The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 218 Van Dijk

Bastia.

At this moment, it was completely embodied in Damian's mind.

Chatham's passion, and Gaio's godlike and dazzling figure on the field, both captivated Damian.

Perhaps this will completely change my career?
Damian's answer is uncertain.

But after seeing Bastia's performance tonight, he knew very well that if he went to Bastia, he didn't know what would happen, but if he didn't go to Bastia, he would definitely regret it!

"it is good!"

Damian smiled broadly and spoke to Chatham.

Chatham's smile deepened.

On television, the camera focused on Gaio, a player whose talent overflowed the screen, attracting all eyes.

Damian pointed at Gaio and said, "My roommate Olivier tells me every day how strong Gaio is."

I'm so tired of hearing it.

Olivier also said that only by playing alongside Gaio could one truly appreciate Gaio's strength up close.

Chatham laughed, "Of course, Gaio is our Bastia's super core!"

He then shook his head and added, "Dib, there's something wrong with what your friend said. It's not just about being teammates with Gaia that you realize how powerful Gaia is."

Damian looked at Chatham.

The latter laughed and said, "There are still opponents!"

Yes.

There are also rivals.

At this moment, the Coty Stadium was in a slump, except for the die-hard Ajaccio fans who were still cheering and supporting the home crowd.

The other fans with individual tickets were now filled with despair.

Silence fell.

"Fight, Bastia!"

"Geo!!"

This also showed the reason why the 50-strong Bastia "elite" fans were able to come to their arch-rival's home ground.

Their shouts, amidst the silence of most of Ajaccio, were like defiant seeds sprouting and pushing through the soil.

Three to zero.

Such a score was enough to silence Ajaccio.

Coach Dupont sat on the sidelines, strategizing and drinking water.

However, his hand holding the water bottle trembled slightly.

He was shaken by the fact that his arch-rivals had scored a 3-0 run in the first half at home.

He has coached for a long time and has coached many teams.

He thought he could remain calm.

In reality, it is not possible.

Not far from him, Haji Begitch felt much more at ease. After the celebration, he and his assistant coach began to think about the rotation issue.

“Gaio and Kevin should both rest,” the assistant coach reminded Haji Begitch.

Hajibegich nodded.

Gaião and De Bruyne are the team's absolute core players, and after this game, they will travel to Madrid, Spain in just four days.

Challenge Atletico Madrid!

This is their biggest rival in the Europa League!

To secure qualification, scoring against Atletico Madrid would be the best-case scenario.

Atletico Madrid is a tough opponent.

After Simeone took over, Atletico Madrid underwent a complete transformation.

Media reports say that Simeone has brought resilience to Atlético Madrid.

Atletico Madrid's Europa League campaign last season demonstrated the team's strength.

Since their 4-0 victory over Udinese in the fourth round of the group stage, Atletico Madrid have maintained a 12-game winning streak in the Europa League.

They defeated Lazio, Besiktas, Hannover and Valencia in the knockout stage, and finally won the final 3-0 against Athletic Bilbao.

This final was also an all-La Liga battle between two La Liga teams led by Argentine coaches.

In the first half, Simeone's Atletico 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 hitting the post, but Diego's late goal secured a 3-0 victory for the team.

Atletico Madrid won the Europa League title twice in three years!
Head coach Simeone won the title in his first European competition, becoming the first Argentine coach to win the Europa League.

Hagi Bejic was a little uneasy. Although he had been coaching in Ligue 1 and would say in interviews that Ligue 1 was very strong, in reality, he felt that the intensity of competition in Ligue 1 was definitely not as high as that of the other four leagues.

Can Bastia handle Atletico Madrid, who have won the Europa League twice in the past three seasons?
Haji Begichi didn't know the answer.

but,

When his gaze fell upon the field, he saw Gaio, De Bruyne, Kanté, and others running and passing, exhausting the Ajaccio players.

A firm resolve welled up within Haji Begitch.

He needs to believe in his players!
win!
We must win!

