Chapter 356: Li Ang Dependence? Yes, We Rely on Li Ang—So What!
The clash between Real Madrid and Chelsea had it all: a cautious opening, thrilling exchanges, and a dramatically emotional ending!
No one knew exactly what Li Ang was thinking before unleashing that astonishing long-range strike, and no one cared whether it was a stroke of luck or pure genius.
Neutral fans always loved games that ended in dramatic, heart-stopping fashion.
If Chelsea and Real Madrid had merely drawn, it would've been boring to them. But a last-minute winner? Now that was entertainment!
Especially when the one who delivered the final blow was Li Ang—an outcome exploding with narrative!
As the referee blew the final whistle amidst Real Madrid's frantic long-ball assault attempts, the journalists on the sidelines swarmed toward Li Ang.
But Li Ang, exuding complete authority, waved them off — he had something more important to do.
After a brief hug and celebration with his teammates, he walked straight toward Real Madrid's half.
"Chris!"
First, he greeted Cristiano Ronaldo, the closest player to him. As they high-fived and hugged, Cristiano patted Li Ang warmly on the back of his head.
Years ago, the boy who practiced tirelessly on the training field had now returned to the Bernabéu to blast a shot into Real Madrid's goal.
Cristiano felt a flood of emotions — admiration for Li Ang's relentless training over the years and wonder at his remarkable natural talent.
He had been a witness to Li Ang's rise, and now, even someone as proud as Cristiano Ronaldo had to admire how far his younger brother had come.
"You were outstanding today, Little Lion. I'm truly happy for you..." Cristiano said sincerely.
Hearing Cristiano's praise, Li Ang couldn't help but show the same shy smile he used to wear years ago.
And at that moment, other familiar voices began calling out to him. When he turned, he saw his former teammates quietly gathering around.
Before Li Ang could even open his mouth in joy, Nacho grabbed him around the neck first.
The next moment, the former Real Madrid players swarmed him, forming a circle, playfully roughhousing and joking around.
In the midst of the laughter, Li Ang lowered his head and surrendered, letting them have their fun, before they all finally embraced and exchanged greetings.
After catching up with Ancelotti, Mourinho also joined in, warmly hugging and chatting with his former players.
Even Ramos, who had publicly sided with Casillas during the infamous fallout with Mourinho, now greeted him affectionately as "Boss."
The old tensions had long faded with the passing of time.
Li Ang firmly believed that even if Casillas were still at Real Madrid now, he and Mourinho would no longer be at odds, but instead might even share a smile and bury the past.
Time, after all, was the best healer of relationships.
For Mourinho and his former Real Madrid warriors, what truly mattered were the glorious years they spent fighting side-by-side and the titles they won together.
Even those most stubborn fans, who had once been heartbroken over the breakup of Mourinho's Real Madrid, would now feel at peace seeing their heroes reunite so warmly.
The past had passed. What mattered was that the men who had rebuilt Real Madrid's honor and founded a true dynasty remained closely bonded.
There was no rift, no splintering into factions as the media had once sensationalized.
That was enough.
Mourinho eventually clapped and waved in gratitude to the Real Madrid fans who applauded him once again.
Then he disappeared swiftly into the players' tunnel at the Bernabéu.
Not because he didn't want to spend more time with the fans who supported him, nor because he didn't love the city of Madrid.
But because Chelsea's staff needed to catch a flight back to London that very night; three days later, they would face Everton in the Premier League's sixth round.
The schedule was tight, and Mourinho had no choice but to leave quickly.
However, Li Ang stayed behind.
He even planned to have a dinner reunion with his old teammates later in downtown Madrid.
He could afford the luxury — the FA had already confirmed he would be suspended for three Premier League matches.
For now, it was effectively an early holiday for him.
He could relax in Madrid for three days, as long as he returned to Cobham Training Ground in time for regular training after Chelsea's next match.
And over the next few days, Madridistas were thrilled to discover that they could spot Li Ang wandering around the city — casually shopping, dining, strolling.
The fans were overjoyed.
Li Ang didn't try to hide, either. He signed hundreds of autographs for delighted fans throughout Madrid.
Even though Mourinho had given him this "holiday," on the day of Chelsea's match against Everton, Li Ang still quietly flew back to London.
