"Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, for De Rocca, are just different names."
The Bastia fans in the stands beamed with joy.
On the pitch, Julien, having beaten Mohamed Fofana, quickly advanced along the touchline toward the penalty area.
Reims midfielder Krychowiak stood in Julien's path, with winger Rignato also tracking back defensively.
Krychowiak guarded the inside.
Rigonato guarded the outside.
Along with the pursuing Fofana, three men surrounded him.
Julien performed two stepovers against Krychowiak. As Krychowiak lowered his center of gravity to prevent his change of direction.
Bang! He played a cross-field pass.
The ball went back to the advancing De Bruyne.
Julien had drawn too much defensive attention, and De Bruyne, with his cunning positioning, instantly found a vacuum in the penalty area.
De Bruyne shaped to shoot with his favored right foot!
Goalkeeper Agassa immediately prepared to make the save, but De Bruyne chose not to shoot. Just as his right foot was about to contact the ball, he flicked his ankle and chose to chip a cross instead.
The ball flew toward Lukaku, who was making a late run.
In the six-yard box, he powerfully headed toward the ball.
Bang! Clang! Thud!
Three sounds rang out in quick succession.
One was the header.
One was the ball hitting the post.
Another was the ball bouncing off his head.
Whoosh!
Bastia fans held their heads in dismay—missing from the six-yard box?!
Lukaku lay on the ground, completely bewildered.
He wanted to ask the same question—who installed these goalposts?! Couldn't they have put them a bit more to the left?
De Bruyne shook his head.
Was Lukaku talented? Definitely talented.
It's just that this kid sometimes couldn't find the goal.
But then again, you couldn't say he couldn't find it, because he always managed to get into positions where he could score.
De Bruyne got a headache thinking about how Lukaku might be Belgium's starting striker in the future.
Lukaku got up and smiled sheepishly at his teammates. He gave De Bruyne a thumbs up.
On the sideline, Hazdibegic had mixed feelings about Lukaku—loving his impact, hating his finishing ability.
Could he score goals?
Yes, he could.
But only occasionally, most of the time he'd give you a heart attack.
On the other side, Reims coach Furnier wasn't paying attention to Lukaku; most of his focus was on De Rocca.
Last season in Ligue 2, his Reims had been defeated by Julien.
Today, just minutes into the match, this one move by De Rocca had nearly cost Reims a goal.
He shook his head—he was still difficult to play against.
But even knowing that marking De Rocca with multiple players would leave others with space, he didn't dare let Julien run free.
He didn't know how strong Bastia's new players were, but he had experienced De Rocca's ability firsthand.
"Reims didn't invest much this summer, but through free transfers, their squad has also changed significantly. In their first match, they lost 0-1 at home to Marseille. Now Bastia is also tough to play against. Bastia's starting lineup has also changed significantly compared to last season."
The commentator's voice came through the television.
In TF1's real-time statistics of viewership for various Ligue 1 matches, this Bastia home game ranked second.
Only behind another Ligue 1 match also taking place in Corsica—Ajaccio hosting PSG.
Most viewers of this Bastia match had come for De Rocca.
His national team performances and his playing style on the pitch had attracted too many fans.
However, apart from that breakthrough in the second minute, De Rocca didn't have much space to perform.
Reims focused their defense on the right flank.
At least three men.
Playing away, especially after losing their first match, Furnier kept a very low profile.
Not rushing to attack, everything in service of defense.
Whoosh!
Bastia fans sighed again—Lukaku had shot over the bar once more!
Hazdibegic shook his head watching this. With De Rocca drawing heavy attention, other players had more opportunities, but Lukaku was really wasteful.
At this moment, Emenalo, watching from the stands, had a fairly good assessment of Lukaku.
He said to his colleague Vos, "Romelu is worth keeping an eye on. Although he wastes many chances, others wouldn't even get these opportunities. His technique is quite refined, though he's better suited for counter-attacks. Having him press like this at Bastia doesn't suit his style."
Vos nodded, "He's still immature and needs to continue improving."
Then Vos pointed at De Rocca, "Can he still return to Chelsea? He's not even potential anymore—he's ready for immediate impact."
Emenalo shook his head, "Impossible. He wouldn't suit Chelsea. There are too many ball-dominant players at Chelsea; Julien wouldn't be comfortable, and he wouldn't want to go.
From his situation at Bastia, he doesn't seem willing to choose a team where he can't be the core. If any team wants to sign him, they'd have to guarantee him core status, but big clubs would find it hard to make such promises."
He paused as De Rocca received the ball on the pitch.
"Let's watch the match. Don't think about Julien for now—we're here to scout our loan players."
Whoa! Fans' gasps rang out in unison.
On the right flank near the penalty area, De Rocca received a pass from overlapping teammate Théoni. Facing Fofana, he performed an elastico with his feet.
Completely fooling Fofana.
Fofana stepped toward the inside, and when he realized he'd been tricked, instinctively stuck out his leg to intercept De Rocca on the outside.
This left-right movement tangled his legs, and with a twist, he did the splits right there.
Fofana grimaced, clutching his inner thigh muscle, wanting to get up immediately, but having long legs had its disadvantages—slow recovery.
De Rocca had already burst forward.
What made Julien somewhat helpless was Théoni's positioning—he was running into the same space.
Julien pointed toward the outside.
Only then did Théoni quickly run to the outside.
This scene also showed Hazdibegic that Théoni was indeed lacking at the Ligue 1 level.
Left winger Palmieri also couldn't provide firepower.
The squad still needed gradual testing. He had no time to think further.
Taking advantage of Théoni's forward run drawing Rigonato's defensive attention, Julien suddenly flicked the ball outward with his left foot and cut inside!
Rignato's first step was off, and when he tried to catch up, he could no longer match De Rocca's rhythm.
Krychowiak immediately moved inward to block Julien's path.
But Julien moved back toward Rignato's position. His step frequency was very quick.
The ball seemed glued to his feet as he danced like a butterfly through flowers, drawing continuous gasps from the crowd.
For Bastia fans, even without scoring, De Rocca's elegant dribbling was worth the ticket price.
Rigonato hadn't even had time to make a defensive move, he was still shifting with unstable footing, and could only watch as De Rocca went past.
Goalkeeper Agassa rushed out, spreading his arms wide to expand his defensive coverage.
Julien glanced at Lukaku's position in the center.
Just that one glance.
Made Agassa worry about the middle.
The next second, Bang! Swoosh!!
________________________________________________________
Check out my patreon where you can read more chapters:
patreon.com/LorianFiction
Thanks for your support!