"Clauss, also one of Bastia's younger players, hasn't had many appearances this season but has provided assists. Considering he was still playing in the fifth-tier last season, this season's performance is already very good," the TF1 commentator briefly introduced Clauss before saying, "Is Hadzibegic changing tactics in these final moments? Clauss's attacking traits are clearly stronger than his defensive ones."
After coming on, Clauss was obviously nervous, and immediately fouled Turan and gave away a free kick to Atlético.
The challenge looked fierce, but actually Clauss had been fooled—Turan deceived his balance, and Clauss's foul was a helpless remedy. Turan's fall was also somewhat exaggerated.
Fortunately, the referee didn't issue a card.
Julien patted his shoulder, "Mark your man, don't dive in recklessly, don't bite on feints, just stay with him—his speed isn't fast."
Clauss nodded. Often, he would forget Julien's age. Though Julien was more than two years younger, it felt like Julien wasn't just not younger, they didn't even seem to be from the same generation based on his composure.
He was too calm and mature.
Atlético didn't take the free kick immediately. Simeone made his first substitution.
He took off Raúl García and brought on Diego Costa.
Similar to Hadzibegic, Simeone also wanted to strengthen the attack in the final moments.
A draw wasn't really acceptable for Atlético.
Costa came on with determination, his gaze was firm. This 24-year-old product of Barcelona's youth academy had progressed rapidly in recent years.
Costa's relationship with Atlético was quite complex. In 2007, Atlético spent 1.5 million euros to buy him from Braga.
But for the next two years they kept loaning him out, never giving him proper game time at Atlético. By 2009, Atlético let him leave on a free transfer. Valladolid signed him for a year, then Atlético had regrets, felt he was good, and spent another 1 million euros to buy him back.
Even after buying him back, they still weren't comfortable using him, loaning him out again last season, until this season when Simeone decided to use him as backup striker.
And his performances kept improving.
Costa coming on posed a significant threat to Bastia's defense.
"Mark your men, mark your men!" Rothen kept looking left and right, directing his teammates to track their marks.
Every Bastia player knew that the final ten-plus minutes were the most crucial.
Bang!
Turan took the free kick, the ball headed straight for the newly entered Costa.
But Angoula was very shrewd—though shorter than Costa, he wedged himself in front of Costa, greatly limiting Costa's header.
Sure enough, Costa struggled to do anything with the ball, heading it high over the bar.
Bastia cleared the ball.
Both sides continued their struggle. It looked like they'd made substitutions, yet also like they hadn't.
At 81 minutes, Simeone substituted again, taking off Adrián López for young Koke.
Koke had excellent touch and complemented Turan well. Together, they did give Bastia's defense some headaches, with Falcao and Costa ahead of them.
However, this meant Atlético's flank attacks now relied on overlapping full-backs.
Atlético's defensive line gradually retreated.
Bang!
84 minutes—Falcao received a through ball from Koke and took a quick shot. The ball just missed, grazing the post and going out for a goal kick.
Now even Lukaku had dropped back into the defensive zone for Bastia. No choice, the pressure was too great.
Hadzibegic was also glad he hadn't brought on Clauss earlier.
On Clauss's side, he simply couldn't stop Turan one-on-one. Fortunately, Rothen came over to cover at any time, and Julien would also track back to help.
As time dwindled, the roar at Stade Armand Cesari grew louder.
"This is heading for a draw. Bastia now doesn't have a single attacking player upfield. If they can get a draw, Bastia can completely accept it. This way, they'll still be first in the group and will always hold the initiative in the remaining group matches." The TF1 commentator was providing routine commentary when he suddenly exclaimed, "My God! Clauss!!"
ROAR!
Simultaneously, Stade Armand Cesari erupted in thunderous noise. Turan on the flank was trying to dribble past two players when Rothen intercepted the ball.
"Run!"
Rothen shouted at Clauss on the far side and immediately passed the ball into Clauss's path.
Without thinking, Clauss sprinted!
Exploding with all his speed.
In this moment, his mind was incredibly clear. As he ran with all his might, he observed both the opposition and his teammates.
He saw Filipe hadn't come up to block him but was chasing Julien frantically.
Julien had now drifted into the striker position, replacing Lukaku.
As Julien sprinted, he too was observing Clauss's position.
Both were racing forward at full speed.
Godín and Filipe double-teamed Julien, but Clauss had a clear path on the wing.
On the left, Mané was also squeezing out every ounce of energy to push forward in support.
"This counter-attack speed is astonishing!" Soriano commented, having to admit that this Bastia attacking wave even got his blood pumping.
De Rocca Family on the sidelines watched Clauss's sprint and shouted loudly, "Keep going! Keep going!"
