Julien's shot was incredibly decisive.
He didn't even bother checking where the opposing goalkeeper Thébaux was positioned, his plan was simple: aim for the corner and shoot. If it's on target, it's in.
This wasn't a duel with the goalkeeper; it was a conversation with himself.
This time, Julien conquered himself. The ball thundered into the net from the corner, meeting no resistance at all.
Thébaux guessed the right direction, but against a shot like that, he was helpless.
This was Julien's confidence!
"Beautiful, Julien!"
Lukaku immediately rushed toward Julien, shouting. They'd pulled off the comeback.
De Bruyne's face was filled with smiles too. He'd almost resigned himself to a draw in this match, but Julien had forcibly created this opportunity and rewritten the scoreline.
Julien celebrated wildly with his teammates on the sideline.
In stark contrast was the silent home crowd.
Everyone at Brest fell quiet.
No one wanted to see their team who had led for most of the match lose in the final minutes.
Absolutely no one wanted to see that.
In the stands, young fans' eyes were already brimming with tears. Perhaps this was just an ordinary match in a long season.
The result of this match meant nothing to Brest in practical terms. It wasn't a championship final, nor a cup knockout match. They wouldn't be relegated because of these three points, nor would they enter European competition because of them.
But football is like that—it's the only sport that can stir countless emotions without crowning a champion.
Brest's dejection was Bastia's celebration!
At the Sunset Cafe Bar, individual voices were no longer distinguishable—only a sound of noise mixed with alcohol, kneaded together into a ball and tossed into everyone's minds.
In their dreams tonight, it would quietly unfold, sketching out a magnificent vision of Bastia's golden age.
"Julien!"
"Julien!!"
Any other words would be drowned out. Only shouting Julien's name could be heard clearly, because everyone was shouting, everyone was roaring, everyone was celebrating with every ounce of their being.
At the moment of that goal, the TF1 commentator's blood surged just like Hadzibegic's on the sideline. He shouted in his commentary: "Buuuuut! DE Roccca, Rocca, still DE ROCCA, only De Rocca! The EMPEROR of BASTIA, the LEGEND of BASTIA!
He creates the opportunity, he completes the finish. At this moment, this belongs to Bastia, this belongs to De Rocca!
I believe that at this very moment on Corsica, passion fills the sky! Yes, don't suppress it, don't restrain it. Right now, why wait, why even breathe, release ITTT ALLLLLLL!"
On the sideline, Julien hugged De Bruyne and each of his other teammates in turn, everyone's face was beaming with smiles.
Still, this was an away match, so they didn't feel comfortable celebrating too long.
As they finished, Julien turned back toward the away section and pumped his fist three times with all his might.
"Julien!"
"Bastia!"
Once again, he ignited the passion of the traveling fans.
Chauvin breathed a sigh of relief.
They'd finally lost.
With the expected outcome now playing out, there was no need to worry anymore.
He glanced at the scoreboard, just a few minutes were left. Nothing worse than this could happen now.
In that case.....
Chauvin gestured frantically to his players, waving them forward constantly. He wanted them to attack, make one final push, go all-out on offense.
At least at home, they should show their fighting spirit.
Whistle!
When the whistle blew, the match continued.
Brest quickly kicked off, and the players shared Chauvin's thinking—use these final moments to fight to the death!
However, many times reality never syncs with the plans in our heads. Their "final moments" were supposed to be wave after wave of attacks, shot after shot squeezing out their last reserves of energy, abandoning everything with resolute determination.
But when Kanté flew in with a sliding tackle and dispossessed Liénard, everything came to an abrupt halt.
Those unyielding figures all rushed back on defense.
In reality, the final moments consisted of Brest's desperate defending, one frantic block after another, watching Bastia's shots with hearts in their throats.
Finally, in the first minute of stoppage time, their dream shattered completely.
It was Julien again, driving hard on the right side before suddenly stopping and passing the ball back to De Bruyne's feet.
