The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 231 Top Spot Experience Card

The football, with an exquisite arc, quietly fell into the net before the eyes of 20,000 fans.

Even as Carraso made his diving save, the sound of the football rubbing against the net echoed in his mind.

Swish!
The football grazed the goalpost and hit the side netting.

The ball went in.

A goal that broke the deadlock!
It still comes from Gaio.

boom!
In an instant, the entire stadium seemed to erupt like an underwater volcano, intense, vibrating, and with towering waves!

The fans' hopes, built up over twenty minutes, came true at this moment.

"Geo!"

"Geo!!"

The Bastia fans chanted the hero's name, waving all the support items in their hands—flags, jerseys, scarves—as blue waves swept from the Mediterranean Sea to the Cesarian stadium.

Gaio turned and slid off the court.

In the corner flag area, he raised his arms like a commander, making the "waves" in the stands even more turbulent!
"That was awesome! That was such a cool shot!" Lukaku, who was closest, rushed over and hugged Gaio, shouting as he waved to the stands along with Gaio.

This is the home advantage.

The rest of the Bastia players rushed over, excited about their captain's goal.

Once the 0-0 deadlock is broken, the rest of the game will be much easier, and Bastia will be more relaxed.

Courtside.

Beside the excitedly celebrating Hagiberg, Gillo frowned in thought. Bordeaux was now in a rather passive situation. What should they do?

Trailing by one goal, should we attack, or continue to defend as we are now?
This was not a very difficult decision.

In the stands.

Seeing Gaio surrounded by admirers, Blanco couldn't help but sigh, "Looking back now, the best thing I ever did during my tenure was promoting Gaio."

Zidane shook his head. "No, even if you don't promote him, Deschamps will. True geniuses will never be buried. You must always believe that."

Blanco chuckled and said, "Then my years in office have been a complete failure; I haven't accomplished anything."

Zidane continued to shake his head, "No, quite the opposite, you deserve a lot of credit."

Blanco was somewhat puzzled.

Zidane laughed and said, "You traded your future with the French national team for the peace that the French national team has now."

Upon hearing this, Blanco instantly understood Zidane's meaning.

He laughed too.

indeed.

He was still very proud of this. In the past, head coaches didn't dare to target the national team's star players, but he didn't care and directly kicked Nasri, Benzema, and others out of the national team.

Before leaving office, he can be said to have given Deschamps a clean national team.

With Deschamps now centering on Gaio and heavily utilizing young players, the French team may not achieve great results in the short term, but its future looks promising.

Blanco exclaimed, "I really want to see how far Gaio can lead the French team, preferably past us old guys."

Both of them focused their attention on the field.

His eyes were filled with anticipation as he looked towards Gaio, who had returned to the center circle.

This child was born in the suburbs of Paris, lost in London, and reborn in Bastia.

To what extent will this lead France?

No one knows the answer yet.

drop!
The game continues.

With Gaio scoring, many Bastia fans initially thought Bordeaux might attack, but to their surprise, they remained stubbornly defensive.

The TF1 commentator remarked, "Perhaps Gillot felt that Bordeaux didn't yet have the confidence to go toe-to-toe with Bastia in an attacking battle. Their defense is currently successful. Although they conceded a goal, it was entirely due to Gaio's individual ability. Tactically, Bordeaux has succeeded."

but,

Haji Begitch disagrees.

He glanced at Gillo beside him.

A thought popped into my head—Bordeaux was waiting for Gaio to come off the field!
Haji Begichi's thinking wasn't just random; he had reason to believe it.

Gaio's importance to Bastia is beyond question.

Gaio's injury-prone nature is well-known, and in many previous games, Hagi Begic would have Gaio leave the court early to rest.

In the last match against Atletico Madrid, Gaião played almost the entire game.

Therefore,
Gillo definitely believes that Hagi Begic will continue to bring Gaio off the court early for rest.

If we consider this information from the perspective of Bordeaux, then...

Gillo's idea was clear—defend to prevent conceding more goals, wait for Gaio to come off the field, and then launch a counter-attack.

Haji Begitch knew he had to be wary of this.

So during the match, he instructed the Bastia players to slow down the pace and conserve their energy.

And after a dead ball situation, he called Gaio over and said, "Slow down, watch your stamina. You might be substituted later in this game, or you might not be substituted at all, so you need to be careful with your stamina."