The surrounding fans were all raising their arms and cheering similar things.
Filipe now had no choice but to deal with Clauss—if he didn't, Clauss could charge straight into the box.
At Julien's position, both Godín and Miranda had gotten into position.
As Julien approached the penalty area—
Bang!
Clauss didn't hesitate for a moment, and sent a diagonal long pass directly to Julien's path.
Finally, he passed!
Julien had actually been wanting Clauss to pass earlier. He was confident he could burst through the double-team of Godín and Miranda. To avoid being offside, he'd been controlling his speed all along.
The ball came flying.
Julien's explosive state suddenly surged as he took two powerful strides, catching both Godín and Miranda completely off guard.
Godín's expression changed, trying to grab and pull Julien, but he'd already been left behind.
Courtois had already rushed out.
He charged toward the ball, trying to claim it first, but the ball's fall was faster than his movement.
Courtois rushed forward as Julien turned his body to bring the ball down at his feet. The ball didn't bounce at all, settling obediently at Julien's feet.
Whoosh!
This first touch left many fans stunned, with only one thought in their minds: he can do that?
The instant Julien controlled the ball, he smoothly pushed it forward, then twisted his body and surged ahead.
Nutmeg!
Facing the goalkeeper, Julien executed a nutmeg!
'WHOTTTT'
Stade Armand Cesari erupted, fans' faces were full of disbelief.
Even fans watching the broadcast were stunned, and the commentators' voices had become high-pitched and intense.
Courtois never expected Julien to do this.
He instinctively closed his legs, but the ball had already gone through. Julien took two powerful strides and pushed the ball forward.
The other recovering full-back Juanfran made a sliding tackle, trying to clear off the line, but it was futile.
The ball rolled into the net without any obstruction.
Then Juanfran also slid into the net.
Tweet!
The referee pointed to the center circle, signaling the goal was valid.
1-0.
Bastia in the 88th minute was a last-gasp winner!
"Julien!"
"Julien!!"
The entire Stade Armand Cesari had no other sound, only one name.
The fans roared frantically, excitedly, wildly.
They waved everything in their hands, making the blue sea surge restlessly throughout Stade Armand Cesari!
The moment Julien saw the ball go in, his heart was filled with excitement. He ran toward the stands, pulling off his shirt and tossing it aside along the way.
Reaching the stands wasn't enough—Julien climbed straight onto the railing.
Facing the frenzied fans in the stand before him, he closed his eyes, tilted his head back slightly, and spread his arms, listening to the voices of Stade Armand Cesari at this moment—
"Julien!!"
In this moment, there was only madness!
Bastia players rushed toward Julien, and substitutes from the bench also sprinted toward them.
Julien came down from the railing, surrounded by teammates. Everyone was excitedly saying all sorts of things, but in their current state of euphoria, they couldn't hear what each other was saying at all.
They had only one thought: WIN, and they'd advance!
Advance to the knockout rounds early!
Hadzibegic knelt and roared at the sky, his assistants were rushing up to embrace him.
In the stands, De Rocca family, Mbappé, Saliba, Chataigner, and others were exactly like the fans, cheering with all their might.
For Bastia.
And for Julien.
Even Soriano and Begiristain couldn't help but stand up, applauding and cheering for Julien's near-winner.
"A perfect combination of technique and mentality. He is Manchester City's future—we must buy him at any cost!"
Soriano made his decision amid the overwhelming celebration.
Simeone stood on the sidelines, grimacing but was forced to accept this reality, he was beaten twice by Bastia.
Before drawing Bastia, he didn't even know what club Bastia was.
Yet across two legs, he hadn't won either.
But he still had one last bit of hope, and shouted at the equally dejected Atlético players: "There's still a few minutes! There's still time!"
Yes, they still had time.
But after eighty-plus minutes of siege warfare without scoring, could they do it in the final minutes?
Watching Bastia in their euphoric celebration, the Atlético players began to doubt themselves.
And this self-doubt grew even stronger after the match restarted.
After Julien's goal put Bastia ahead, they retreated even more thoroughly.
At this moment, Stade Armand Cesari was in a frenzy, sound waves wildly sweeping every corner.
In the final moments, Atlético couldn't worry about possession or tactics—just cross!
Whenever there was a chance, cross after cross.
But Bastia now was like a reef in the ocean, standing firm.
Four minutes of stoppage time ticked away second by second.
The Atlético players' mood grew increasingly anxious, which only highlighted Bastia players' rising morale.
Even Lukaku had dropped back to the defensive line for aerial defense.
Kanté kept harassing Koke and every player in his zone.
De Bruyne could barely run anymore but still determinedly rushed up to intercept opponents.
Every Bastia player was giving their all.
Until that divine sound rang out.