De Bruyne, positioned just left of center outside the box, curled a shot with his right foot.
The ball was like a surgeon's scalpel, easily slicing through the night sky and just as easily cutting through Brest's last hope.
Swish!
Goal!
De Bruyne spread his arms and ran toward Julien. They embraced on the wing. "Nice pass."
"You were the one with the accurate shot!"
The two celebrated together as other teammates rushed over, high-fiving and exchanging victorious "speeches."
The TF1 commentator's exaggerated commentary, as always, transmitted through the broadcast to countless listeners.
Simeone pursed his lips and shook his head slightly. The match against Bastia would be very difficult.
If a player only knew how to dribble, that wouldn't be a problem—just stack defenders and you could stop him.
But if that player also had decent vision and passing ability, that was a much bigger problem.
Simeone fell into brief contemplation. In a few days, they'd be traveling to France, and Atlético was under enormous pressure.
Would they really have to advance as group runners-up?
For the defending champions, that would be utterly humiliating.
By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, the match had ended.
A result that matched pre-match expectations, just with slightly more drama in the process.
After the Match
Julien walked into the locker room and checked his victory points, only 4 points were added.
Ligue 1 really didn't award many points.
Comparing this match to the one against Atlético was like night and day.
Julien was already looking forward to the second leg against Atlético. If they could win that, it would be a huge haul of victory points.
At the same time, he was clear in his heart that this season he had to give it his all. Come the summer window, there was no way he'd stay in Ligue 1.
No matter how much Paris Saint-Germain offered, he wouldn't stay in Ligue 1.
The competition level was too low.
He needed a bigger stage, and he needed more victory points.
At the post-match press conference, in addition to addressing tonight's match, Hadzibegic also discussed the upcoming rematch with Atlético.
"I won't deny the players' effort. We were victorious last time, and if we want to be victorious again, we must stay focused at all times. Atlético isn't as weak as the scoreline shows—their championship last season is the greatest proof of that. This is a championship-level team."
A reporter added: "You were also champions last season—double champions. Add this season's French Super Cup and you're triple champions."
Hadzibegic couldn't help but smile. "Well, the Ligue 2 championship is still a championship."
As for Brest's Chauvin on the other side, no one cared what he had to say.
That's football.
Most people only pay attention to the winners, only to the star players and star teams.
Only each team's devoted supporters silently follow every aspect of their club.
Tonight, for Brest fans, was clearly not a wonderful evening.
Even those who witnessed such a comeback defeat at their home ground, named after a former Brest mayor might not have a pleasant mood for the entire week ahead.
The Next Day
Local Bastia newspapers sold exceptionally well. By mid-morning, the article "Light of Corsica! Julien's Two Goals and One Assist Engineer Comeback! Bastia Sets Sights on Atlético" had spread throughout the city.
"...When the electronic scoreboard at Stade Francis-Le Blé froze at 1-3, the Brest night held nothing but silence.
The son of Corsica wearing the number 10 shirt—Julien De Rocca once again spread his arms and ran toward the corner flag. This nearly 18-year-old genius is writing the most brilliant chapter in SC Bastia's century-long history.
Facing a deficit, De Rocca delivered a textbook winger performance, demonstrating how one man can break the deadlock. He made football flow with the rhythm and explosive power of a Corsican folk song. When the ball is at his feet, all of Corsica awaits a miracle.
Hadzibegic is full of confidence about the upcoming Europa League group match: 'Against Atlético? We just need Julien to continue dancing like this and we'll win.'
In three days' Europa League action, Bastia will host Diego Simeone's Atlético Madrid at home. Although the Argentine coach has infused the Mattress Makers with an iron will, the Corse-Matin sharply points out that 'Atlético's left flank has a weakness in turning speed which is exactly the hunting ground where Julien excels.'
Notably, after the first leg, Simeone specifically mentioned: 'We studied a lot of data on Julien, but video can never replicate the suffocating pressure he puts on defenders.'
