The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 199: Attack Level Not Belonging to Ligue 1
“I think we need faster players to beat Spain. We can’t just wear down Gaio, and if he’s the only explosive player, Spain can easily contain us.”

Deschamps watched the close-up of Gaio on the broadcast.

I was talking to Stephen about the World Cup qualifier against Spain in two weeks.

Stephen nodded.

"Their midfield control is very strong, and we will definitely not be able to pass the ball out. We must increase the pressure on their midfield and pick up the tempo, so we need players who can run a lot."

De Shang naturally understood.

Spain and Barcelona have been put under a microscope and studied by coaches around the world, and now they have defensive strategies.

The key is whether there are players who can implement the tactics.

Spain is currently on a 23-game winning streak in international competitions, which undoubtedly puts a lot of pressure on Deschamps.

Who would want to play in the playoffs when they can qualify directly for the World Cup?
"We still need someone in midfield to pass the ball out."

Deschamps has been scouting many new players, but so far there hasn't been a midfielder who meets his expectations.

He shook his head, lamenting that the French team's talent pool had dwindled to such an extent that many positions were simply filled by makeshift players.

Back in the day, the French team was brimming with talent; it was a truly magnificent sight.

Even the substitutes are key players for top teams in the top five European leagues.

The key players of lower-ranked teams can't even get playing time in France.

The result now?

Alas, a sigh escapes.

"In the 70th minute, Bastia made a substitution on the sidelines. Their captain, number 10 Gaião, came on as a substitute, replacing the underperforming Iran. Gaião has scored eight goals in four appearances in Ligue 1, averaging two goals per game. He can be considered the most efficient striker in Ligue 1. Even Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the most valuable player in Ligue 1, is not as efficient as Gaião."

On television, Gaio appears.

Deschamps and Stephen's attention returned to the broadcast.

Deschamps couldn't help but sigh, "The two wing positions are still the most reassuring."

Stephen strongly agrees.

The French team's two wingers are both quite impressive, Ribery and Gaião.

With one veteran and one young player, they are just the right amount of support for the French team's future generational transition.

Ray City Stadium.

Gaio and Ilan hugged, tapped their toes on the sideline, and then Gaio went onto the field.

"Geo!"

The Bastia fans in the away section excitedly chanted his name.

De Bruyne, Lukaku, Kanté, and other teammates all exchanged glances with Gaio.

Gaião's appearance means their playing style will change slightly.

Yilan really is hopeless.

It's practically an offensive terminator.

They can't get past the players, and they can't protect the ball.

A winger who can't dribble past opponents makes it much harder for his teammates to play.

Nice still chose to attack after Gaio came on. Now they are two goals down, and if they don't attack, they will die.

And this is at home.

Pierre can only hope that left-back Kovajczak can hold off Gaio.

pity.

When Gaio first got the ball, it shattered his expectations.

Nice's attack was unsuccessful.

De Bruyne dribbled the ball through the middle, and Gaio found himself one-on-one with Kvojejczak on the wing. De Bruyne immediately passed the ball to Gaio.

When Kvortjac saw the ball coming, he instinctively wanted to intercept it, but a sense of awe for Gaio forced him to suppress the urge.

He stood right in Gaio's path of advance.

Simultaneously,

Nice's defensive midfielder, Digar, came to cover.

Gaio is familiar with these Nice players. Before the match, the coach will show everyone the information so that everyone can know themselves and their opponents.

Di Gareth Bale is a typical defensive midfielder, known for his interception ability and physical strength. He covers a wide area and excels at tackling and disrupting the opponent's attacking rhythm, but his technique is relatively rough, his passing accuracy is low, and he often receives cards for overly aggressive defensive tackles.

This is a very important breakthrough for Bastia.

However, in the first half, Iran, despite being in that position, failed to achieve any tactical effect.

Gaio is in a one-on-one situation with the ball.

Kovojejczak didn't even wait for Digar to arrive before Gaio easily overtook him.

He overestimated his defensive ability against Gaio.

Kovajczak hadn't figured out how Gaio had gotten past him, and instinctively reached out to pull on Gaio's jersey.

However, due to his unstable center of gravity, although he managed to pull up his jersey, he was pulled back a step by Gaio before he could exert any force.

Instead, he almost fell down, staggering and stopping in his tracks.

Digar quickly followed up, forming a human wall with the center-back Pejcinovic who had come out to defend, to block Gaio.

After observing the situation in the middle lane, Gaio did not force another inside cut.

Instead, when facing two defenders, he did two stepovers and then suddenly slashed the ball towards the baseline with his left foot, instantly unleashing his fury and using his speed to rush straight to the baseline.

Pejcinovic's defensive ability is beyond doubt, but he is completely outmatched by a player like Gaio who possesses both speed and dribbling skills.

I can't keep up at all!
He watched helplessly as Gaio charged toward the baseline. Fortunately, the baseline wasn't far away, and Gaio didn't have that much distance to shake him off.