Tweet!
Full time!!
Stade Armand Cesari plunged into absolute madness. Fans in the stands shouted, jumped, burning all their passion for victory.
They'd advanced!
The Atlético players stood dejectedly on the pitch, watching their opponents celebrate.
Many Bastia players simply lay on the grass exhausted, but all with smiles on their faces.
It was Worth it!
The TF1 commentator continuously congratulated Bastia on advancing to the Europa League knockout rounds early.
Meanwhile, the commentator also said, "The Europa League group stage Round 4 is complete. The results were mostly as expected: Tottenham won, Newcastle drew, Leverkusen, Stuttgart, and Hannover all won, Gladbach drew. In Serie A, only Udinese lost, while Inter Milan, Lazio, and Napoli all won.
Napoli's Cavani even scored four, becoming this round's most dazzling attacker.
As for upsets, it's definitely Liverpool losing 0-1 away to Anzhi, and Atlético losing 0-1 away to Bastia.
Bastia is the most surprising team, beating Atlético twice and advancing early."
Moreover, at this moment, other European fans watching this match broadcast because of Atlético didn't really know much about Bastia before, because French football's influence in Europe was genuinely poor. Only scouts paid attention, mainly to scout young talents.
Most fans preferred watching their domestic leagues, and even when watching foreign leagues these days, it was mainly La Liga and the Premier League.
Atlético's performance in La Liga this season was there for all to see.
Yet now they'd been beaten twice by Bastia!
Sending Bastia through early.
This was definitely something many people hadn't anticipated.
Bastia was just an obscure small club, how could they beat Atlético twice?
But when they saw Julien, valued at 60 million euros, they understood.
This was typical dark horse team material.
They might surge in results due to a few players exploding with form, but once those players left, the team would return to its former position.
There were too many such examples.
The most famous being the 2003-04 Champions League finalists: Monaco and Porto.
Monaco's core players: Giuly, Morientes, Rothen, Evra, and others were bought away, and Monaco had even ended up in Ligue 2 in recent years.
Porto was the same. Coach Mourinho and core players Deco, Carvalho, Ferreira, and others all left after winning the title, and the glory days were over.
Now, many people naturally attributed Bastia's success to players like Julien, De Bruyne, and Lukaku.
So many people didn't think much of Bastia itself, but were all thinking about whether their own clubs could buy these young talents.
Of course, the highest heat in this Europa League round still belonged to Inter Milan.
When Bastia's match ended, Inter's match had also finished a few minutes earlier.
With a second-half surge, Inter defeated Partizan Belgrade 3-1.
Not only achieving 10 consecutive wins across all competitions, but also creating a miraculous record of 10 consecutive away wins.
Looking across all major European leagues, only Inter Milan had such an away winning streak.
While winning the match, Inter also advanced from their group two rounds early. The last time they advanced two rounds early in European competition was eight years ago in the Champions League group stage.
Ten consecutive wins across all competitions, plus ten consecutive away wins—such a record was absolutely unmatched in Europe.
Currently, no team in Europe could achieve such a proud record. Moreover, in the past week, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid had both suffered away defeats, and although Juventus remained unbeaten away this season, they had several draws like the 2-2 away draw with Chelsea, the 1-1 draw with Nordsjælland, etc.
Turin.
Marotta had just finished watching both matches, and muttered to himself, "It's just the Europa League,"
"We're in the Champions League," and similar phrases.
His assistant didn't interject. He could see Marotta was in a bad mood.
Although Juventus finally achieved a big win a couple days ago after three consecutive draws in group play, beating Nordsjælland 4-0.
But Marotta was clearly not satisfied with that.
He wanted to make signings. But it was now basically confirmed that Juventus would withdraw from the race for Julien.
Julien was too expensive.
Andrea Agnelli didn't really support the team going all-in to sign Julien. Compared to massive football investment, the Agnelli family preferred putting money into F1.
This was why Marotta was in a bad mood after the team's big win.
He could only despair that Julien's rise was too fast, Marotta couldn't keep up with the pace.
Especially this match, where Julien delivered the winner at a crucial moment.
What a talent.
Two Europa League matches, beating Atlético twice, leading his team to advance to the knockout rounds early as the core and only eighteen years old. Except for Juventus, other Serie A clubs would struggle to acquire such a player.
And now even Juve was voluntarily withdrawing. The decline of Serie A was evident.
Marotta wasn't someone who hesitated. Knowing the club wouldn't go all-in to sign Julien, he quickly shifted his focus to the next target.
Tevez.
Manchester City was going to conduct a major clear-out this season, and the beast Tevez would likely be one of the targets for clearance.
Marotta decided to swoop in for the bargain.
This was the transfer operation he was best at.
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