Chapter 396: This City Is Still My Lucky YC City

“The ball’s in! It’s in!!! A thunderous worldie! Li Ang—!!! Li Ang scores another world-class goal! This is also his 21st league goal of the season! He has now officially overtaken his former teammate Lukaku to move into fifth place in the Premier League scoring charts — and he’s the only midfielder among the top five scorers!”

“That shot looked like it was taken from at least 35 meters out… what unbelievable power! Brilliant strike!”

After witnessing Li Ang’s super long-range goal live, commentators Jian Jun and today’s special guest, General Fan, both shouted in excitement.

Coach Zhang, sitting nearby, chuckled in satisfaction,

watching Li Ang celebrate with his teammates on the broadcast.

This season, Li Ang had voluntarily given up most of his shooting opportunities,

yet his attacking efficiency had only risen.

With over 20 goals scored in the league already,

Li Ang had exceeded the pre-season expectations of many journalists.

And when you added his 22 league assists on top,

his total goal contributions weren’t much different from last season either!

Suárez had certainly enjoyed it —

at least half of Li Ang’s assists had been converted into goals by him.

In Chelsea’s now fully matured attacking system,

Suárez’s finishing power shone brightly.

35 league goals — a record-breaking tally!

In the face of such numbers,

even the harshest critics couldn’t complain about the €90 million Chelsea had spent to bring him in last summer.

Liverpool fans, watching Suárez dominate at Chelsea,

felt both regret and happiness.

Just like when Torres had transferred years earlier:

regret that they couldn’t keep him, but glad to see him succeed elsewhere.

It wasn’t that players like Torres and Suárez chased money —

both had given Liverpool chances to keep them.

They weren’t obsessed with high wages.

All they asked for was solid investment and full backing from the club.

But Liverpool, in those eras,

simply wasn’t in a strong enough position to offer that security.

Thus, the heartbreak lingered in Liverpool fans’ hearts.

Still, they now had reason to hope.

Klopp had arrived, and Liverpool finally looked set for a resurgence.

And they were happy for Suárez too —

not only had he fulfilled his championship dreams,

but every success added clauses to the transfer deal.

It was widely reported that if Suárez helped Chelsea win the Champions League,

Liverpool would immediately receive another €15 million.

For Chelsea or Manchester City, €15 million wasn’t a big deal.

But for Liverpool, it was vital.

Their wealthy owners ran multiple clubs and didn’t lavish Liverpool with unlimited funds.

Thus, selling well and earning bonus fees was key.

With Suárez generating around €110 million overall for Liverpool,

fans could only feel pleased.

Chelsea, for their part, saw the transfer fee as money well spent.

Suárez proved his worth, and everyone walked away satisfied.

Looking back now, last summer’s blockbuster transfer was a classic win-win-win.

On the pitch, after congratulating Li Ang,

Suárez was burning with competitive fire.

Arsenal’s form was flat today,

and he knew he had a real chance to score.

His former rival Cavani had scored 26 goals so far this season —

but Suárez had left him trailing by 10 full goals!

Nothing tasted sweeter than pulling further ahead of a longtime competitor.

Seeing Suárez’s eager expression,

Li Ang leaned over, whispered something into his ear,

and the two grinned knowingly at each other.

When play resumed, Chelsea’s style remained aggressive and flamboyant.

Despite being away from home,

they showed no intention of “preserving” a lead.

Mourinho had no issue with this.

Winning would be ideal —

if not, they could always adjust later to secure a draw.

After all, the league title was already in the bag.

Why not let the players enjoy themselves?

But Mourinho hadn’t counted on his players’ boldness igniting Arsenal’s fighting spirit.

Even though Arsenal and Chelsea weren’t true archrivals,

they were still major local competitors.

Moreover, there was history —

Mourinho and Wenger had clashed many times before.

Maybe the managers had moved on,

but the players hadn’t forgotten.

Seeing Chelsea looking to pile on more goals,

Arsenal’s players got fired up,

upping their intensity in challenges and searching for counterattacking opportunities.

When comparing full-strength lineups,

Chelsea clearly outclassed Arsenal.

But today, Chelsea were playing with a heavily rotated squad,

while Arsenal fielded most of their starting eleven.

Thus, in terms of starting strength today,

the sides were actually fairly matched.

Chelsea’s main attackers — powered by more first-teamers —

sparkled in attack.

But their defense, with more backups,

was vulnerable.

With their fighting spirit reignited,

Arsenal started clawing back the momentum.

And in the 23rd minute,

they broke through.

Santi Cazorla received a smart pass from Ramsey,

whipped a perfect cross to the back post,

and Cavani poked home to equalize!

