At this moment, Bastia became completely concrete in Martinez's mind.
Chataigner's passion, along with Julien's heavenly, dazzling figure on the field, both made Martinez's heart surge with yearning.
Could this completely change his career?
Martinez wasn't sure.
But after watching Bastia's performance tonight, he was very clear about one thing: if he went to Bastia, he didn't know what would happen, but if he didn't go, he would definitely regret it!
"Alright!"
Martinez said with a broad smile to Chataigner.
Chataigner's smile grew even wider.
On the TV, the camera focused on Julien, this player whose talent overflowed from the screen, drawing everyone's gaze.
Martinez pointed at Julien and said, "My roommate Olivier tells me every single day how strong Julien is, how increDibuly strong.
My ears are getting lumps from hearing it. Olivier also says that only by becoming Julien's teammate can you truly feel his greatness up close."
Chataigner laughed, "Of course! Julien is our Bastia's superstar, the core of our team!"
Then he shook his head and added, "Dibu, your friend's words have one problem, it's not only teammates who know Julien's greatness."
Martinez looked at Chataigner. The latter smiled, "There are also opponents!"
Yes.
The opponents too.
At this moment, the Coty Stadium had fallen into a silence. Apart from Ajaccio's die-hard fans who were still struggling to cheer and prop up the home atmosphere, the other ticket-holders were now sinking into despair.
They fell silent.
"FORZA BASTIAA!"
"Julien!!"
This allowed Bastia's "elite squad" of just fifty fans to demonstrate why they were able to come to their mortal enemy's home ground.
Their shouts, during this period when most of Ajaccio was silent, were like seeds of defiance sprouting, breaking through the soil.
Three to zero.
This scoreline was enough to silence Ajaccio.
Coach Dupont sat on the sidelines, tactically drinking water. However, the hand holding the water bottle trembled slightly.
Being crushed three-zero at home by their mortal enemy in just one half caused turmoil in his heart.
He had coached for a long time and managed many teams. He thought he could remain calm.
In reality, he couldn't.
Not far from him, Hadzibegic felt completely at ease. After the celebrations ended, he and his assistant coach had already begun thinking about rotation issues.
"Julien, and Kevin, should both rest," the assistant coach reminded Hadzibegic.
Hadzibegic nodded in agreement.
Julien and De Bruyne were the team's absolute core players. After this match, they had only four days before heading to Madrid, Spain.
To challenge Atlético!
This was their biggest opponent in the Europa League!
To ensure they could advance, getting points from Atlético would be the best scenario.
Atlético wasn't easy to play against.
Since Simeone took over, this Atlético team had completely transformed.
The media said Simeone brought tenacity to Atlético.
From last season's Europa League journey, you could see this team's strength.
Since the 4-0 thrashing of Udinese in the fourth round of the group stage, Atlético had maintained a 12-game winning streak in the Europa League.
In the knockout rounds, they successively eliminated Lazio, Beşiktaş, Hannover, and Valencia, before finally defeating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the final.
That final was also a Spanish civil war between two Argentine coaches leading La Liga teams.
In the first half, Simeone's Atlético Madrid led Bielsa's Athletic Bilbao 2-0.
Colombian striker Falcao scored twice.
In the second half, Falcao nearly completed a hat-trick—his shot hit the goalpost, but Diego's late goal sealed a 3-0 victory.
Atlético won their second Europa League title in three years!
Coach Simeone won the trophy in his first European campaign, becoming the first Argentine coach to win the Europa League.
Hadzibegic felt somewhat uneasy inside. Though he had always coached in Ligue 1 and would say in interviews that Ligue 1 was strong, in his heart, he knew Ligue 1's competitive intensity couldn't compare to the other four leagues.
Could Bastia handle Atlético, who had won the Europa League twice in the past three seasons?
Hadzibegic didn't know the answer.
But when his gaze fell on the field, seeing Julien, De Bruyne, Kanté and others running tirelessly, passing and cutting, forcing Ajaccio's players to respond with exhaustion…..