Pejcinovic saw Gaio make a passing motion with his right foot and launched a sliding tackle to block Gaio's path.

however,
When he lunged to tackle, Gaio simply cut the ball back, turned halfway, and curled a shot with his left foot straight into the top corner of the goal!

Wow!

The ball was very close to the Nice fans behind the goal, and they gasped in surprise when they saw it.

No one expected that Gaio would shoot directly from that position.

Fortunately, goalkeeper Deler reacted quickly enough.

He reached out and touched the soccer ball.

He deflected the ball towards the goal. A large, dark figure rushed into the goal along with the ball.

drop!
The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the center circle.

0-3!

Bastia has scored again!

Lukaku was lying on the ground inside the goal along with another Nice center-back, Renato Chiveli.

He quickly got up.

His face was practically creased with laughter as he pointed at Gaio and shouted, "Beautiful Gaio!"

He then said, "Come on, I'll train you on the celebration moves I told you about."

Gaio laughed.

Together with Lukaku on the sidelines, facing the Nice stands, they made a celebratory gesture—the two of them put their hands on their waists and swayed from side to side, mimicking the motion of a cradle lulling a baby to sleep.

Lukaku interpreted this gesture as a way to reassure fans that with him around, nothing unexpected would happen.

Shhh!
However, Nice fans saw this as a direct taunt and booed Lukaku and Gaio.

Some people even threw things like Coke cups onto the field.

Bastia's other teammates quickly followed and hugged each other in celebration.

It's only been 73 minutes, and we're already leading by three goals.

This match is basically won!

After De Bruyne came up to celebrate, he said to Gaio, "You're in good form."

Gaio shrugged. "It's normal that they can't defend against me because their physical condition has declined a lot."

That's the truth.

Lukaku's several attacks in the first half took a toll on the Nice defenders' stamina.

As Gaio walked towards the center circle, he saw Pejcinovic and recalled that a few years ago, when China was experiencing a boom in big-spending football, he had also made a fortune at Changchun Yatai.

of course,

He went to Changchun Yatai to be their star player, but unfortunately, Yatai had a terrible season. A series of injuries prevented them from recovering from their glory in the first half of the season, and in the final frenzy of money-driven football, Yatai was relegated.

Naturally, he parted ways with Pejcinovic.

drop!
Back in the center circle, the game continues.

Bastia are in high spirits right now, and after Nice kicked off, they pressed forward, forcing Nice to play the ball out.

There will be mistakes whenever the ball is passed.

Bastia capitalized on this very mistake.

soon.

Pierre made adjustments, replacing two attacking players, Camer and Bozejc.

They brought on a defender, Peter, and a striker, Bosetti.

Bosetti is a product of Nice's own youth academy. Although young, he has already shown technical finesse and composure in shooting.

He excels at using his positioning to find openings and has a keen sense of goal, but his physical strength and consistency still need improvement. In the previous few games, he served as a substitute and contributed key goals in limited playing time.

Nice's youth training program is indeed developing very well.

Lloris, the current French national team goalkeeper, is a product of Nice's youth academy.

After taking office, Nice president Rivière reformed the youth training system.

From the youngest youth teams to the senior teams, Nice maintains a unified tactical style. For the team, the only difference between players who train here is whether they mature early or late.

This facilitates a seamless transition for players from the youth teams to the first team.

but,

Bosetti's first touch of the ball after coming on was not a pleasant one.

He received a pass from his teammate and was about to turn around when Kanté, who was shorter than him, stole the ball from behind.

Bosetti shrugged at the referee, indicating that he felt Kanté had committed a foul.

But the referee ignored it.

Bastia had a chance to switch to attack, but De Bruyne deliberately slowed down the pace and didn't capitalize on the quick counter-attack.

With a three-goal lead and Nice now having made substitutions and switched to a five-defender formation, there's no need to speed up the pace.

De Bruyne knows when to go fast and when to go slow.

It's more like an innate intuition.

Learning is very difficult.

Bastia transitioned to positional play, and De Bruyne appeared more and more frequently, constantly running through the middle, pulling to the wings, drawing defenders, and distributing the ball.

Nice is struggling to cope.

Time passed slowly, and just when everyone thought the game was going to end like this...

Bastia suddenly accelerated.

De Bruyne played a through ball, and Gaião understood his intention, bursting into action and instantly closing in behind Di Gaião.

Pied and Pejcinovic rushed toward Gaio.

Bang!
Without the slightest hesitation, Gaio unleashed a powerful shot!
The football passed between them.

Pied and Pejcinovic instinctively fell to the ground to block the attack.

From the fans' perspective.

It was Gaio who kicked the ball, like he was bowling, and both of them fell to the ground.

Then a third person also fell to the ground.

Goalkeeper Deler.

He stretched his body with all his might, trying to block the ball, but it still grazed his fingertips and went into the net.

84 minutes, 0-4.

massacre!

The TF1 commentator exclaimed, "Gaio! The connection between Gaio and De Bruyne! They're going crazy!"

"Bastia's attacking level is completely out of Ligue 1 caliber!"

(End of this chapter)