Without Li Ang to anchor the midfield, Mourinho shuffled things around — De Bruyne dropped back into a starting midfield role.
Salah started on the right wing, but otherwise, Mourinho kept the familiar 4-3-3 structure.
At kickoff, Everton immediately leveraged their home advantage to engage Chelsea in a fierce, open battle.
Initially, Chelsea controlled possession easily.
Even without Li Ang, a midfield trio of Kroos, De Bruyne, and Matić still ranked among the best in the Premier League.
But strangely, despite dominating possession early on, Chelsea's attack lacked real threat compared to Everton's.
Everton's manager, Roberto Martínez, had set up a direct, aggressive game plan: fast wing play and early crosses.
But it wasn't just aimless long balls — their fullbacks used individual skill to reach the byline before cutting the ball back into dangerous areas.
Today, Everton's starting strikers, Kone and Naismith, were experienced veterans.
They excelled at timing their runs and working together, while attacking midfielder Ross Barkley lurked behind them, ready to surge forward.
In the past two seasons, every time Barkley faced Li Ang, he was thoroughly schooled.
But now, Barkley had matured into one of the Premier League's rising midfield stars.
No longer naïve, he skillfully leveraged his strong physique and long-range shooting to impact games.
If Li Ang had been on the pitch today, Barkley would have been locked down again.
But without him, facing only Kroos and De Bruyne, Barkley found much more freedom.
He was in top form, having already scored two goals and assisted twice in the Premier League's opening five rounds.
In the 16th minute, during a counterattack, Barkley received the ball and unleashed a long-range shot that rattled Chelsea's far post!
Watching from the stands, Li Ang immediately realized: winning comfortably at Goodison Park today was unlikely.
And sure enough, not long after that thought crossed his mind, Everton struck first.
In another swift attack, striker Naismith took advantage of Kone's decoy run, met a low cross from Seamus Coleman, and smashed a stunning volley into Chelsea's net!
Naismith was ecstatic.
After all, for the past two seasons, Chelsea's defense had been the Premier League's benchmark.
Only the very best strikers usually managed to breach it.
For a relatively low-profile forward like Naismith to score against Chelsea was something even the English media hadn't really anticipated before the match.
Chelsea's defenders couldn't help but feel a little helpless at the moment.
They hadn't made any major mistakes; if there was anyone to blame, it could only be that they had pressed too high up earlier, and that Naismith's volley had been simply unstoppable.
Still, after conceding, Chelsea's coaching staff remained calm. Mourinho, after only a brief moment of thought, decided to continue pushing hard and attacking Everton.
His composure reassured Chelsea's players on the pitch.
When the match restarted, Everton, who had just taken the lead, seemed to grow a bit too aggressive, opting to continue trading blows with Chelsea.
Their morale was high, but as Chelsea ramped up the pace even further, cracks began appearing in Everton's defensive structure.
Today, Everton's young starting midfielder Besic was relatively slow and poor in tracking back.
Veteran Gareth Barry had to cover for him, and De Bruyne noticed this, starting to feed Salah with passes into space behind the defense.
Salah didn't disappoint. In the 31st minute, he latched onto a through ball from De Bruyne and decisively tore through Besic's defense!
This time, the Egyptian winger didn't over-dribble or play selfishly. Instead, he immediately squared the ball across to Suarez, who was signaling for it in the center!
Suarez drew the attention of young center-back Stones, then slipped the ball into the space behind him!
Hazard, making a diagonal run into the Everton box, beat the offside trap and calmly slotted a low shot into the near corner of the goal!
By equalizing before halftime, Chelsea dragged the match back onto the track they had anticipated.
And from there, Chelsea's morale only grew stronger.
In stoppage time of the first half, Suarez broke forward to meet a lofted pass from Kroos, charged into Everton's box, and finished clinically to put Chelsea ahead!
Although Barkley leveled the score with a stunning long-range shot early in the second half, Chelsea responded quickly.
With a continuous wave of pressure, they struck twice more and ultimately secured a 4–2 victory.
They won the match, but Chelsea's shaky performance still sparked plenty of discussion among the English media and Premier League fans.
At the post-match press conference, Mourinho predictably defended his players.
He even took the blame himself, saying Chelsea's inconsistent performance was down to his tactical setup before the game.
