broadcast. "And Loftus-Cheek is there for the physical battle. Lampard is determined not to let the youngster breathe."
For the first ten minutes, the tactic worked perfectly.
Theodore struggled to find space, and Villa's attack sputtered. Chelsea's defense looked impenetrable.
But great players adapt.
In the 15th minute, Theodore found a solution.
Receiving the ball in the center circle, Kanté and Loftus-Cheek instantly collapsed on him.
Instead of trying to outpace them or draw a foul, Theodore initiated contact.
He backed his body firmly into Loftus-Cheek, using his elite core strength to shield the ball, essentially using the Chelsea midfielder as a pivot.
As Kanté lunged in to steal the ball from the front, Theodore executed a breathtakingly delicate flick with the outside of his right boot.
The ball slid perfectly through the microscopic gap between Kanté's legs.
"Oh, brilliant skill!" Gary Neville gasped on commentary.
The disguised pass completely bypassed the Chelsea midfield, arriving directly at the feet of Wesley on the edge of the penalty area.
With his back to goal, the Brazilian striker controlled the ball, spun his marker in one fluid motion, and fired a snap-shot.
The strike was so sudden that Kepa Arrizabalaga didn't even dive.
The ball rocketed into the top corner.
1-0.
"WESLEY!" Tyler roared. "Aston Villa break the deadlock! And the assist from Theodore Bjorn is absolutely sublime!"
"He's manipulated that situation perfectly," Neville analyzed. "Draws the double-team, uses his body, and the flick... world-class."
The goal destroyed Lampard's game plan.
The Chelsea manager had demanded a clean sheet to frustrate the hosts. Down 1-0 after fifteen minutes, sitting deep was no longer viable.
Lampard paced the touchline, furiously waving his team forward.
"Push up! Push up!" he screamed.
In the 21st minute, Chelsea launched a dangerous attack.
Willian received the ball on the right wing, isolating Matt Targett.
The Brazilian winger utilized a flurry of step-overs before suddenly exploding down the line, leaving Targett in his wake.
Reaching the byline, Willian whipped a dangerous cross toward the penalty spot.
Olivier Giroud was the target. The French veteran was a master in the air, but he was sandwiched between Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause—both standing over 6'3".
Mings dominated the aerial duel, powerfully heading the ball clear.
The clearance dropped into the central midfield.
Theodore Bjorn brought it down effortlessly on his chest.
On the Chelsea bench, Lampard's eyes widened in sheer panic.
"Foul him! Take him down!" Lampard yelled, pointing frantically as Kanté and Loftus-Cheek scrambled to recover their positions.
But Theodore processed the game faster than the Chelsea midfield could run.
Before the trap could close, he looked up and launched a devastating, sweeping long pass out to the left flank.
The "Bjorn to Grealish" diagonal.
The most lethal weapon in English football.
The ball traced a flawless arc, dropping precisely onto Grealish's boot.
"Villa counter!" Tyler shouted. "Grealish is away!"
Receiving the pass, Grealish drove aggressively at César Azpilicueta.
The veteran Spanish full-back was renowned for his 1v1 defending, but Grealish was brimming with confidence.
Grealish stopped dead, feinted outside, and chopped violently inside. The sudden change of rhythm completely wrong-footed Azpilicueta.
Breaking into the penalty area, Grealish opened his body and curled a textbook, right-footed finish toward the far post.
Kepa dove at full stretch, but the placement was immaculate.
2-0.
"AND HE BENDS IT IN!" Tyler bellowed. "Jack Grealish makes it two! Aston Villa are tearing Chelsea apart!"
"It all comes from Theodore Bjorn," Neville added. "The vision to spot the run and the execution of the pass... he is running the show."
Trailing by two goals, Chelsea's resolve crumbled.
Minutes later, they self-destructed.
Mateo Kovačić attempted a sloppy pass through the midfield. John McGinn intercepted it cleanly and instantly slipped a through ball into Theodore's path.
Arriving at the edge of the penalty area, Theodore didn't break stride. He took one touch to set himself and unleashed a ferocious drive.
The ball tore past Kepa like a cannonball.
3-0.
In less than thirty minutes, Aston Villa had essentially killed the game.
The remainder of the match was an exercise in game management.
Chelsea huffed and puffed, but neither Giroud nor Willian could find a way past Emiliano Martínez.
In the second half, Villa dropped into a comfortable low block, forcing Chelsea to break them down. The London side had no answers.
The referee blew the final whistle.
3-0!