Aston Villa swept away the gloom of their shock defeat to Leicester City with a routine 3-0 victory in the following fixture.
The invincible aura returned immediately!
After 30 rounds of the Premier League, Aston Villa stood atop the summit with a terrifying record: 29 wins and 1 loss.
They had accumulated 87 points.
In second place, Pep Guardiola's Manchester City sat on 74 points (24 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses).
The gap was a colossal 13 points.
With only eight rounds remaining in the season, it was mathematically possible for City to catch them, but practically impossible.
Villa needed just four more victories to officially crown themselves Champions of England.
...
Four days later, Villa traveled north to St. James' Park for matchday 31 against Newcastle United.
The Magpies sat 8th, fighting tooth and nail to close a 9-point gap on fourth-placed Arsenal to secure Champions League football.
With so much on the line, the atmosphere was hostile, and Newcastle was ready to go to war.
March 25th. 8:30 PM.
With a crucial FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United looming just 48 hours later, Dean Smith was forced into heavy rotation.
Theodore Bjorn was named on the bench.
Sensing an opportunity with the league's best player resting, Newcastle threw caution to the wind. Steve Bruce's men launched a ferocious, physical assault on the Villa goal from the opening whistle.
Villa absorbed the pressure.
Dean Smith deployed a rigid low block, frustrating the hosts.
Despite Newcastle's intense energy, their attacks lacked the necessary quality to break through the claret and blue wall.
The first half ended in a grueling 0-0 stalemate.
In the 79th minute, with the Newcastle players running on fumes after their intense pressing, Dean Smith made his move.
Theodore Bjorn entered the fray.
The exhausted Newcastle midfield simply couldn't cope with his fresh legs and elite intelligence.
Just five minutes after stepping onto the pitch, Theodore broke the deadlock.
He lost his marker during a corner kick routine, arriving perfectly at the back post to meet a John McGinn delivery.
With a towering leap, Theodore powered a header into the roof of the net.
1-0!
A smash-and-grab victory.
Aston Villa took all three points back to Birmingham.
Two days later, Villa Park hosted Ole Gunnar Solskjær's Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Given the brutal schedule and Villa's terrifying form, Solskjær essentially threw in the towel.
The United manager fielded a severely weakened side, starting only five regular first-team players and filling the rest with academy prospects and fringe substitutes.
He prioritized their Premier League top-four battle over a hopeless cup tie.
It was the correct, albeit painful, decision.
By halftime, Aston Villa led 4-0.
The scorer of all four goals? Theodore Bjorn.
A first-half quadruple against Manchester United.
At the start of the second half, Solskjær substituted his few remaining senior players to save their legs.
Seeing United surrender, Dean Smith reciprocated, taking Theodore off to a standing ovation.
The match ended 4-0.
Aston Villa marched into the FA Cup semi-finals.
...
A week later, Villa would face Arsenal at Wembley.
The schedule was punishing.
Beyond the physical toll of competing on three fronts, Theodore's global superstar status meant his off-pitch obligations were piling up.
His agent, Jonathan, had secured lucrative endorsement deals that consumed his few precious rest days with commercial shoots.
The teenager had zero personal time.
Three days later, Villa hosted Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.
Theodore was given a complete rest, not even making the matchday squad.
Despite missing their talisman, Jack Grealish and John McGinn stepped up, scoring in the 43rd and 76th minutes respectively to secure a narrow 2-1 victory.
The rotation continued.
In the Europa League quarter-finals, Villa faced Bayer Leverkusen.
It was a grueling, tense affair at Villa Park.
The German side defended resolutely, and the match appeared destined for extra time.
In the 89th minute, Theodore Bjorn produced a moment of magic.
He curled a spectacular 25-yard free-kick into the top corner, securing a dramatic 1-0 aggregate victory.
Aston Villa had reached the semi-finals of a European competition.
Next up in Europe: the "Kings of the Europa League," Sevilla.
But before that, the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal at Wembley.
The relentless schedule finally caught up with them.
The Aston Villa squad looked lethargic and heavy-legged.
Theodore, who had played nearly every minute of crucial football over the past two months, struggled to find his usual dominant rhythm.
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal recognized the fatigue and adopted a highly defensive approach, dropping deep and surrounding Theodore with two or three players whenever he touched the ball.
The match was an agonizing, dull affair. Ninety minutes produced no goals.
Extra time yielded the same result.
The players were physically broken as the semi-final went to a penalty shootout.
Theodore stepped up first for Villa.
"Cool as you like," Martin Tyler commented as Theodore smashed the ball past Bernd Leno to set the tone.
Dani Ceballos stepped up for Arsenal.
The Spanish midfielder struck it firmly to the left, but former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez read it perfectly, plunging to his right to punch the ball away!
"Martínez denies his old club!" Tyler roared.
Grealish went next, calmly sending Leno the wrong way.
Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was up second for the Gunners.
He aimed for the bottom corner, but Martínez guessed correctly again, parrying the shot wide!
"Unbelievable from Martínez! Two consecutive saves!"
The shootout concluded 4-2 in Villa's favor.
Emiliano Martínez had almost single-handedly dragged his new club into the FA Cup Final against Chelsea.
