The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 197 Southern France
Southern France, capital of the Alpes-Maritimes department.

Nice.

As the team landed in this fifth-largest city in France, Gaio experienced a completely different atmosphere from Paris.

This is the unique charm of cities in southern France.

The home stadium of Nice, the Rey Municipal Stadium, is located in the center of Nice.

The bus took us from the airport to a hotel near the stadium.

Throughout the journey, Gaio's gaze remained fixed on the scenery outside the car window.

The scenery as you walk down the Anglo Street brings a smile to your face.

Palm trees swayed in the breeze, and the salty sea wind, carrying the Mediterranean sun, lapped against the car windows.

Nice is like a palette that has been repeatedly washed by the sea.

The ochre-yellow Italian-style building facades, the coral pink shutters, and the cobalt blue domed Orthodox churches all faded into a soft cream color under the backdrop of the French Riviera.

Gaio also saw street artists with easels set up on the seawall, using palette knives to paint the waves, sand, and sunshine of Angel Bay.

"It's so beautiful."

Inside the car, Lukaku couldn't help but sigh.

However, most French players are used to the scenery of southern France.

I think it looks nice, but it's not amazing.

It feels like traveling; everyone goes from a place they're tired of living in to a place others are tired of living in, and they exclaim to each other, "How beautiful!"

When the bus turned and entered the old town, it was a different feeling altogether. These buildings from the 1960s were scattered everywhere, full of the atmosphere of the era.

Bastia arrived at the hotel quickly.

There was a little incident in the middle: the hotel manager was a fan of Gaio, but he was also a fan of Nice.

He specifically asked if Gaio could sign his jersey.

It's highly unlikely that Gaio would sign a Nice jersey.

Therefore, I refused.

Later I found out that the manager wanted to sign the national team jersey for Gai.

In the end, Gaio granted his request.

The manager smiled and said to Gaio, “Gaio, our whole family are your loyal fans! Believe me, my six-year-old daughter looks forward to your national team matches all day long. I’m sorry, we won’t be watching your Bastia match. We are Nice people, and we watch Nice matches every week. I have to work tomorrow, but my family will be in the die-hard supporters’ stands at the Rey Municipal Stadium.”

Gaio patted him on the shoulder, "Of course, you'll see me in the national team later next month."

The manager grinned broadly, "We've already bought the tickets and taken leave in advance. We'll come to Spain to see you at the World Cup qualifiers!"

the next day.

The Ray City Stadium, which can hold 18,000 people, was already packed with people.

Because of its central location, Nice police have closed key roads.

Gaio arrived at the old Ray City Stadium by bus.

The stadium was put into use in 1927, and many of its facilities and equipment are now very outdated.

and,

There's something interesting about this stadium: the away team's locker room doesn't have hot water.

Teams have complained about this before, and even raised the issue with Nice and the French Ligue 1, but Nice refused, citing that the stadium is too old to be renovated, and also said that there is a hot water system now, but it is unusable.

When playing in Nice, the away team can only take cold showers.

However, Nice is currently building a new stadium – the Nice Stadium.

This is a project funded by the Nice city government and belongs to the city government, but it will definitely become the Nice team's regular home ground.

Construction began last July.

It is expected to be put into use by the end of 2013.

This is also one of the main venues for the 2016 UEFA European Championship in France.

Currently, the German Allianz Group is in talks with the Nice city government, intending to name the Nice Stadium after itself. According to media reports, a deal could be finalized by the end of this year.

Rothen complained again in the locker room, "This Nice is so inhumane. What's wrong with providing hot water? I'm afraid of the cold, so I don't dare to take a shower and have to go back to the hotel."

Joplin retorted, "Hehehe, it's not that they don't have a hot water system, they do, it's just that it's unusable."

Rothen curled his lip. "Their hot water system works on the same principle as the parking spaces in Nice's Old Town: it exists in theory, but in practice it's all a mystery."

Hahaha!
Everyone laughed.

Soon, all the players had packed up their equipment and entered the field to warm up.

Gaião was a substitute in this game.

De Bruyne also told him, "You broke your promise last time, but this time we'll definitely be in the lead and won't let you play."

Gaio shook his head. "Then you might be disappointed. No matter the result, I will play to get a feel for the game and prepare for the Europa League."

