The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 24 is a substitute, but the core treatment

Gaio nodded slightly, and he would naturally give his all as long as he was on the court.

As for the starters.

The next game is the French Cup quarter-final against Lille on February 9th. Bastia is basically in a state of giving up in this game.

Lille is in great form this season and is aiming to win the Ligue 1 title.

Especially the performance of striker Hazard, no kidding, he has been booked by Chelsea a long time ago.

Even playing at home, Bastia's chances of winning are extremely low.

Gaio shook his thoughts away and decided to focus on the game first.

The second half begins.

Neither side made any substitutions for the time being, but when Gaio stood up to warm up, he immediately attracted a lot of cheers from Bastia fans.

In these few games for the first team, Gaio has perfectly embodied the genius in the minds of Bastia fans.

This is why, when the team's offense was not smooth in the first half, the fans would shout Gaio's name.

They believe that this kid can bring changes to the team.

Marco Simeone heard the noise from the Bastia fans and turned to look at Gaio who was warming up.

He frowned.

This player was the one he focused on defending before the game.

During his career, Marco has seen many top forwards, each with their own strengths.

For example, his teammates have ghostly runs along the offside line, with a single strike to kill the opponent; there is a fusion of ultimate skills and awareness that is known as the perfect center forward; there is also the teammate that Marco thinks Gaio is most similar to - the sword of Montenegro, the Balkan Maradona - that kind of top-notch ball sense.
Therefore, Marco could see Gaio's talent.

This is also the reason why he is worried.

The reason why geniuses are called geniuses is that they can do things that break common sense.

If his current team's defense line is composed of his former teammates, Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta and Tassotti.

Who is he afraid of?

Gaio?

He is not afraid of two or three Gaios!
From the late 80s to the mid-90s, AC Milan's defense had to face successive attacks from many top attackers such as Maradona, Careca, Klinsmann, Baggio, Signori, Zola, Vialli, Mancini, Romario or Stoichkov, but it was able to establish a dynasty and become the strongest defense in the hearts of countless Rossoneri fans, which is enough to prove its value.

This may also be the disadvantage of a top striker like Marco being a coach.

He thought the players were just like him.

He also thought the defense was the same as it was back then.

drop!
In the 61st minute, when the ball was dead on the field, the referee blew the whistle and pointed to the sidelines, indicating a substitution.

Gaio stood on the sidelines.

Dominic put his arm around his shoulders and kept saying to him, "Be decisive. Use your dribbling skills, just push the ball inside and create chaos."

Davide exits.

As he hugged Gaio, he said, "It's up to you, kid."

Gaio nodded slightly.

Before going on the court, he still habitually tapped the sideline with his toes.

"Oh! Bastia's first substitution is here. They've brought on the team's currently highly regarded talented player, Gaio!"

When the commentators saw Bastia's substitutions, they were no longer as surprised as before. Gaio had proved with his performance in the two games that youth was not a problem.

"Gaio has only played two games for Bastia's first team, one in the French Cup and one in the league, but he has already scored three goals and provided one assist, which is enough to prove his quality.

And Gaio is different from the other Bastia players. He has very delicate footwork and may be very effective in this kind of positional attack."

Bastia's changes made Monaco players serious.

Marco kept making gestures to the players on the sidelines.

drop!
The substitution is completed and the game continues.

Bastia retains possession.

In this game they played in a 4-4-2 formation, with Maolida as the center forward, stirring up trouble in the penalty area.

Previously, the team relied on the midfielders to advance and the full-backs to continuously deliver ammunition into the penalty area, hoping to break through the iron bucket formation through high-altitude bombing.

Also tried to break the deadlock with a long shot.

But all failed.

Gaio came on the pitch on the right side and the first time he touched the ball he felt something different about the game.

When he has the ball.

Gary Coulibaly behind him didn't wait for his next move and came up to him, giving him enough confrontation.

Gaio stumbled and lost his balance, and quickly passed the ball to his teammate. The ball was not lost, but the offensive opportunity was gone.

