Chapter 254: Returning to Camp Nou Feels Just Like Coming Home~
Li Ang's bold post-match remarks after the Arsenal game unsurprisingly made both him and Chelsea the center of attention across Europe.
His confidence and unreserved hunger for the title earned praise and support from many fans.
Of course, there were also plenty who thought he was arrogant, maybe even disrespectful to his opponents.
But the truth was—as Li Ang himself said—after Chelsea's commanding victory over Arsenal in Matchday 31 of the Premier League, they had every right to talk about clinching the title early.
After all, the next two league matches were against Fulham, who sat dead last, and Crystal Palace, who were sixth from the bottom.
Yes, underestimating relegation-threatened teams could be dangerous, but as long as Chelsea maintained defensive discipline, the odds of an upset from Fulham or Palace were slim to none.
The schedule was favorable, momentum was strong—Chelsea didn't look like a team about to stumble.
In comparison, the pressure was now entirely on Manchester City.
Chelsea didn't even need City to lose; just one or two draws from them would be enough for Chelsea to build an unassailable lead.
And by this point—already into Matchday 31—trying to play coy about title ambitions would have only made them seem less confident.
So Mourinho and his players simply laid their cards on the table during interviews, stating clearly that winning the Premier League this season was their goal—and they were going to do it.
However, behind the scenes, Mourinho and his coaching staff quickly returned to the training base, solemn and focused.
They immediately began working on how to manage their squad for the upcoming matches.
The next two league games might not feature strong opponents, but they were packed closely together in the schedule.
More importantly, after those two fixtures, Chelsea would fly to Barcelona for their Champions League clash with Barça.
That made rotation essential. Veteran players had to be rested, and the likes of Van Ginkel, Kalas, and Oscar would have to carry more of the tactical load.
The day after the Arsenal match, Chelsea's first-team players returned to the training ground on time after a one-day break.
After much deliberation, Mourinho decided to rest his veteran core completely for the match on March 26th.
Ibrahimović, Lampard, Terry, Čech—none of them would play. They'd get an extra day of rest.
That meant that following the Arsenal match, these players would have a full seven-day recovery period, including two days off with no team obligations.
By March 29th, they would be fresh and ready for the clash with Crystal Palace.
Then, with another three days to recharge, they'd be in good shape for the heavyweight bout with Barça.
All things considered, the arrangement gave the veterans ample rest without affecting their rhythm.
And so, on the afternoon of March 26th, a nearly all-youth Chelsea squad traveled to face Fulham away.
"Nearly" because the backup keeper Mark Schwarzer was already over 40, and Ashley Cole certainly wasn't young anymore either.
But both brought vital experience that the rotated lineup needed.
That day, Chelsea's starting XI was as follows:
Goalkeeper: Mark Schwarzer.
Backline: Ashley Cole, David Luiz, Gary Cahill, César Azpilicueta.
Midfield: Van Ginkel in the holding role, with Li Ang and Essien on either side. Ramires played ahead of them.
Forwards: Romelu Lukaku and Oscar as the strike pair.
This diamond-shaped 4-4-2 sacrificed some width in favor of a stronger central presence, both in attack and in defensive stability.
It had been a while since Li Ang and Essien had started together.
With Essien expected to leave the Premier League at the end of the season to play out the twilight of his career elsewhere, Li Ang cherished every opportunity to line up alongside him.
Their opponents were weak—Fulham had already conceded 70 goals this season. Their lack of midfield control and a fragile defense were glaring weaknesses.
So after just five or six minutes of probing, Chelsea took full control of the match.
Li Ang signaled Essien to push up more and contribute offensively, while he and Van Ginkel locked down both flanks against any potential counterattacks.
In most Premier League matches, attacking through the middle usually wasn't productive.
But today was an exception.
Neither Heitinga nor Hangeland—both center-backs over the age of 30—had any real answer for Lukaku.
With Essien and Ramires feeding him service and Oscar drawing attention away, Lukaku found himself the focal point of the offense—and he stepped up.
In the first half alone, he bagged a brace, sending the game decisively into "Chelsea time."
Fulham's squad had felt a glimmer of hope when they saw Chelsea fielding such a rotated lineup.
They even entertained some delusional ideas about causing an upset.
But Lukaku's mini-explosion shut that down fast, and with Li Ang anchoring the defense and providing cover, Fulham's already fragile morale collapsed entirely. They all but waved the white flag.
Li Ang was subbed off in the 60th minute, replaced by Mikel.
David Luiz, who had only recently returned from injury, was also subbed off for Kalas.
Lukaku played the full 90 minutes—Mourinho wanted to give him the chance to score a hat trick.
Unfortunately, Lukaku squandered most of the opportunities his teammates created for him in the second half.
So, while he assisted Oscar for a third goal, his own chance at a hat trick slipped away.
Chelsea won 3–0 without breaking a sweat.
After the match, Mourinho grinned as he told Li Ang he could rest again for the next league fixture.
Li Ang had no complaints. He hadn't even used a stamina recovery supplement recently, and he was starting to feel a bit of fatigue.
So sitting out one match and then going all in against Barça? Sounded perfect.
Three days later, at Selhurst Park, Li Ang was spotted on the bench—surprising both fans and media alike.
In his place, Van Ginkel started.
The midfield trio of Van Ginkel, Essien, and Lampard wasn't flashy, but it was balanced on both ends of the pitch.
And with Ibrahimović, Hazard, and De Bruyne all in the starting lineup, no one doubted that Chelsea had enough firepower to break down Crystal Palace's deep defensive setup.
