Chapter 369: 2015 Ballon d'Or Winner, Li Ang!
"Unprecedented Seven-Trophy Kings! Made in the Premier League!"
"They may not be the most glamorous team, but they are the ones who know how to win!"
"The Dust Settles, Ballon d'Or Preview!"
"World's Best Coach: Mourinho!"
...
When Chelsea returned to London holding their Club World Cup trophy, laying out their seven glittering trophies at the press conference, the world erupted in praise!
Just like the legendary sextuple-winning Barcelona years ago, Chelsea now represented the absolute pinnacle of annual achievements in European football.
You could dislike them.
You could call their football ugly.
But you couldn't deny their greatness.
Even the fiercest Mourinho and Chelsea haters had to admit:
this Chelsea was the most dominant force in world football!
Moreover, many fans now eagerly awaited Chelsea to break even more records.
Winning three consecutive Premier League titles would cement a domestic dynasty.
Defending the Champions League would elevate them to another plane entirely.
Before Chelsea flew to Asia for the Club World Cup,
the Champions League Round of 16 draw had already taken place.
Chelsea's opponent?
An old friend — Paris Saint-Germain.
Overall, it wasn't a terrible draw —
challenging, but not disastrous.
Chelsea had beaten PSG in recent seasons,
and both Li Ang and Mourinho had always had the upper hand against the oil-rich French side.
After the draw, Chelsea's squad could focus completely on chasing points in the league.
In Premier League Round 17, Chelsea's match against Arsenal was postponed due to the Club World Cup.
On December 26th, after a six-day break back in London,
Chelsea returned to action in Round 18 against Sunderland — the Black Cats.
Sunderland, who traditionally battled relegation late in the season,
were in dire straits early this year.
After 17 matches, they had only 3 wins, 3 draws, and 11 losses — second-bottom in the league.
They posed little threat to Chelsea.
Although Sunderland started aggressively,
their main striker Jermain Defoe was isolated.
His younger teammates like Watmore simply weren't Premier League material —
they couldn't hold possession or even stay in position.
Defoe had to run himself into the ground,
alternating between chasing through balls and dropping deep to link play.
At 33 years old, even Defoe couldn't sustain that effort forever.
Once he vacated the penalty area, Sunderland's attack collapsed.
Seeing this, Li Ang decisively took control.
Despite Sunderland lining up with five defenders,
their backline was paper-thin apart from O'Shea.
At the 23rd minute,
Li Ang dribbled past Toivonen,
then slipped a precise pass behind Sunderland's defensive line.
Suárez, timing his run perfectly, controlled the ball and fired low past goalkeeper Pantilimon!
With an early lead, Chelsea easily shifted into counterattack mode.
Sunderland, stubbornly pressing forward, were ruthlessly punished again in first-half stoppage time.
Chelsea cruised to a 3–0 victory at home.
Even having played one game fewer,
they kept steady pressure on Manchester City.
However, the festive fixture congestion would soon challenge Chelsea severely.
After beating Sunderland,
Chelsea had only two days before traveling away to face Crystal Palace.
Mourinho, wary of fatigue, rotated heavily.
On December 28th, with a much-changed lineup,
Chelsea struggled.
Li Ang, staying deep to protect the defense, barely pushed forward.
Crystal Palace threw everything at them —
but facing the shield of Li Ang and Matić, they couldn't break through.
Chelsea ground out a 0–0 draw.
Meanwhile, Manchester City were also held to a draw by Leicester.
For Chelsea, it was acceptable.
As long as City didn't gain ground, they remained calm.
After another six days of rest,
Chelsea faced West Brom at Stamford Bridge in the first match of the league's second half.
West Brom were no match.
Chelsea, firing on all cylinders, ripped them apart in the first half.
Li Ang again provided a goal and an assist,
Suárez scored twice,
Hazard and De Bruyne both added goals —
everyone was in red-hot form.
However, in the FA Cup on January 10th,
Mourinho controversially fielded a near full-reserve squad.
Though Chelsea still won 2–0,
it was obvious Mourinho intended to abandon England's domestic cups to focus on the league and Champions League.
Rationally, it made sense.
Chelsea's fans understood and supported the decision.
But traditional English media were furious.
They accused Chelsea of setting a bad example —
encouraging other clubs to devalue domestic cups.
But Mourinho didn't care.
He had done the same at Real Madrid.
He would accept the criticism if Chelsea failed in the league or Europe.
But the season was far from over —
and if he won the league and defended the Champions League title,
he wondered what those critics would say then.
Mourinho's gamble gave Chelsea's main players two precious weeks of rest.
Before Premier League Round 21,
Mourinho and many Chelsea stars flew to Zurich, Switzerland.
It was time for the FIFA 2015 Awards Ceremony!
With no World Cup or European Championship interfering,
Chelsea's unprecedented seven-trophy season made them the clear favorites.
Mourinho won the FIFA Men's Coach of the Year.
In the FIFA FIFPro World XI,
Chelsea (or former Chelsea players) occupied six spots:
Thiago Silva, Azpilicueta, Matić, Kroos, Li Ang, and Ibrahimović.
The rest were Neuer, Marcelo, Ramos, Messi, and Ronaldo.
Strictly speaking, Terry should've made it too —
but popularity still played a role, and Ramos replaced him.
Finally, the grand finale — the Ballon d'Or.
Li Ang already knew beforehand he had won.
Before the ceremony, Ronaldo and Messi had personally congratulated him.
Unlike Ribéry's controversial win two years ago,
Li Ang's victory was unquestionable.
He had outproduced both Messi and Ronaldo in goal contributions,
and led Chelsea to a seven-trophy year.
Even Ronaldo, competitive as he was, showed no bitterness —
he was happy to see his good friend Li Ang crowned.
During the highlight montage,
Li Ang watched almost all his world-class goals from the past season.
When the clock hit 1 hour and 24 minutes into the broadcast,
Kaká finally stepped onto the stage, opened the card, and read:
"Congratulations to Li Ang — FIFA's 2015 Ballon d'Or winner!
A fully deserved triumph!
The first Asian player in history to win the Ballon d'Or!"
Zhan Jun was nearly shouting in the studio,
reeling off all the records Li Ang had shattered.
As the first Asian Ballon d'Or winner,
Li Ang etched his name permanently into the history of world football and Asian football.
The venue exploded in cheers and applause.
Li Ang lifted the golden ball trophy high and kissed it deeply.
He didn't shed tears like Ronaldo had.
His face was filled only with a satisfied smile.
Leaving Real Madrid and joining Chelsea under immense pressure —
he had done it for this moment.
Now, having achieved it,
his smile was one of pure, liberated joy.
Of course, this was only the beginning.
Not the end.
His eyes looked to the distant future —
knowing that one day,
he would create his own era in world football.
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