Thus began a goal-fest.

By halftime, the score was already tied 2–2.

In the 31st minute of the first half, Suárez latched onto a through ball from Kroos and calmly slotted it home with a low shot.

Arsenal, however, equalized again in first-half stoppage time through Walcott.

Today’s Arsenal showed remarkable resilience,

determined not to let Chelsea dominate at the Emirates.

After the second half began, the two teams continued to battle fiercely.

In the 62nd minute, Li Ang dribbled past two Arsenal midfielders before feeding Hazard,

who curled a beautiful shot into the net.

But just seven minutes later, Cazorla dribbled past two Chelsea defenders near the box

and laid it off to the onrushing Ramsey,

who blasted the ball into the net to level the score again!

Both teams had fully hit their stride offensively.

The fans in the stadium were loving every minute of it — shouting and cheering at the thrilling end-to-end action!

Chelsea pushed hard for a late winner,

but after Suárez struck the post on a semi-one-on-one chance,

their luck seemed to dry up.

By the 75th minute, the attacking efficiency on both sides dropped notably,

and the pace of the game gradually slowed.

Mourinho took the opportunity to send some key defenders from the bench to warm up,

and the match entered its closing phase.

Ultimately, Chelsea and Arsenal finished with a 3–3 draw at the Emirates,

delivering an unexpected goal-fest that satisfied even neutral fans.

Just four days later, the Premier League wrapped up the 2015–2016 season.

Chelsea traveled again — this time facing Sunderland in the final round.

Mourinho continued his heavy rotation policy,

giving several youth academy products rare starting opportunities.

Li Ang and Suárez, along with other attacking stars, started on the bench.

Sunderland, having secured safety early,

had little motivation to attack.

Chelsea’s youngsters were happy to get game time,

and Sunderland’s players “cooperated” by not playing too aggressively.

Gnabry and Abraham both scored,

securing a 2–1 away win for Chelsea to finish the season.

Thus, the Premier League season officially concluded —

Chelsea had captured the league title for the third consecutive year,

establishing a blue dynasty!

Li Ang finished with 21 goals and 23 assists in the league,

securing the Premier League assist king title for the third straight season.

Suárez, meanwhile, shattered the Premier League single-season goal record,

finishing with a stunning 36 goals to claim the Golden Boot.

It was his second time winning the Premier League’s top scorer honor.

After the final match,

Suárez repeatedly thanked the Chelsea coaching staff and especially Li Ang for his success.

Reporters congratulated him politely,

but privately many thought Suárez had simply ridden the Chelsea system to glory.

In their view,

it wasn’t so much that Suárez had made Chelsea stronger,

but that Chelsea had given Suárez the perfect platform to thrive.

The real irreplaceable piece of Chelsea’s attack remained Li Ang.

Li Ang himself stayed humble.

He never entertained the notion that he alone was responsible for the team’s success.

When asked for comments,

he once again praised the team’s collective strength — as he always did.

The season’s end brought well-deserved rest,

and of course, a grand title celebration awaited Chelsea’s players.

But during the club’s official trophy celebration,

the players and staff were notably restrained.

They were happy, yes —

but the Champions League final was looming.

There was no room yet for full-blown partying.

Italy’s Serie A had also just wrapped up.

Thus, Juventus and Chelsea would enter the final with equal rest periods.

Neither side had to worry about fatigue anymore.

Instead, Mourinho and Allegri’s biggest headache was how to keep their players sharp.

Arranging friendlies with major clubs was impossible —

most teams were already on vacation.

Both sides could only organize training matches against their own reserves or youth teams.

But Holland, always full of ideas, managed to arrange something special:

a closed-door friendly against Bristol City.

Bristol City had finished 6th in the Championship and lost in the promotion playoffs.

Still, they were happy to help —

partly out of gratitude for Chelsea loaning players like Maguire and Aké.

The deal was simple:

play the friendly, help Chelsea prepare for the final, and get some nice bonus money in return.

For Bristol City’s players,

earning a Premier League-level payday was a rare treat.

Thus, with an extra match under their belt,

Chelsea’s preparation slightly edged ahead of Juventus’.

After training at Cobham on May 27th,

Chelsea boarded a plane to Milan.

For Li Ang, it was a return to familiar ground.

Even though he had left AC Milan long ago,

Milan’s fans greeted him warmly at the airport,

holding up his old No. 6 jersey.

Sitting on the bus, watching the Rossoneri faithful shouting his name outside the windows,

Li Ang smiled warmly.

“This city… it’s still my lucky YC City.”