"it is good!"

Gaio knew what to do.

The game continued, and time passed gradually.

Bordeaux's defensive strategy actually caused Bastia's attack quite a bit of trouble.

Gaio's defense was more compact.

Moreover, the opponent's actions are becoming increasingly aggressive. Now, when defending Gaio, almost no one is going for the ball; they are all trying to keep Gaio in the game.

However, with Hagi Begic's advice, Gaio did not waste his energy on ineffective breakthroughs.

As a winger, you don't have to keep breaking through; you have to look for opportunities.

But that opportunity didn't come until the end of the first half.

drop!
The referee blew the halftime whistle.

Both the players and fans of Bastia were quite satisfied with this first half.

With a semi-regular lineup, taking a one-goal lead is acceptable.

Bordeaux was quite satisfied with the result.

Enter the changing room.

Gillot emphasized, "We held firm, that's how we're going to play. Their midfield isn't very threatening, so we only need to focus most of our attention on Gaio. If we shut down Gaio, our defense will be fine. Their big center forward isn't good with the ball, so we need to be more careful with our footwork."

Giroud kept talking, while the Bordeaux players listened and rested.

In fact, they expended a lot of energy in this first half.

Especially on the part where they were defending Gaio, every time Gaio broke through, it put immense pressure on him both physically and mentally.

Sertic told Tremulina, "I have a yellow card, so you'll have to cover for me more in the second half. I can't play aggressively anymore."

This defensive midfielder, who holds dual Serbian and French citizenship, was somewhat embarrassed by Gaio in this match.

In fact, if he hadn't decisively issued a yellow card, Gaio might have scored a second goal.

However, having a yellow card would make things difficult in the second half, which is why Sertic gave Tremulina a word of advice.

Trying to defend Gay alone is simply a pipe dream; even with multiple people defending him, good teamwork is essential.

They had seen Gay's highlight reels of his breakthroughs, and when faced with multiple defenders, Gay always managed to find a gap to slip through.

While watching the highlights, many teammates found it incredible that Gaio, with his height, could have such a fast footwork frequency.

It's simply unscientific.

Perhaps this is the talent that belongs to geniuses.

at the same time.

London.

Conier Training Base.

Wenger was with Damian Martinez; Wenger specifically called him to his office to watch the game together. And the game they were watching was between Bastia and Bordeaux.

After the first half ended, Wenger asked Darmian, "What do you think of Bastia?"

Damian thought for a moment and said, "They are very strong. I think they could become the Ligue 1 champions. This is just their reserve squad."

Wenger remained noncommittal, saying, "With you joining them, they will be stronger. Strive to win the championship. The team will continue to monitor your performance over there."

"Ok!"

Isn't this exactly what Damian wanted?
Instead of sitting on the bench at Arsenal, it's better to hone your skills at a title-contending team; even the Ligue 1 champions are champions.

If he performs well, he will obviously have more opportunities after returning to Arsenal.

Wenger then added, "Actually, as long as Gaio is on the field at Bastia, there is a guaranteed minimum standard. After you go to Bastia in the winter transfer window, try to build a good relationship with Gaio. Aren't you on good terms with Giroud? Giroud and Gaio also have a good relationship. You can talk more, and you can talk more about Arsenal."

Damian wasn't stupid; he knew what Wenger meant as soon as he heard him say that.

Is this a way for him to act as a lobbyist and influence Gaio's choice?

"okay."

Damian agreed, thinking Arsenal was a good club and that if Gaio really came to Arsenal, there wouldn't be any problem.

The two chatted for a while longer.

Soon, the second half of the game began on television.

Wenger said, "Bordeaux is trying to defend and wait for Gaio to come off the field, but judging from Gaio's playing style in the first half, he was clearly holding back and playing at a pace that would last the whole game. Bordeaux's plan may fall through."

During the competition, the professor would occasionally share his insights, which Damian would write down—these were all valuable lessons.

Bordeaux didn't make much of a difference in the second half.

They continued to hold their ground.

As time went by, Hajibegichi watched Gilo's increasingly somber expression and knew that his prediction had been correct.

Bordeaux were just waiting for Gaio to come off the field.

But I'm sorry.

Gaião will play the entire game tonight!
Wow!