Hadzibegic felt determination surge in his heart.
He had to believe in his players!
Win!
They must win!
On the field, Ajaccio had almost completely collapsed. This situation made the stadium increasingly silent.
Many fans gritted their teeth, their faces grave.
Emotionally, they found it very difficult to accept this result: being dominated by Bastia, trailing by three goals, with no hope of scoring themselves.
But from a competitive standpoint, they had to admit there was a huge gap between Ajaccio and Bastia!
It wasn't just that no one could stop Julien.
Even young players like Mané, Lukaku, and De Bruyne, they couldn't contain them either!
Ajaccio's players were in extreme dismay.
If it weren't for Ochoa's spectacular saves, demonstrating goal-line technology to the extreme, the scoreline wouldn't have stopped at three goals.
Bastia's pressure was too intense!
So much so that when the referee blew the whistle for halftime, both players and fans couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
They even wished it was the final whistle, not the halftime whistle.
"Well done." As Julien walked over, De Bruyne extended his hand and high-fived him.
Julien smiled at De Bruyne; both were in good spirits.
The longer they played together at Bastia, the stronger their mutual understanding became.
Especially when De Bruyne met a teammate like Julien who was on the same wavelength, he felt playing with Julien was truly enjoyable.
As they reached the sideline, De Bruyne said, half-joking, half-serious, "I really wish we could be teammates forever."
Julien didn't answer, only patted his shoulder and changed the subject. "We'll probably rest in the second half. We must win the match in four days!"
At this, De Bruyne's expression instantly became serious, and he nodded at Julien.
Yes, they must win!
De Bruyne didn't want to lose this match!
He knew that when healthy, Courtois was Atlético's first-choice goalkeeper.
They would very likely face each other directly on the field.
So, he had to win!
During his last return to the national team, De Bruyne hadn't spoken a single word to Courtois.
The fact that they could still remain on the national team together was already the limit of what De Bruyne could accept.
The future was unclear. But at least for now, he couldn't possibly say a word to Courtois.
"Hahaha! You all did wonderfully! You turned Ajaccio into Bastia!"
In the locker room, Hadzibegic was extremely excited.
The players felt the same. As did the fans.
At this moment in Bastia, cheers had long been ringing out, carrying far into the falling night.
Julien's name was gradually becoming Bastia's totem.
This team, a nobody for a hundred years, was becoming Europe's surprise sensation under Julien's leadership.
Though fans knew that attention from Europe wasn't necessarily a good thing as people would wave cash and dismantle the entire Bastia squad.
But they had mentally prepared for this at the end of last season. It was Julien's promise that gave them one more season of happiness.
That was enough.
After rising and falling between Ligue 2 and Ligue 1 for so many years, Bastia's fans were realistic. They knew the ending, so they wouldn't dwell on it.
They would just thoroughly enjoy the present!
"Julien!!"
"Julien!!!"
At the Sunset Café Bar, fans erupted with devotee-like worshipful cheers.
On the TV, Julien was substituted off, and the voices of the fifty fans in the away section continuously rang out.
Julien waved toward that small corner. Then pointed to the crest on his chest.
These scenes were completely captured by the cameras, warming the heart of every Bastia fan.
Five minutes later, De Bruyne was also substituted.
Fans also chanted "Kevin," though the momentum wasn't as grand as for Julien. Still, Bastia's fans had accepted De Bruyne.
They just knew clearly that Bastia couldn't keep De Bruyne either. Being able to loan him for one season was already a luxury.
This season's Bastia squad, in all of Bastia's history, you couldn't find another team that could rival it.
For many fans, once Julien left the field, the match was already over.
But for every Bastia player on the field, the match continued.
After Julien left, substitute Anthopny Lippini came on at right wing.
Lippini was cursed by Ajaccio fans.
They all called him traitor, Judas.