From the opening whistle, the match unfolded exactly as Chelsea had planned…
Mourinho had correctly predicted that Crystal Palace would deploy their favored tactic: three defensive midfielders sitting deep in a bunker formation.
So in the opening phase of the match, Mourinho gave Essien and Lampard the green light to try long-range shots more freely.
Even Ibrahimović was encouraged to drop out of the box and try his luck from distance.
It wasn't just about scoring from range—long shots also brought chances for deflections and corners, both of which were key ways to crack open Palace's parked bus.
And amid a flurry of long-range efforts and aerial bombardments, Ivanović—starting today—once again made a decisive impact!
Rising up during a corner kick, he powered home a header, becoming the key man to break the deadlock once more.
With that goal, Chelsea had the upper hand. From that point forward, it was just a matter of how many they wanted to score before throttling back.
But fate had other plans.
In first-half stoppage time, Palace's No. 7, Yannick Bolasie, burst down the flank and whipped in a low, powerful cross.
Their striker, Cameron Jerome, nearly got a touch on it—but in reality, he didn't.
Instead, it was Terry, trying to clear the ball, who accidentally stabbed it into his own net!
The image of Čech staring wide-eyed at Terry after the own goal went instantly viral during halftime.
To be fair, it was just an unlucky mistake.
Had the second half gone smoothly for Chelsea, it would've quickly been forgotten.
But the problem was—it didn't go smoothly.
Crystal Palace, having escaped the jaws of death, doubled down on their defensive grit.
And their defensive midfielder Jedinak played the game of his life, going into full beast mode.
As Chelsea switched to a more ground-based attacking strategy, Jedinak became a wall in front of the box.
In the first 20 minutes of the second half, he racked up 4 tackles and 5 aerial duels won—single-handedly neutralizing Chelsea's surging attacks!
Mourinho, watching closely, couldn't afford to wait any longer.
He immediately called for Li Ang to start warming up!
Over 20,000 Palace fans inside Selhurst Park saw Li Ang begin stretching on the sideline—and erupted in deafening boos!
But no amount of jeering could stop his entrance.
In the 71st minute, Li Ang came on for Essien, carrying Mourinho's latest tactical instructions.
"We'll attack more through the wings, combine inside-out play. Zlatan, stop drifting out of the box—just stay in there and hold them down. I'll handle that holding mid."
Li Ang's orders were crisp, full of conviction—he didn't even seem to regard Jedinak as a threat.
But in truth, Li Ang had already made his assessment while on the bench.
Jedinak was the real deal—skilled, disciplined, tough.
Still, Chelsea needed a goal to break the deadlock again. So Li Ang had to project strength, inspire confidence, and rally his teammates.
He respected Jedinak internally. But outwardly, he made sure everyone knew he had the situation under control.
Moments after entering the game, Li Ang took over the orchestration of Chelsea's attacks.
With the focus now on using the flanks and stretching Palace's defense, he repeatedly launched long diagonal balls to Hazard and De Bruyne, forcing the defense to shift and react.
Jedinak was excellent in the center, but he couldn't cover both flanks by himself.
De Bruyne didn't press too aggressively, but Hazard—burning with frustration—was on fire.
Palace's right back Mariappa, a player who'd spent years in the Championship and only recently returned to the Premier League, was completely outmatched.
In the 78th minute, Hazard left Mariappa for dead with two slick directional shifts and hit a low cross near the byline, looking to connect with Ibrahimović.
Palace center-back Delaney threw himself into the air and battled Ibra, and it seemed neither of them made clean contact with the ball.
But as the ball flew out toward the edge of the box, Li Ang had already read the trajectory and moved into position for the second ball.
Jedinak wasn't about to give up that easily and clashed physically with Li Ang as the ball descended.
But Jedinak underestimated just how determined—and physically dominant—Li Ang could be.
After a short tussle, Jedinak lost the positioning battle.
The ball dropped, and Li Ang rose, heading it forward and immediately charging toward Palace's penalty area with it at his feet!
Jedinak scrambled, grabbing Li Ang's shirt as they both approached the edge of the box.
He thought Li Ang would try to enter the area, look for a shot or a pass.
But no—Li Ang, just as he reached the top of the D, unleashed a rocket with his left foot!
Palace keeper Julián Speroni reacted quickly.
He launched himself across goal the moment Li Ang struck the ball.
But he wasn't a top-tier shot-stopper, and this was no average shot—it was a thunderbolt.
Many fans watching at home blinked and missed it.
The ball screamed into the top corner, ripping into the far side netting.
The entire stadium fell silent.
Speroni crashed to the ground, shouting in frustration.
But none of his teammates could be blamed.
The ball had dropped from a half-clearance, and Li Ang reacted instantly.
Jedinak had done everything short of dragging him to the turf—and doing that would've meant a card (maybe red) and a dangerous free kick for Chelsea.
There was simply no stopping it.
Li Ang had struck with too much power and precision.
Mourinho and his assistants celebrated wildly on the sideline!
But the Special One didn't lose his composure. After the celebration, he immediately sent several defensive subs to warm up.
In the final minutes, Mourinho used substitutions to disrupt Palace's rhythm and lock down the 2–1 lead.
A near-perfect opening, a tense back-and-forth battle, and a clutch finish.
Chelsea had secured back-to-back league wins and hit their short-term target.
And Li Ang, once again delivering a dagger in the dying moments, stirred heated debates across English football—and probably gave Barça fans some sleepless nights.
Li Ang, meanwhile, was looking forward to returning to Camp Nou to face Barcelona.
After all, he'd won so many times there.
For him, going back to Camp Nou felt just like coming home.
Back in the day, the feeling of winning at that stadium… was simply unbeatable.
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