Suddenly, gasps of surprise erupted from the fans at the Cesarian Stadium.

Although Bordeaux defended stubbornly, Bastia's constant attacks and passing created opportunities for the opposing team.

Gaião seized an opportunity on the right flank to break through to the byline, instantly throwing Bordeaux's defense into disarray.

Then, just before reaching the baseline, he made a triangular back pass with his right foot.

With Gaio having trained his weaker foot for a long time, his right foot is now improving rapidly.

The pass landed perfectly in Enrique's most difficult defensive position, between him and the goalkeeper.

Enrique and the goalkeeper hesitated for a moment, a step too slow, allowing the ball to reach Lukaku, who was battling Planus.

The two of them extended their feet almost simultaneously.

Lukaku was in front, and Planus was behind.

The two men, with their feet almost parallel, kicked out together!
Bang!
That kick was very powerful, after all, both players were putting in a lot of effort, one trying to clear the ball with a powerful kick, and the other trying to shoot violently.

Therefore, this shot was extremely powerful.

The football didn't change direction at all; it shot straight towards the goal.

Goalkeeper Carraso had no chance to make the save.

The football went into the net!

2-0!

Lukaku scored his tenth league goal, averaging one goal per game, which seems very efficient, but he is actually only third in the top scorers list.

After he took the shot, he and Planus fell to the ground together, but when he saw the ball go in, he quickly got up and rushed to the sidelines.

He patted his chest and proudly raised his arms in celebration towards the stands.

As his teammates rushed over, Lukaku hugged Gaio, exclaiming, "That was a beautiful shot! Two more like that and I'll have a hat trick! Hahaha!"

Lukaku was actually thinking that if he scored two more goals, he could surpass Aubameyang and become the second-highest scorer.

As for why it wasn't number one?

He knew what was going on.

He really can't surpass Gaio, who's number one; everyone knows their own situation.

Lukaku knows that he mostly scores against weaker teams, while Gaio is a player who can score hat-tricks in truly tough matches.

How to compare?
It's incomparable.

Furthermore, as a center, Lukaku was hoping that Gaio would pass him the ball.

Thinking about it that way, the second one is pretty good too.

After a series of passionate remarks, the TF1 commentator said, "This goal in the 61st minute will probably completely disrupt Bordeaux's rhythm. Trailing by two goals, should they continue to defend? If they do, it will be tantamount to admitting defeat."

For Bastia, with half an hour left, if they maintain their current lead and finish the game on time, they will become the top team in Ligue 1!
This is the first time a newly promoted team in Ligue 1 has been able to become the top team in Ligue 1 after ten rounds of matches!

Although it's just a top-ranked trial card, it's still top-ranked.

This fully demonstrates Bastia's competitiveness this season. Will Ligue 1 see two consecutive seasons of upsets?
Last season, Montpellier won their first-ever Ligue 1 title; will Bastia take over this season?

Courtside.

Hajibegichi looked at Gilo, whose brows were furrowed, and couldn't help but want to burst out laughing.

At the same time, he looked at Gaio with admiration in his eyes. He knew that Gaio and De Bruyne often practiced their weaker foot.

This time, Gaio's pass came from his weaker foot.

The message was delivered very effectively.

Talent and hard work are both indispensable.

After all, the top five leagues are not lacking in talent or hard work, but they lack both talent and hard work.

2-0.

This scoreline is indeed a headache for Gillot, and most importantly, Gaio doesn't seem to be leaving the field.

And now time is becoming increasingly scarce.

Gillo sighed inwardly.

A decision was made.

Substitute!

After the game restarted and the ball went out of play, Bordeaux made a substitution.

Sergio, who already had a yellow card, was substituted.

Add a striker to the attack – Pelion.

This former Manchester United player is someone most people don't even recognize.

at the same time.

Bastia also opted to make a substitution.

Palmieri was substituted off and replaced by Mane.

Hagi Begic had just seen the actions of Coach Gillo's team and had once again made a successful prediction.

If you switch to a faster striker, I'll switch to a faster winger.

A counter-offensive?

Give it a try.

Hajibegichi was smug and turned to look at Gilo.

Jiro sensed something and turned around, and the two of them made eye contact.

The expressions are different.

Haji Begitch remained calm, 'With this lineup, how could we possibly lose?'

(End of this chapter)