With the FA Cup Final scheduled for the end of May, Villa could finally refocus all their energy on the Premier League and the Europa League.
Three days later, they faced a big test: an away fixture at Anfield against Jürgen Klopp's third-placed Liverpool.
Given Villa's form, Klopp abandoned his usual 'Heavy Metal Football.'
The German manager ordered his players to sit deep and absorb pressure.
Aston Villa had forced the mighty Liverpool to park the bus at Anfield.
But defensive blocks were useless against Theodore.
In the 10th minute, Theodore received a pass in midfield.
Instead of looking for an opening, he dropped his shoulder and drove straight into the teeth of the Liverpool defense.
Fabinho and Naby Keïta, Klopp's midfield destroyers, rushed out to meet him.
Theodore slipped a quick pass out to Grealish, but the two Liverpool midfielders, unable to stop their momentum, cynically clattered into the teenager, sending him crashing to the turf.
The referee blew for a foul just outside the penalty area.
Theodore picked himself up and grabbed the ball.
"Here we go," Jamie Carragher noted on Sky Sports. "You cannot give him fouls in this area. It's essentially a penalty for him."
Theodore stepped up.
He wrapped his right boot around the ball, generating vicious curl and dip.
Alisson Becker, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, dove at full stretch. He didn't even get close. The ball nestled perfectly into the top corner.
1-0.
"ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!" Tyler shouted. "He silences Anfield inside ten minutes!"
Falling behind at home, Klopp had no choice.
He waved his players forward as the Liverpool press was activated.
This played perfectly into Dean Smith's hands.
An open game meant space for Villa to counter.
Ten minutes later, Mohamed Salah attempted to isolate Douglas Luiz on the right flank.
"Not today, Mo!" Luiz shouted, executing a flawless, crunching slide tackle to strip the Egyptian winger of the ball.
The loose ball rolled to Theodore in central midfield.
Before the Liverpool press could collapse on him, Theodore launched a breathtaking, sweeping overhead long pass.
The ball traced a massive arc over the entire Liverpool half. Virgil van Dijk, usually aerially dominant, misjudged the flight path.
The ball dropped over the Dutchman's head perfectly into the stride of Wesley.
Wesley burst into the penalty area. Desperate to recover, Van Dijk lunged in from behind, clipping the Brazilian's heels.
Wesley went down. The referee pointed straight to the spot and booked Van Dijk.
Theodore stepped up to take the penalty.
He stared down Alisson. The Brazilian keeper bounced on his line, trying to make himself big.
Theodore began a slow run-up. Instead of blasting it, he delicately scooped his boot under the ball.
A Panenka!
Alisson dove hard to his left, watching helplessly as the ball floated gently down the middle of the goal.
2-0!
"THE AUDACITY!" Tyler gasped. "A Panenka at Anfield against Alisson! The boy has ice in his veins!"
With a commanding lead, Theodore shifted his focus to orchestration.
In the 43rd and 56th minutes, he delivered pinpoint crosses from the flanks, providing assists for both Wesley and Grealish.
4-0.
Liverpool mounted a late surge, with both Salah and Sadio Mané scoring impressive individual goals in the dying minutes to make it respectable, but the damage was done.
The final whistle blew. 4-2 to Aston Villa!
...
As the Villa players trudged back to the away dressing room, exhaustion written across their faces, a massive roar erupted from the staff.
News had just broken from Manchester.
Manchester City had lost!
In the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford, a Marcus Rashford rocket in the 89th minute had secured a 1-0 victory for Manchester United over their cross-town rivals.
The math was sudden and undeniable.
The gap at the top was 16 points.
With only five games remaining (15 available points), it was mathematically impossible for City to catch them.
Aston Villa had clinched the Premier League title with five games to spare!
Inside the dressing room, the reaction was surprisingly subdued.
The players were too exhausted to party wildly, and the title had felt inevitable for months.
Winning it was a formality.
But the relief was palpable.
Securing the league early allowed them to rotate heavily and focus entirely on the Europa League semi-final against Sevilla.
That night, Theodore's phone blew up.
Laura Woods sent a congratulatory voice note.
Dilraba Dilmurat sent a string of celebratory emojis. Even Princess Ingrid sent a video message wearing a Villa shirt.
Theodore lay on the team bus, exhaustedly replying to them all.
By the time the coach pulled into the Bodymoor Heath training ground, it was 2:00 AM.
Despite the freezing temperature and the absurd hour, tens of thousands of Aston Villa fans lined the streets, flare smoke turning the night sky claret and blue.
"CHAMPIONES! CHAMPIONES! OLE OLE OLE!" they chanted hysterically as the bus slowly parted the sea of bodies.
Fans wept openly.
Those who had witnessed the club's last top-flight title in 1981 were now old men.
They had waited 39 agonizing years through relegations and mediocrity.
Their wait was over!
The holy grail of English football had returned to Birmingham!
The next morning, the English press delivered the coronation.
Sky Sports: "THE INVINCIBLES REBORN! Aston Villa clinch the title with five games to spare. The 39-year wait is over."
The Guardian: "Crowned early. Aston Villa make history. The most dominant domestic campaign in modern memory."
The Times: "Theodore Bjorn's Aston Villa. Remember the name! The teenager has dragged a newly promoted side to the summit of world football."
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