On the field.

Ajaccio was on the verge of collapse, and the scene became increasingly silent.

Many fans clenched their teeth, their faces grave.

Emotionally, they really found it hard to accept this result—being dominated by Bastia, trailing by three goals, and having no hope of scoring at all.

However, from a competitive standpoint, they have to admit that there is a huge gap between Ajaccio and Bastia!
No one, not just Gaio, could stop him.

Even young players like Mane, Lukaku, and De Bruyne couldn't be stopped!
The Ajaccio players were in a very sorry state.

If it weren't for Ochoa's outstanding saves and his masterful goalkeeping, the score would have been much higher than three goals.

Bastia is incredibly intimidating!
So that
When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, both the players and the fans couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

They even hoped it was the final whistle, not the halftime whistle.

"Well done." As Gaio walked over, De Bruyne reached out and gave Gaio a high five.

Gaio smiled at De Bruyne; both of them seemed to be in a good mood.

The longer Bastia and his teammates played together, the stronger their teamwork became.

Especially when De Bruyne has a teammate like Gaio who is on the same wavelength, he feels that playing with Gaio is a real pleasure.

As he walked to the sidelines, De Bruyne said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "I really want to be your teammate forever."

Gaio didn't answer, but patted him on the shoulder and changed the subject, "We'll probably need to rest in the second half. We must win the game four days from now!"

At this point, De Bruyne's expression instantly turned serious, and he nodded to Gaio.

Yes, we absolutely must win!

De Bruyne doesn't want to lose this match!
He knew that Courtois was Atlético Madrid's goalkeeper when he was healthy.

They will most likely face off directly on the court.

So he just wants to win!

When De Bruyne returned to the national team last time, he didn't say a word to Courtois.

The fact that the two can stay in the national team together is the best that De Bruyne can accept.

The future is uncertain.

But at least for now, he can't say a word to Courtois.

"Hahaha! You all did a fantastic job! You've turned Ajaccio into something resembling Bastia!"

Haji Begitch was very excited in the locker room.

The players are like that.

The same goes for the fans.

At this moment, Bastia was already filled with cheers, which, along with the falling night, carried far and wide.

Gaio's name has gradually become a totem for Bastia. This team, which had been relatively unknown for a century, is now, under Gaio's leadership, becoming a surprising force attracting attention in Europe.

Although fans know that the attention from Europe is not a good thing—someone might be waving money around and tearing down the whole of Bastia.

but,

They had already made such mental preparations at the end of last season. It was Gaio's promise that gave them an extra season of happiness.

enough.

After so many years of ups and downs in Ligue 2 and Ligue 1, Bastia fans are realistic; they know the ending, so they don't dwell on it.

They just want to enjoy the moment!

"Geo!!"

"Geo!!!"

At Sunset Cafe, the fans erupted in a wave of cheers as devout as believers.

On TV.

As Gaio was substituted off the field, the voices of the fifty away fans continued to rise.

Gaio waved toward that small corner.

He then pointed to the team emblem on his chest.

These scenes were all captured on camera, warming the hearts of every Bastia resident.

Five minutes later, De Bruyne was also substituted off.

The fans also chanted "Kevin," though not as loudly as Gaio's chants, but Bastia fans had already accepted De Bruyne.

They just knew it.

Bastia couldn't keep De Bruyne either; being able to loan him for a season was already quite an achievement.

This season's Bastia squad is unmatched in the entire history of Bastia.

For many fans, the game was over the moment Gaio left the court.

But for every Bastia player on the field, the game continues.

After Gaião left the field, substitute Ilan came on as a player on the right wing.

Iran was heavily criticized by Ajaccio fans.

Everyone is calling him a traitor, Judas.

and,

When Elan fell to the sidelines during a challenge on the wing, he was met not only with boos from the Ajaccio fans, but also with various "drinks" of unknown origin.

Bench.

Gaio sat down next to Cross, as he had a very good impression of Cross.