Bastia is brewing a storm. When the blue shirts meet the red-and-white stripes, all Bastia fans are anticipating Julien's performance. As the Corsican proverb says: "L'acula ùn hà paura d'un scogliu più altu."
(The eagle does not fear a higher cliff.)
This article had fans cheerfully saying: "Julien will definitely tear apart their defense at home. They couldn't stop him last time, and they won't stop him this time either!"
"God, I never imagined that one day Stade Armand Cesari would welcome a European powerhouse like Atlético, and though they've declined somewhat, they're still a powerhouse. Even more unimaginable is that I'm actually expecting victory and we genuinely have a chance to win!"
"When the last match was played, the Golden Boy Award nominees hadn't been announced yet, but now it seems the two Atlético players on the forty-person shortlist, Koke and Courtois are nowhere near as good as Julien. What do they have to compete with him?"
"I think only that Francisco Isco from Málaga can compare slightly with Julien. Their styles are actually quite similar, except Julien is faster."
"Oh, you mean Isco? Yeah, he's quite impressive, very dazzling. According to media reports, he's apparently already been reserved by Real Madrid and will basically join them after the season ends."
It wasn't just Bastia discussing this match, all of Corsica was talking about it. Fans from Ajaccio and other places had come trying to get tickets.
But Bastia naturally had to prioritize local fans first, implementing a Bastia residency priority system for ticket purchases. As a result, only a tiny number of tickets were sold to fans from other areas.
Actually, it wasn't just Ajaccio and other Corsican cities, many places throughout France were paying attention to this match.
Among them, Bondy, near Paris, was one of the most invested.
As Julien's fame grew, officials in Bondy were thinking about how to leverage his reputation to develop their town.
They'd already been in contact with Pierre, and were hoping that during the winter break, Julien could return to his hometown to participate in some activities.
Bondy hoped to paint an image of Julien wearing France's number 10 jersey on the side of their tallest building, along with an inspirational phrase.
They hadn't yet decided on the exact wording, but the general meaning would be that anything is possible.
After all, who could have imagined that a small boy from Bondy would grow into a genius football prodigy captivating all of France?
This was the power of example!
The outside noise couldn't penetrate the walls of Bastia's training ground.
Under Hadzibegic's direction, the players trained in an orderly fashion.
Bastia's tactical system had basically taken shape now. Daily training wasn't particularly intense, it was mostly fine-tuning and addressing weaknesses.
Chataigner had spoken to Hadzibegic about winter window transfers and mentioned the players they'd likely be able to sign.
At the time, Hadzibegic's face had creased with smiles.
But today, their conversation wasn't about that. Instead, it focused on Julien and the other young players.
Chataigner said: "When you get the chance, give Mané, Sidibé, Clauss and the other players more opportunities. I've seen them play quite well—they won't make costly mistakes."
Hadzibegic understood Chataigner's underlying meaning. These players were the club's assets.
In contrast, loanees like Lukaku and De Bruyne, aside from improving results, held no other value for Bastia.
"I understand."
"Good then. Keep up the training. After this match with Atlético ends, I still need to approach several more players to see if we can negotiate for one more signing." Chataigner felt his career had reached its peak, so his mind was full of nothing but work.
On the training ground, Bastia's players chatted and laughed with each other.
As the team's incredible new season record continued, everyone was holding a fire inside.
Time flew by.
November 7th, the day before Bastia's match with Atlético.
Hadzibegic attended the pre-match press conference with Rothen. The coach who'd been talking about fighting relegation in the league was becoming increasingly "bold" in Europa League competition.
"Our objective is simple: win this home match and secure advancement to the knockout stage."
"When the Europa League groups were first drawn, I believe no one would have imagined the current standings. No one thought a fourth-seeded team that had been absent from European competition for over thirty years could complete a clean sweep of the other three teams."
Rothen also said, "Advancing to the knockout stage isn't just our dream—it's been the dream of Bastia for over thirty years. When we were back in the National Championship, we never imagined this day.
But Julien has made it all a reality."
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