"Ok."

In this match, apart from Gaião being a substitute, neither Mane nor any other regular starters were in the starting lineup.

He wasn't even on the substitute list.

Mane suffered a muscle strain during training.

The team doctor's assessment suggests he should be able to return for the Corsican derby after the international break.

It was purely due to overtraining.

Mane was overly eager to show off and trained extremely hard.

The result was that going too far was as bad as not going far enough.

During warm-up, the Ray City Stadium was almost full of fans.

After all, with a capacity of only 18,000, it's far from enough for Nice fans to fight over.

Therefore, only 500 tickets were allocated to the away team.

The warm-up phase is over.

When the players returned to the player tunnel to wait to enter the field, Gaio had already gone to sit on the bench with the substitutes.

at this time,

Nice fans chanted "Issa Nissa" loudly.

This is a cheering slogan in the Nice dialect, meaning "Go Nice!"

As the players entered the field, the fans' chants gradually rose—

"Under the palm trees on Angle Street"
Our hearts beat for red and black blood.
From the Promenade de la Corniche to Nice's Old Town
The Mediterranean sings of our great deeds.

Gaio looked at Nice's jersey and for a moment he had a feeling that he was seeing AC Milan.

They were all wearing red and black striped jerseys.

boom!
Boom boom! !
Amidst the cheers of the fans, the opening ceremony proceeded smoothly.

The players stood in the center circle.

drop!
The referee blew his whistle, and the match began.

Gaio sat on the bench watching his teammates' performance. Bastia played very steadily from the start.

Just as Hagi Begic said before the match, "You have to be extremely cautious against any opponent." Bastia was cautious enough.

Low position.

They relied on Lukaku's speed and De Bruyne's passes to launch counter-attacks.

With Gaião and Mane, two explosive wingers, absent, Lukaku became the only explosive threat.

Palmiri on the left flank is weaker offensively than defensively, while Ilan, who replaced Gaio on the right flank, has no particular strengths and can only be used as a substitute.

After a relatively uneventful first few minutes, the TF1 commentator said, "Bastia's current attacking tactics, apart from Gaio's individual ability to break through defenses, rely more on the quick counter-attacks of the forwards."

But in this match, Pierre's tactics for Nice were to control the ball and not attack rashly. As a result, Bastia could not press forward and the pace of the game could not be accelerated.

Of course, I think Bastia is unlikely to push forward, because their defense has proven in past matches that they are slow. If they push forward, and their teammates launch long balls behind the defense, they will have a hard time tracking back. Low-block, frontal defense is the answer for Bastia's backline.

Wow!

In the midst of a lackluster match, Nice fans suddenly gasped in surprise, many covering their mouths in disbelief at what had just happened—Cvetanic had kicked the ball wide of the goal!
It's harder to miss that shot than to score it.

"Oh! Cvetanic missed a golden attacking opportunity. Digar's pass was exquisite, sailing perfectly over Kahusac's head. Cvetanic's forward run was also very timely. It can be said that Nice's combination play before Cvetanic's shot was perfect!"

The TF1 commentator lamented Nice's missed opportunity, saying, "You can see in slow motion that Cvetanic slipped, causing him to lose his balance and miss the ball. Speaking of which, the pitch in Nice today might have been over-watered; in less than ten minutes, we've already seen players from both sides slip three or four times."

Courtside.

Hagi Bejic was clearly very unhappy with the defense, and he angrily yelled at the defense twice.

Time keeps passing.

Aside from Cvetanic's missed shot, Nice didn't have any better chances.

On the other hand, Bastia's counterattacks gradually became more effective.

In the 12th minute, Lukaku once again displayed his "little beast" nature, connecting with Belgium, receiving a pass from De Bruyne, and charging forward like a raging bull.

Then he took a shot from just outside the penalty area, but mishit it.

Just two minutes later, De Bruyne got his chance in front of the penalty area and took a long-range shot that hit the post.

In the 22nd minute, Lukaku created another opportunity with his sprint. Iran was also very happy. After receiving Lukaku's pass, he seemed to hate the Nice fans in the stands, so he kicked them hard.

Shhh!
He was booed by the Nice fans.

Sunset Cafe Bistro.