In their limited matches, Gaio has already seen the potential in Klose.

The two watched the game and chatted at the same time.

Gaio had no recollection of Klose; he didn't remember such a person in the football world.

After all, in European football, there are so many players whose ability exceeds their fame that it's hard to remember most of them, except for a few well-known ones.

However, from Gaio's perspective, Kroos definitely possesses the necessary abilities and talents.

Perhaps for various reasons, Klose was delayed?
After all, Klose, who is already 20 years old, had only played for a fifth-tier team before coming to Bastia.

It's perfectly normal for a player of this caliber to not be able to keep going and to return to a normal life.

This time, Gaio decided to give him a hand, asking, "Are you interested in signing with the same agency as us?"

Gaio told Klose that Mane and Kanté were both with the same agency.

He now wants to sign Klose as well.

Signing these players was largely not about money for Gaio, but about having a better pretext for playing brotherhood football.

It's just a smokescreen.

If you really want to make money, Gaio has plenty of ways to do so.

"Is it really possible?"

Klose never considered refusing; he was simply overjoyed because he knew it meant he could enter Gaio's circle.

"of course."

Gaio smiled and said to him, "Train hard, someone will contact you, and we can both play for big clubs in the future."

"Hmm!" Klose's eyes were full of anticipation.

Wow!

A gasp suddenly erupted from the Ajaccio fans as Ajaccio's striker, Eduardo, outjumped center-back Joplin and delivered a header.

Novis couldn't make the save, but Eduardo's shot just grazed the goal.

He knelt down on the ground, burying his face in his hands in regret.

This was Ajaccio's closest chance to score the entire match!
But we missed it.

When Gaio saw the ball, he frowned. He knew that Bastia's defense was their biggest weakness.

Let's look at the winter windows.

Chatham has revealed that the team is looking to make signings and has already begun negotiations.

Gaio also saw the list that Chatham had produced.

He saw a familiar name: Van Dijk.

This is a Ballon d'Or caliber center-back!
Anyone who has watched Liverpool climb to the top of the Champions League knows the extent of Virgil van Dijk's dominance at his peak.

However, Gaião did not say that he absolutely had to sign Van Dijk, since there was no connection between them.

Previously, being able to produce a list of players like De Bruyne and Lukaku meant they could claim to be a product of Chelsea's youth academy.

Therefore,
Gai was simply expressing the idea that the team definitely needs a center-back.

And when Gaio saw Slot's name, he couldn't help but smile. If they could really bring together Liverpool's future captain and manager in Bastia, it would be quite a story.

As for the goalkeeper.

Giroud has recommended Damian Martinez to him many times.

This reinforcement has given Gaio even more confidence in winning the championship.

What if a newly promoted team from Ligue 1 actually wins the Europa League?
That would be really cool, right?

and,

If Gaio remembers correctly, the 2012/13 Europa League champions were none other than his former club, Chelsea!
Bastia's current defense is practically handing points to Chelsea if they want to beat them.

Therefore, we must strengthen it!
drop!
As Gaio was pondering, the referee suddenly blew his whistle, followed by silence from the Coty Stadium.

Mane scored.

The Bastia substitutes immediately rose to their feet and cheered, celebrating the goal.

Mane even performed a knee slide on his knees at the home ground of their arch-rivals.

0-4!

Ajaccio has completely collapsed.

However, time was running out, and they had no chance to save face.

finally.

When the referee blew the final whistle, the score was 0-4.

The fiery derby that people had imagined did not happen.

It was a one-sided crushing defeat.

The Ajaccio fans, who were incredibly arrogant before the match, are now barely making a sound.

Faced with the situation on the field and the score, their tough words sound like a joke, weak and powerless, making people laugh.

Therefore, the brawls that the Ajaccio city government had feared did not occur when the game ended.

Bastia fans, celebrating, shouting, and waving flags, headed towards the train station.

They did not encounter any obstruction from Ajaccio fans along the way.

Bastia won!
(End of this chapter)