The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 222 You take this ball!
Gaio chipped the ball with his left foot.

The football flew over Courtois's head.

Courtois was simply unable to make accurate judgments amidst the continuous saves.

He reached out simply out of instinct.

They didn't touch the ball at all.

The football landed lightly in the net.

Wow!

At this moment, Atletico Madrid fans at the Calderon Stadium gasped in disbelief. They could hardly believe that their team was behind less than ten minutes into the game.

And this was Bastia's first attack.

They didn't know who Bastia was before this match.

But now Bastia is in the lead?
Courtois turned to look at the goal, his expression somber, shook his head slightly, then got up, walked into the net, retrieved the ball, and kicked it towards the midfield.

The moment Gaio scored, he immediately turned around and waved to his teammates behind him.

He slid to the sidelines, leaving four stripes, then stood up to face the camera with his arms outstretched.

Youthful vigor is at its peak!
Atletico Madrid fans naturally booed, but the boos from the opponents were the best compliment.

His teammates rushed over to celebrate, and Gaio turned around and the first person he looked for was De Bruyne.

He hugged De Bruyne tightly, shouting, "We must win!"

The other teammates chimed in, "Let's give it our all!"

De Bruyne felt a surge of warmth in his heart and whispered to Gaio, "Thank you."

Gaio didn't answer him, he just smiled at him, and then hugged and celebrated with his other teammates.

"Gaião's fifth goal in the Europa League!" The TF1 commentator couldn't help but get excited. For French fans, Gaião is the player they most want to see achieve results right now.

At less than eighteen years old, scoring five goals in the Europa League is enough to prove his talent.

Fans watching the broadcast in France were equally excited.

Especially in Bastia.

The sound surged straight to the clouds, startling the seabirds on the beach, which fluttered and flew into the night sky, chirping as if in response to the Bastia people.

Inside the pub, the fans drank a few more glasses of wine.

Calderon sidelines.

Simeone was visibly excited, waving repeatedly at his players, shouting, "Defense! Defense!!"

In his view, this defensive play was a complete failure, and he didn't believe there was any player he couldn't stop.

Simeone has always understood the importance of defense, both as a player and as a coach.

Therefore, what he brought to Atletico Madrid was an iron-blooded defense!

When he looked at Gabi and the others, his gaze was full of ruthlessness, and Gabi and the others knew what he was talking about.

"Aha! Gai scored! That was effortless, Gai was so calm!" Mbappe excitedly hugged Saliba in the stands to celebrate.

Only strikers know that sometimes one-on-one chances aren't so easy to score.

This is a psychological battle with the goalkeeper.

Furthermore, the one-on-one situation after a long sprint adds to the difficulty, because after a series of sprints, the leg muscles are tense when shooting, making it difficult to execute the desired technical movements.

But Gaio made it in very easily.

When Saliba looked at Gaio with his arms outstretched, his eyes showed the same gleam as Mbappe's. They were both die-hard fans of Gaio and hoped that one day they could become teammates with Gaio on the national team.

However, that day seems to be a very, very long way off.

From Bondi to the national team.

It's a road that countless young people with football dreams never seem to reach the end of in their lifetime.

In his excitement, Saliba suddenly looked at Mbappe and asked, "Hey, Kylian?"

Mbappe turned his head with a puzzled look. "What's wrong, Willian?"

Saliba pointed to the center circle of the stadium, the spotlight shining on the center of the field.

Gaio was like a beam of light.

He said, "Do you think we'll get there someday?"

"Of course!"

A fire ignited in Mbappe's eyes; he always remembered Gaião's words to him, "I'll be waiting for you in the national team."

He wants to use his speed to pave his way to the national team!
The game continues.

But from that goal onward, the commentators broadcasting the game, whether they were familiar with Bastia or not, began to take this team seriously.

Or rather, we should take Gaio's influence on the team seriously.

Today's Bastia has no star players as fans imagine, only a group of young players and a few veterans nearing the end of their careers.

This combination was able to take the lead at Calderon Stadium.

That's truly surprising.

“Gaio has a very high ceiling,” Deschamps said of Zidane, adding, “He can step up in crucial moments.”

Zidane nodded, believing he knew enough about Gaio.

When Gaio chatted with him, his advice to Gaio was to follow the path of a football king.

Even if he transfers after this season, he will definitely go to a team that can give him a core role.

Of course, doing this will also put a lot of pressure on you.

Because being the leader of a team brings not only status but also responsibility.