The fans couldn't help but gasp and express their regret time and time again.

"Damn it, this attacking line is too abstract. There isn't a single player who can shoot. They're not even as good as Kevin in midfield."

"Isn't this the characteristic of Ligue 1? Hahaha, compared to other leagues, to be honest, we are still not competitive enough. Look at these strikers, La Liga strikers score forty or fifty goals a season, while we are lucky to score twenty or thirty."

"I miss Gaio so much at times like this. According to the reports from the team's reporters, Gaio will play tonight, most likely in the 70th or 80th minute. His injury from the last Europa League match hasn't fully healed yet."

"It still has to be Gaio. It's a pity that Gaio's body seems to be a bit fragile right now. I hope he doesn't get injured again. He's so young. The more injuries he gets, the lower his potential will be."

"There's no way, no one can step up. Bastia!! Kevin!!"

Just as the fans were chatting, the scene on TV suddenly changed.

It was clearly a hard-fought positional attack by Bastia, but the ball was already in the net in the blink of an eye.

The fans went wild with celebration!
Thirty minutes later, a goal was finally scored!

On TV, the commentator's voice was incredibly excited: "Buuuuut!! Kevin De Bruyne!! A world-class goal!!"

"That shot was so subtle, goalkeeper Dele had no chance to react at all. De Bruyne's shot was superb. This young player, on loan from Chelsea to Bastia, has been performing admirably this season, currently boasting four league goals and two assists, second only to Gaio and Lukaku."

clap clap clap!
When Gaio saw De Bruyne score, he immediately stood up and applauded him, and everyone else cheered and celebrated as well.

Haji Begichi couldn't help but jump up.

Scoring a goal at this crucial moment is absolutely key!

The Nice players were somewhat stunned. They stared blankly at De Bruyne, who had scored a world-class goal and was celebrating at a neighborhood level. How did he even score?

After celebrating, De Bruyne pointed to the Bastia bench and smiled.

drop!
The whistle blew, and the game continued.

Trailing by one goal, Nice began to fight back. After all, playing at home, conceding the first goal to Bastia made Pierre shake his head in dismay.

The champion coach gestured for Nice to intensify their attack.

Their attacks mainly rely on the flanks to target Cvetanic in the middle and Camer behind him.

But the results were not good.

Forcing a cross actually gave Bastia an opportunity.

Wow!

In the 42nd minute, Carmel was dribbling the ball on the edge of the penalty area when he was tackled and dispossessed by Kanté and Rothen.

Rothen quickly passed the ball to De Bruyne.

De Bruyne, without looking or stopping the ball, launched a long ball towards midfield.

Lukaku pretended to lean on Pejcinovic, and when the opponent put up a strong challenge, he suddenly took a step back, letting the ball fall to his own half, and then charged forward.

Nice quickly double-teamed them.

at this time,

All the other Bastia players followed up at this moment.

They are resolute in defense, and equally resolute in situations where offensive support is needed.

Wow!

The fans at the Nice stadium kept gasping in alarm; they sensed danger.

Bastia also performed quite well in positional warfare.

However, with Gaio visibly absent, the offense became less threatening.

They can only rely on De Bruyne's organization.

At this moment.

The TF1 commentator reiterated, "I really don't know how Bastia found such a gem. De Bruyne's role in Bastia's midfield is just too great. You could say that, without Gaio, De Bruyne is the strongest core of Bastia right now."

As the commentator was talking, the situation on the field suddenly changed.

After De Bruyne moved to the left wing and played a one-two with Palmieri, he suddenly flicked the ball into the penalty area with the outside of his right foot.

Lukaku acted as a pivot, pulling the defenders apart.

Then Rothen, who appeared out of nowhere, was completely left unmarked. He leaped and headed the ball into the goal!

Swish!
0-2!

Before halftime, Bastia were already leading by two goals!
hiss~
At that moment, Nice fans had mixed feelings. They had hoped to showcase the spirit of southern France at home and show Bastia what the Rossoneri were all about.

but,

Something's not right with how things are developing.

Pierre also frowned deeply.

He made many defensive moves against Gaio, but none of them worked. With Gaio not even on the field, Nice were already down by two goals.

How can we play like this?
At that moment, Pierre felt a bit awkward.

(End of this chapter)