Shhh!!

Monaco fans on the sidelines booed Gaio when they saw this scene.

Gaio remained unmoved.

He was mentally prepared for his current situation.

Why do defenders have much longer careers than forwards?
One was kicking, the other was being kicked. Gaio then tried to dribble the ball a few more times, trying to break through, but the opponent had three people watching on the right.

No space for Gaio at all.

Although he came on as a substitute in this game, the defensive pressure Monaco put on him was completely like the core treatment!
This also makes it difficult for Gaio to perform well.

Happy Beans players are all numb.

"Brother, you can't just be C when we're shooting at the other side! You have to be C now too!"

"No, I've already covered my position and bought a draw. The probability of a 0-0 draw is too high. Bastia's odds have already gone up."

"So, some people said Gaio was a beacon before. He's not a beacon, he's a dark light! His previous carry status was purely due to the opponent's tactics and lack of familiarity with him. Now, in just the third game, his true colors have been revealed."

"It's still early. Trust Gio. You can't treat Gio like Messi. He's only seventeen."

"Haha, Messi played for Barcelona at the age of 17, okay? What's Gaio? If it weren't for playing Happy Beans, who would give a fuck about French B?"

On the field.

Monaco fans always boo when Gaio gets the ball.

They just want to put enough pressure on him.

Young players can easily become overwhelmed, and it is common for them to have distorted movements and an impatient mentality during the game.

However, Gaio was not affected by their boos and continued to play as usual.

Ten minutes passed.

Gaio received the ball on the right again, and when he moved the ball forward, two players immediately blocked his way.

Gaio wanted to use the rhythm of his feet to force a breakthrough.

But the two men closed the door and blocked him.

Gaio didn't force his way through, but passed the ball before the two men double-teamed him.

Maolida came out to receive the ball, stepped on it, and then knocked it behind Monaco's defense.

After passing the ball, Gaio quickly ran around the defender and completed the forward run.

Defender Kagelmacher realized the route, threw himself out, and shoveled the ball out of the baseline before it reached Gaio.

clap clap clap!
The Monaco fans at the scene applauded.

Bastia fans felt a little regretful, it was such a good opportunity.

Maolida reached out to Gaio to indicate that he had not passed the ball well.

Gaio responded with a thumbs-up.

This is the advantage of having a big center, he can move around more freely.

Corner from Bastia.

Rothen took the penalty.

Gaio stood outside the penalty area. Although he was 1.8 meters tall, he had almost no headers.

Waiting for opportunities on the periphery.

Bang!
Rothen kicked the ball out, and the opponent's defender headed the ball out of the penalty area. The opportunity Gaio wanted came!

He quickly stopped the ball and Monaco players immediately rushed out.

Gaio volleyed with his left foot.

The opponent immediately turned his back to block, but Gaio was just faking a shot and then a real dunk.

He transferred the ball from his left foot to his right foot, then pushed it forward and broke into the right penalty area.

The restricted area was littered with human legs.

Gaio used his dribbling ability to the fullest, constantly looking for gaps, passing the ball left and right, and when there was space, he continued to fake shots.

The opposing players were stunned.

The Bastia players also understood that they had to create space for Gaio, so they were all running around in a chaotic situation.

The hearts of all Monaco fans tightened.

Every stop and fall of Gaio could make their hearts beat.

We are almost at the restricted area.

Gaio made another fake shot and completely avoided the flying tackle of Koulibaly.

Wow!

Monaco fans felt a pang of nervousness when they saw Koulibaly flying over.

Bang!
This is the opportunity Gaio wants!
The small penalty area goes to the far corner!

Croatian goalkeeper Subasic was already a little confused by Gaio's several feints in front. Seeing Koulibaly being shaken off, he immediately blocked the ball in the near corner.

The moment Gaio shot, he instinctively dived to block the near corner.

However, the football went straight over his head to the far corner!
Swish!
The football goes straight into the net!

0-1!

Bastia broke the deadlock in the 73rd minute.

(End of this chapter)