The English media, previously burned by criticizing Chelsea only to be proven wrong, didn't pile on immediately.
However, a week later, after Chelsea drew 2–2 against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge and lost their spot at the top of the league table, the floodgates opened.
An avalanche of criticism crashed down on Mourinho and the Chelsea squad.
Suarez had scored three goals across the two matches, and Chelsea's attacking players had done their part. Offensively, there was no problem.
De Bruyne, now playing deeper as a number eight, also earned praise from various media pundits.
But Chelsea's defense — particularly the backline and defensive midfielders — took a beating.
Conceding four goals across two league matches was unprecedented in Mourinho's Chelsea during the past two seasons!
Previously hailed by the English press for his steady performances, Maguire now found himself buried under a mountain of criticism.
During the key match against Arsenal, he failed to track Cavani's run properly, allowing the Uruguayan striker to score the late equalizer.
Some media even ran headlines directly questioning whether Maguire had ever been as good as people claimed.
The sudden media storm left even the usually composed Maguire feeling a bit lost.
Fortunately, Li Ang quickly came to his defense.
He blasted the media troublemakers, loudly stood up for his young teammate, and even redirected much of the negative attention onto himself.
With two Premier League matches passed, Li Ang's suspension had only one match remaining. His return to the pitch was imminent.
Chelsea fans eagerly looked forward to their true core leading the team back to dominance — and smashing the English media's slander to pieces.
But before that, Chelsea first had to face Wolfsburg in the second round of the Champions League group stage.
In the opening round, Chelsea had defeated Real Madrid, while Wolfsburg had narrowly beaten CSKA Moscow.
Thus, this round was a golden opportunity for Wolfsburg to grab more points.
They were second in the group standings. If Real Madrid failed to beat CSKA away, Wolfsburg could solidify their grip on a qualification spot by drawing or beating Chelsea.
They had no choice but to face the challenge bravely — there was no way out.
Without the courage to face the two heavyweights of the group, they would be left scrapping with CSKA for a Europa League spot.
So on the night of September 29 at Stamford Bridge, Wolfsburg erupted with fierce fighting spirit from the opening whistle.
They looked ready to battle Chelsea tooth and nail until the final second.
But today, with Li Ang commanding the midfield, Chelsea didn't clash with Wolfsburg head-on.
Instead, they chose to dominate possession first, methodically exhausting Wolfsburg's midfielders.
This strategy proved effective.
However, because Chelsea initially played somewhat passively, Wolfsburg managed to create a few chances to push into Chelsea's penalty area early on.
But faced with Wolfsburg's 1.96-meter-tall beast of a striker, Bas Dost, Maguire showed tremendous strength.
In aerial duels, he completely crushed the Dutchman, giving him no chance whatsoever.
Once Li Ang and Matić had cut off most of Wolfsburg's ground attacks outside the box, Maguire simply had to wrestle with Dost inside the box — and he did so like a true warrior.
Chelsea's defensive performance was a huge improvement compared to the previous two league matches.
Not only were there no major fluctuations, but even basic mistakes were rare!
With Li Ang's extensive coverage and sweeping defensive play, both Matić and Kroos played much more confidently and consistently.
After draining Wolfsburg's energy for nearly thirty minutes, Li Ang and Kroos then simultaneously pushed forward and launched Chelsea's first serious waves of attacks.
Within just a few aggressive surges, Wolfsburg's defense crumbled!
Li Ang's dribbling and surging runs completely disrupted Wolfsburg's defensive shape.
And just when Wolfsburg's defenders thought he would dribble all the way into the box, he unselfishly slipped the ball sideways at the edge of the area.
Suarez, completely unmarked, calmly used his left foot to curl the ball into the net past Benaglio!
Simple, clean, and ruthlessly efficient!
The real Chelsea — the side known for airtight defense and sharp attacks — was back before the neutral fans' eyes.
Even though Chelsea didn't press hard for a second goal before halftime and went into the break 1–0 up, everyone at Stamford Bridge knew:
Tonight, Chelsea would surely sweep past Wolfsburg and notch two straight wins in the group stage!
The Chelsea supporters in the stands began celebrating early.
Li Ang Dependence?
Fine, they would gladly admit it.
It felt great to rely on Li Ang.
They loved seeing him lead the team and dominate everyone in sight!
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