And when Lippini fell near the sideline during a physical contest, he received not only jeers from Ajaccio fans but also various "beverages" of unknown origin.
On the bench, Julien still sat beside Clauss. He had a very good impression of Clauss.
From the limited matches, Julien had already seen Clauss's potential.
Julien had no recollection of Clauss, he didn't remember such a figure in football.
After all, there were so many players in European football whose ability exceeded their fame. Apart from the more famous ones, the others were hard to remember.
But from Julien's perspective, looking at Clauss's ability and talent, he definitely had it.
Perhaps Clauss had been delayed by various reasons?
After all, before coming to Bastia, the now 20-year-old Clauss had only played for a fifth-tier team.
For players at this level, if they couldn't make it, returning to regular life was completely normal.
This time, Julien decided to give him a hand. "Are you interested in signing with the same agency as us?"
Julien told Clauss that Mané, Kanté and others were all with the same agency.
He now wanted to sign Clauss too. Signing these players, to a large extent, Julien wasn't doing it for money, but to have a better cover for playing "brotherhood football."
Just camouflage. If he really wanted to make money, Julien had plenty of ways.
"Can I really?"
Clauss hadn't even thought about refusing. He was just pleasantly surprised, because he knew this meant he could enter Julien's circle.
"Of course."
Julien smiled and said, "Train hard. Someone will contact you. In the future, we can all play for big clubs."
"Yes!" Clauss's eyes were filled with anticipation.
Whoosh!
Ajaccio fans suddenly let out a gasp. On the field, Ajaccio's forward Eduardo outjumped center-back Choplin with a header.
Novaes couldn't make the save, but Eduardo's shot just grazed past the goal.
He knelt on the ground, holding his head in regret. This was Ajaccio's closest chance to scoring all match!
But they missed it.
Julien frowned seeing this. He knew Bastia's defense was their biggest weakness.
Let's see what happens in the winter transfer window.
Chataigner had already revealed the team would make signings and had begun negotiations.
Julien had also seen the list Chataigner showed him.
He saw a familiar name: Van Dijk.
This was a Ballon d'Or-level center-back!
Any fan who watched Liverpool reach the pinnacle of Europe knew prime Van Dijk's dominance. But Julien didn't say they must sign Van Dijk, since they had no connection at all.
Previously being able to suggest De Bruyne and Lukaku's names could be explained by saying he was also from Chelsea's youth academy.
So, Julien only expressed that the team definitely needed a center-back.
And Julien also saw Slot's name, couldn't help but smile. If they could really bring together Liverpool's future captain and head coach at Bastia, that would be quite a story.
As for goalkeeper, Giroud had recommended someone to him many times: Damián Martínez.
Such reinforcements also made Julien more confident about winning the championship.
A Ligue 1 promoted team actually winning the Europa League?
That would be pretty cool, right?
And if Julien remembered correctly, in the 2012/13 season, the Europa League champion was his former club, Chelsea!
To beat Chelsea, Bastia's current backline was simply giving away points.
So, they must strengthen!
Beep!
As Julien was contemplating, the referee on the field suddenly blew his whistle, followed by silence at Coty Stadium.
Mané had scored.
Bastia's bench players instantly rose to celebrate the goal.
Mané even did a knee slide at their mortal enemy's home ground.
0-4!
Ajaccio completely collapsed now. But time was running out, and they didn't even have a chance to salvage some dignity.
Finally, when the referee's final whistle sounded, the score was frozen at 0-4.
The explosive derby people had imagined didn't happen.
There was only one-sided domination.
Ajaccio fans, who had been so arrogant before the match were now passive.
Faced with the situation on the field and the scoreline, their tough talk seemed like a joke: soft, powerless, and laughable.
So, when the match ended, the fan brawl that Ajaccio's municipal government had worried about didn't occur.
Bastia fans celebrated wildly, shouting and waving flags all the way to the train station.
Along the way, they didn't encounter a single group of Ajaccio fans blocking them.
Bastia had won!
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