They must take responsibility for the team's performance.

And they also need to be able to keep the locker room under control.

Zidane thinks Gaio still has a long way to go, and it will be difficult.

Zidane himself went from Cannes to Juventus and then to Real Madrid, and he knows that the better the team, the harder it is to get there.

Every genius has their own personality.

A situation where neither side is willing to concede to the other is common in elite football teams.

Let alone ostracizing a player, even the head coach can be sidelined in the locker room and directly ousted.

Therefore, Zidane still hopes that Gaião can gain experience in a mid-to-lower-tier team.

He needs honors to support his entry into a wealthy family.

Chat room.

A gasp rippled through the Calderon stands.

Koke passed the ball into the penalty area, Costa challenged for the header, and Joplin headed the ball out of the penalty area.

Mario Suarez unleashed a powerful long-range volley from the edge of the penalty area!
That was a beautiful kick.

The football traveled at incredible speed straight toward the goal.

Bang!
The ball hit the post and bounced back. Suarez instinctively clutched his head in disappointment, but seeing the ball coming this way, he quickly rushed over.

As a result, Kante got into position first and poked the ball away, and then Suarez stepped on Kante's foot.

Ah!
Kant cried out in pain, fell to the ground, rubbed his feet, and quickly got up again.

The referee called a foul on Suarez, but he didn't receive a card.

Rothen confronted him, making a gesture as if to pull out cards, "You stepped on my foot directly, otherwise we would have had a chance to fight back. You didn't even give me a card?"

The referee was adamant, shaking his head and then signaling for the ball to start immediately.

Kanté grinned as he walked to his defensive position.

De Bruyne stood in front of the ball, Gaio pointed forward, and De Bruyne immediately understood.

Bang!
A long kick drives towards the side lane.

Gaio rushed towards the landing point, but De Bruyne's pass was a bit shallow, and his speed advantage hadn't been fully utilized. Filipe, who had come to defend, beat him to the ball and passed it back to the goalkeeper.

Lukaku went up to pressure Courtois, his national team teammate.

But Courtois didn't make a "super mistake," launching a long ball forward.

After a period of chaos, Atletico Madrid regained control of the ball.

Gaio barely had any chances to get the ball and dropped back to the wing to participate in the defense. Atletico Madrid's attack was very layered, putting Bastia under a lot of pressure even when defending in the low post.

Fortunately, Bastia's defense was resilient enough.

Especially Kanté.

He's practically a midfield sweeper; he's everywhere, covering for his teammates.

The TF1 commentator remarked, "Judging from Kanté's running style, is he planning to be substituted at halftime? But in terms of defensive ability, there shouldn't be a stronger player than Kanté on Bastia's bench. In the previous few rounds of Ligue 1, Kanté has averaged 1.3 tackles per game, which is extremely impressive on the defensive end. He has also been selected for Deschamps' latest national team squad, although he hasn't played yet."

As time passes.

Whether you're a French fan or a Bastia fan, your heart is constantly on edge, unable to let go.

Because Atletico Madrid's attacks came in waves, one after another.

Bastia had a few counter-attack opportunities, but none of them had the space they had for their previous goals.

It can't get going.

However, despite Atletico Madrid's relentless attacks, Bastia managed to capitalize on one of their mistakes.

Suarez dribbled forward, but Kanté poked the ball away, and De Bruyne then received the ball and made a long pass.

Go directly to Mane on the left flank.

Big open!
Mane sprinted forward quickly, making full use of his speed.

Atletico Madrid's defensive speed was also very fast.

Mane was somewhat nervous, and when faced with Juanfran's blockade, he couldn't help but slow down to check his teammates' positions.

Seeing that Lukaku was the only one in the middle, he accelerated again, trying to continue dribbling forward.

But Juanfran anticipated his slowdown and tackled the ball out of bounds with a flying tackle.

The quick counter-attack is gone.

Mane looked dejected, head down, too embarrassed to look at his teammates. He knew that counter-attacking opportunities were rare in this game, and he had wasted them.

Sidibé comes up to serve.

Gaio gestured for him to slow down, while also signaling his teammates to push higher, not just defend, but to launch occasional attacks.

The ball should be served quickly from out of bounds.

Bastia's attack this time was quite determined; they had finally gotten this opportunity to counterattack, and naturally, they didn't want to miss it.

De Bruyne received the ball and passed it to Mane.

