The Rennes fans at Route de Lorient Stadium were stunned by Lukaku's "black whirlwind" charging power.
Even the Rennes players hadn't expected Bastia to come out so aggressively from the start.
The key issue was that coach Antonetti had prepared too little for Bastia's other players—sixty percent of his pre-match preparation had focused completely on Julien.
After last season's French Cup defeat, Antonetti remained convinced they had lost because of Julien.
As long as Rennes could contain Julien, they wouldn't lose!
Defensive midfielder M'Vila and the two center-backs, Boyer and Biyik, formed an inverted triangle, surrounding Lukaku in the middle.
Having finally gotten this chance for a long-distance sprint, Lukaku wasn't interested in playing intricate football.
Just charge!
Just pure speed!
Seeing trouble, M'Vila reached out to grab Lukaku's shirt before he could create separation.
He tugged at the jersey but was pulled by Lukaku's forward momentum, his hand slipping as he fell to the ground.
Whoosh!
Another collective gasp.
Lukaku dribbled toward the front, approaching the penalty area. Earlier he had been charging blindly, but as he neared the goal, his mind began racing—Should I push with my left foot? Strike with my right? I should...
Wait?!
Where's my ball?!
Boyer and Biyik had been tracking Lukaku throughout. When they saw his hesitation, Boyer timed his intervention perfectly, deflecting the ball away.
This player, brought to Rennes from Ghanaian club Hearts of Lions, gave the Rennes fans a moment's relief.
However, a blue figure once again set the Rennes supporters' hearts racing.
Julien!
While Lukaku was charging forward, Julien had been sprinting as well. When he saw Lukaku instinctively begin to line up his shot, Julien knew something would go wrong.
Who was Lukaku, after all?
A player who shot wildly in all directions and fell over at the slightest contact from defenders.
So, Julien immediately cut inside to provide support, but instead of receiving Lukaku's pass, he received Boyer's "pass."
Julien flicked the ball to the right and immediately surged forward.
Whoosh!
Seeing Julien on the ball, fans' minds flashed back to unpleasant memories.
Last season, Julien had single-handedly carved through Rennes' defense in exactly this way.
"Julien!"
The TF1 commentator shouted Julien's name.
At the Sunset Café, everyone stood up, eyes glued to the single screen.
Biyik quickly closed down on Julien, trying to position himself to block his path.
Julien instinctively nudged the ball forward, creating some space to avoid direct contact.
The outside world said he played like Ronaldinho, but Julien knew that only his dribbling ability was similar. On the pitch, he lacked Ronaldinho's incredible physical strength and explosive acceleration.
He had to rely on technique.
Facing Biyik, Julien dropped his shoulder. When he saw Boyer approaching from the left, he immediately feinted a move to the right.
Seeing Boyer coming to help, Biyik made his judgment—Julien would break through on the right and took a big step to intercept.
Julien suddenly cut back. Then pushed forward again.
He burst through the gap between the two defenders. Biyik realized he'd been fooled and tried to turn and follow, but his earlier step had been too large.
His pursuit was clumsy.
Boyer didn't think twice—he slid in with a tackle. If he was any slower, Julien would be in the penalty area!
He had to bring Julien down!
Left-back Théophile-Catherine had the same idea as he tracked back.
Both slid in simultaneously. One from the left, one from the right.
Thump!
Julien chipped the ball to Lukaku, who was making a run on the far side. With Julien drawing all the defense to the edge of the penalty area, Lukaku was nearly unmarked.
So, Julien's chip would allow Lukaku to head directly at goal.
As the ball flew toward Lukaku, he instinctively dropped back a step and used his chest to bring the ball down.
He controlled it to his feet, then looked to shoot. But M'Vila, tracking back, was already on him, providing physical pressure.
Lukaku's balance shifted slightly. He still managed to get his shot away!
Thump!
The shot was powerful and well-placed, heading for the far corner!
The strike had good quality.
Unfortunately, because Lukaku had taken time to adjust, goalkeeper Costil was ready. He flew to push the ball away.
Having stretched to his limit to make the save, Costil couldn't direct the ball out for a corner. The ball flew back into the goalmouth.
Both Julien and Boyer arrived at the same time, but Julien's footwork was a fraction quicker. After all, Boyer was a center-back—slower with his feet.
Julien got there first, firing with his left foot toward the middle of the goal!
Swoosh!
The ball hit the net. Julien was knocked down by Boyer, who had also stuck out his foot, and they both went to ground.
"Julien!"
In that instant, the same name echoed throughout the Sunset Café, throughout every street and alley in Bastia.
Startling the seagulls at the harbor.
At the Route de Lorient Stadium, Julien picked himself up from the ground and ran toward the corner flag. Bastia's small away section was tucked away in a distant corner.
Julien pointed toward them. This prompted wild cheers from Modoso and the others.
Boooo!!
But louder still were the boos from the Rennes fans. Julien ignored them, and began celebrating with his teammates.
Lukaku ran over and high-fived Julien: "Thank goodness you were in position. That ball was my fault—I was too slow."
Julien smiled and sad, "My fault—I should have played it to your feet."
After all, Lukaku was the "iron-headed fool, the big guy, one-nine-zero who doesn't head" and a "professional winger."
De Bruyne embraced Julien and patted his head, "Brilliant run."
Having jogged up slowly from behind, De Bruyne had watched Julien's entire movement during those few dozen seconds. He had to admit that Julien's emergence as a key player for both Bastia and France's wing play showed real quality.
De Bruyne rarely thought of others as particularly talented, but Julien just about qualified.
On the sideline, Antonetti threw up his hands, wanting to ask: What the hell kind of defending was that?
So many players, and they couldn't mark one man?!
"Fucking De Rocca again!"
Antonetti said angrily, then stepped to the sideline, waving at his Rennes players to signal more aggressive attacking.
Playing at home, he couldn't just sit back and defend.
Already with two consecutive defeats to start the season, this match could not be lost!
For this game, Antonetti had prepared a 4-5-1 formation with highly mobile wing midfielders.
Antonetti had analyzed Bastia's defensive line.
With Kanté covering such a large area in the center, Rennes would focus their attacks down the flanks.
The striker they'd bought from PSG for 6.6 million euros during the winter window, Erdinç, would serve as the central pivot.
At this moment, the TF1 commentator was still praising Bastia's opening blitz: "Julien has broken his personal record for fastest goal—69 seconds! While this is still far from Michel Rio's 8-second goal from 1992, through this goal Julien has demonstrated Bastia's strength this season."
The voice from the television mixed with the clinking of glasses and conversation throughout the Sunset Café.
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