De Bruyne held the football Julien had handed him.
He was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected to be given the penalty.
When he looked up at Julien, the latter nodded at him and patted his shoulder, giving him a slight push toward the penalty area.
De Bruyne understood the meaning in Julien's eyes. He took a deep breath and walked toward the penalty spot.
After placing the ball, he faced Courtois head-on.
Two national team teammates. Former good friends.
A direct confrontation.
No one had expected this scene.
No one had imagined they would meet on the field like this.
Whether at the stadium or watching the broadcast, many fans knew about De Bruyne and Courtois's history.
The media had hyped it up before the match.
And now, commentators broadcasting the game were "educating" fans about the conflict between the two.
Who doesn't love a bit of gossip?
So, seeing this scene, the fire of gossip burned in everyone's eyes!
On the field, players from both sides stood outside the penalty area.
Inside the box, only Courtois and De Bruyne remained.
Neither showed any expression.
De Bruyne raised his right arm to wipe away sweat, then stepped back a few paces.
Tweet!
The referee's whistle sounded. He could take the shot.
Behind De Bruyne, Julien didn't know if De Bruyne was nervous, but he himself was extremely nervous at this moment.
If this went in, fine. But if it didn't, De Bruyne's mental fortitude might shatter.
Bastia's teammates, coaches, and fans all fixed their attention on De Bruyne.
At this moment, behind Courtois, Atletico fans were frantically cursing at De Bruyne, hoping to affect him this way.
"¡Eres un cornudo!"
Cornudo literally means "horned," stemming from European traditional culture where "horns" symbolize a partner's infidelity, similar to the English "cuckold."
The phrase roughly meant: "You're a cuckold."
De Bruyne paid no attention. After taking a deep breath, without looking at Courtois, he ran up directly.
No tricks.
No distractions.
Just raw power!
BOOM!
A direct strike toward the top corner!
De Bruyne put tremendous force into this shot, as if shooting out all the anger he'd been holding inside for so long.
CLANG!
The football flew at tremendous speed toward the underside of the crossbar, deflecting into the net.
Courtois was tall and imposing. His physical frame at the goalkeeper position was simply blessed with talent.
But facing De Bruyne's shot, he could only watch helplessly.
The ball was in again.
0-2.
This was absolutely a score that shocked everyone. No one had expected Bastia could produce a 2-0 scoreline at Atletico's home ground.
This season, aside from a draw in the first La Liga round, Atletico had won everything else in the league and Europa League!
On the sideline, Simeone was furious seeing this goal. In his view, this penalty shouldn't have existed in the first place. Now down by two, he clapped at his players while saying, "Run! Get moving!"
On the other side, De Bruyne didn't celebrate after scoring. Instead, he turned to find Julien in the crowd.
He showed him a smile, a relieved smile.
It had a feeling of letting the past blow away with the wind.
They looked at each other without words.
Only a deep embrace.
As they released, De Bruyne said, "Thank you."
Before Julien could respond, other teammates rushed over, hugging them both in celebration.
As captain, Julien shouted, "Just like this! Hold on!"
Rothen echoed, "Hold on!"
The others all chimed in.
For Bastia now, this was absolutely a dream start.
On the sideline, Hadzibegic was so excited his face turned red. He even pumped his fist toward the Atletico coaching bench in celebration.
Playing away against the defending champions and leading by two, what's wrong with celebrating a bit?
Simeone was seething with anger.
The fury on his face intensified even more.
After praising De Bruyne's ice-cold penalty, the commentator continued, "Now Atletico has a problem. They need to put enough offensive pressure on Bastia, otherwise, given Bastia's counterattack efficiency, they could very well get another scoring opportunity. From the current situation, Atletico's flank defense still can't keep up with Julien."
No matter what the commentators said,
Bastia was in full celebration mode now.
What could be better than watching your team, a fourth-seeded team dominating in the group stage?
If anything, it would be continuing to dominate in the knockout rounds!
The entire Sunset Café Tavern erupted in cheers.
"That's how you do it! Show these Spaniards how lethal our counterattack is!"
"Haha, they can't defend Julien's runs, and De Bruyne's passing is full of creativity. I hope this penalty helps De Bruyne fully recover. I've always believed he'd become Bastia's midfield core."
"Hey, mate, that goes without saying. Our midfield ball progression relies on De Bruyne now. Rothen still has some fuel left, but he has to help with defense, and has no extra energy to help with ball progression. Kanté is purely a defensive midfielder; you can't expect him to progress the ball. So, De Bruyne is indispensable."
"Sigh, too bad De Bruyne is on loan. He'll leave at the end of the season."
As soon as this sad topic came up, the speaker immediately stopped. This subject couldn't continue.
They all knew deep down that it wasn't just De Bruyne who would leave.
So, they'd celebrate now while they could!
After the heated celebration, they all turned their attention back to the TV. Though Bastia was still being pressured, looking at the 0-2 scoreline made the fans feel wonderful.
For those accustomed to hard times, what if the play was ugly? The question was: were they leading or not?
Bastia fans were extremely satisfied with their team's current situation.
As they said, looking through Bastia's entire history, you couldn't find a second team with this kind of setup.
At Calderón Stadium, after conceding twice in succession, Atletico's players' mentality also changed, becoming more aggressive.
The confidence from their winning streak wouldn't allow them to concede goals like this at home.
Bastia's players' defensive resilience was undeniable, their defending was spot-on. Wanting to break through Bastia with conventional tactics was somewhat difficult.
But, Bastia wasn't the only team with players capable of individual brilliance!
Atletico had them too!
Koke suddenly ran from the flank to the center. After receiving the ball at the edge of the box, facing pressure from Kanté and Rothen, he didn't pass but suddenly pushed forward.
Kanté reacted and stuck out his foot to intercept, but Koke's footwork was as nimble as Julien's, twice changing direction with the ball and going right through Kanté and Rothen's defensive zone.
Roar!
The home fans stirred. The 20-year-old talent Koke was one of Atletico's futures in their hearts.
After getting past the two, Koke didn't continue forward but shot from where he stood.
BOOM!
The football flew toward goal!
Novaes was completely fooled by Koke's movement. He didn't expect the shot and didn't make a judgment in time. When he saw the ball, it was already too late.
Swoosh!
In the 26th minute, Koke pulled one back!
1-2.
ROAR!
The entire Calderón Stadium instantly erupted in cheers. The moment Koke scored, he ran out of bounds, pumping his fist in celebration and roaring furiously at the fan section.
There was still plenty of time. They had plenty of chances to turn it around!
On the sideline, seeing the goal, Simeone jumped excitedly. After pumping his fist, he held up three fingers toward the Bastia coaching bench.
We're going to score three on you!
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