Mane is still a bit young. Whether it was when his pass was intercepted or when Atletico Madrid players pressed him, he seemed a little nervous.

Seeing the opponent coming up, he quickly passed the ball back to De Bruyne's feet.

De Bruyne moved towards the center, and Atletico Madrid's defense was actually quite advanced at this point, giving them a psychological advantage against Bastia.

After all, an undefeated team in La Liga has a huge psychological advantage when facing a newly promoted team in Ligue 1.

In many people's eyes, Ligue 1 is nothing more than a farmers' league.

At that moment, Gaio suddenly started moving forward.

De Bruy understood in his heart.

With the outside of his right foot, he flicked the ball to the right wing, and it just bypassed Gabi and Raul Garcia's defensive zone.

The ball came to Gaio's feet on the right wing.

After Gaio got the ball, Filipe was the first to block his path of attack.

Facing Filipe's well-prepared defense, Gaio did not start moving immediately after stopping the ball, but instead feinted with his left foot on the ball while maintaining his body stability.

The football lay quietly on the ground.

Filipe knew that Gaio was good at breaking through defenses, so he didn't try to take the ball from Gaio's feet.

Gaio saw that he wouldn't fall for it.

Suddenly, he lowered his shoulder and then flicked the ball to the outside.

Felipe quickly followed up, but still didn't pounce; he simply used his body to block Gaio's passing route.

But Gaio didn't rush out at all; he just swerved back, and Felipe stopped.

With a flick of his left foot, Gaio passed the ball between Felipe's legs. At the same time, Gaio accelerated wildly, rushing past Felipe on his left.

A skillful dribble past the defender on the edge of the penalty area!
Wow!

The fans at the scene were stunned by Gaio's move. The opponent was one thing, but admiration for his skill was another.

By the time Felipe realized what was happening, Gaio had already dashed a body length ahead.

He couldn't even pull Gaio away in time.

Fortunately,

Center-back Godin promptly moved out to cover, blocking Gaio's path and preventing him from cutting inside.

Gaião has a shot that cuts inside, and Atlético Madrid has a specific defensive strategy for that.

Even at such a short distance, Gaio used the same trick again: flicking the ball, spiking it, and then nutmegging it!

Godin was shaken repeatedly, but his mind was still clear, and he anticipated what Gaio was going to do.

So the moment Gaio nutmegged the ball, he stretched out his leg to block it!
He took the kick with great confidence!
however,
He underestimated Gaio's footwork; Gaio kicked the ball out before he even got into position.

As a result, he stepped on Gaio's ankle and instep.

The body can't keep up with the brain.

Ah!
Gaio screamed and collapsed to the ground.

Godin's heart sank instantly.

Finished!

Sure enough, the referee's whistle blew immediately afterward.

drop! !

The referee pointed firmly to the penalty spot; it was a penalty.

Wow!

The Atletico Madrid fans at the stadium were furious, booing and shouting insults. In their view, it was a successful defense and Gaio had dived!

Simeone was also visibly agitated, shouting at the fourth official, "Godin pulled his leg back! They didn't make contact! This isn't a penalty!"

The fourth official could only tell him to listen to the referee.

the other side,
Hagi Begic also ran over to apply pressure, "That's a yellow card! He stepped on Gaio's ankle!"

The fourth official was quite helpless and could only keep trying to appease the two head coaches.

We communicate entirely in English.

So when Simeone heard Hagi Begic's words, he yelled at him, "That's a dive! Gaio should get a yellow card!"

Hagi Begic was furious. "Are you going to break Gaio's leg before you admit it was a foul?!"

Both players were a bit too excited, and in such a crucial moment of a game, they were fighting for every single ball.

The fourth official and the assistants from both sides quickly pulled them apart.

Otherwise, if we keep arguing, who knows what might happen.

Hagi Bejic was still yelling, "I'm not afraid of you! When I was playing football, you were still playing in the mud!"

Simeone, of course, also grumbled back, not giving an inch.

In fact, they are only 13 years apart in age.

There was a conflict among the coaches on the sidelines.

There were some arguments between the players on the field, and if their teammates hadn't intervened, they would have almost gotten into a physical altercation.

The standoff between the two sides was quickly stopped by the referee.

This was undoubtedly a penalty.

However, the referee did not issue another yellow card.

In Bastia today, Gaio is the first-choice penalty taker, and everyone thought he would face Courtois head-on.

He held the football and handed it to De Bruyne.

"You take this ball."

(End of this chapter)