The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 248 Our History

The second half.

Hagi Begic kept his word and substituted Gaio in the 55th minute.

Gaião's departure from the field brought a huge sigh of relief to Lille's players.

After returning in the second half, Bastia did not score, but Gaio's threat on the wing was really strong, making Lille play quite cautiously.

Now they see an opportunity to counterattack.

Gaio hugged Ilan, who replaced him, and returned to the bench to sit next to Klose.

Klose mostly rotates with Angura at left-back.

He might also have a chance to play in this match.

Gaio and his teammates greeted each other.

On the field.

Lille players finally dared to launch a full-scale attack, but in the first round, they were taught a lesson by Bastia.

Rothen, who had just put on the captain's armband, assisted Kanté, and the two of them double-teamed the opposing midfielder Martin, stealing the ball from his feet and then passing it to De Bruyne.

De Bruyne connected directly with Belgium.

Lukaku charges forward like a bull.

A half-chance opportunity, a powerful shot from outside the penalty area, Landreau couldn't save it, but touched it, slightly altering the defensive line.

The ball struck the outside of the goalpost and went out of bounds.

Lukaku looked completely incredulous.

Even those off the court, including Gaio, held their heads in their hands, expressing their regret for him.

This is an excellent opportunity.

The TF1 commentator also expressed his regret, saying, "Lukaku, who is on loan from Chelsea, has actually performed quite well for Bastia this season. He is currently second in the top scorers list with 13 goals, only behind Gaio. However, if we include those excellent chances that Lukaku wasted, he probably has more goals than Gaio!"

Other fans might find it hard to believe, but Bastia fans know it all too well.

In a pub in Bastia, a fan said, "If Lukaku could really capitalize on those great opportunities, his value would be higher than Gaio's."

The commentator continued analyzing the current situation, saying, "Lille shouldn't think that Bastia is easy to bully just because Gaio has been substituted. De Bruyne, Kanté, Lukaku, and even their left winger Mané are all good players."

But Lille clearly didn't hear the commentator's words, and in the 74th minute, Lille lost possession while pressing forward with their main force.

Rothen made a long pass, sending the ball directly to the front of the field.

Mane charged down the left flank with great force.

Approaching the penalty area, he used a feint to shake off Debuchy and cut into the box.

As Landero rushed over to block him, Mane calmly delivered a triangular cross-legged pass.

Lukaku's forward movement had drawn the attention of two center-backs, creating a vacuum on the left flank.

De Bruyne surged forward, received a pass from Mane, and easily slotted the ball into the far corner.

Swish!
0-3! !
Bastia is in the lead again!

This was De Bruyne's sixth league goal of the season, and he also tied for first place in the assist charts with nine assists.

This is also a true reflection of Bastia's offensive firepower this season.

The commentators exclaimed, "Bastia this season is absolutely phenomenal. They occupy the top two spots in both the top scorer and assist charts, which proves that their top position is no accident!"
They have an even greater chance than Montpellier won the title last season.

Of course, the Paris Saint-Germain team that Montpellier faced last season was completely different from the Paris Saint-Germain team that Bastia faced this season.

If Bastia can still beat Paris to win the title, then the prestige of that victory goes without saying.

Trailing by three goals.

Garcia lowered his head, having lost to Bastia once again.

He sighed.

The sigh lingered until the final whistle blew, finally ending slowly.

The final score was 0-3.

Bastia currently leads second-placed Paris Saint-Germain by 4 points, having played one more game.

Marseille lost again this round.

The only teams capable of catching up with Bastia are Lyon, who kick off tomorrow night, and Paris Saint-Germain.

After the game.

Hagibejic commented on his decision to substitute Gaio early: "Gaio doesn't need that much playing time and can score a lot of goals. He's still young and needs more rest. Too much playing time will wear down his body. He suffered a serious injury in the summer, and we don't want to see that happen again. The same will be true for the subsequent games. I will arrange his rest time accordingly."

He does what he says.

As Bastia fans celebrated wildly, and Bastia maintained their top spot in Ligue 1 that night, Hagi Begic spoke with Gaio at the training ground.

“I don’t plan to include you in the squad for the next game in Israel. We’ve already qualified as the top seed in our group, so there’s no need for us to travel all that way. I’ve heard that the Israelis are very aggressive, and I’m worried about you getting injured.”

Gaio has no problem with it.

He returned to his dormitory, washed up, and lay in bed to check his winning points. He had only gained 3 points from defeating Lille in this match.

It's only 18 PM right now.

Progress is very slow.

Gaio gradually discovered some basic logic behind the reward distribution for winning points—

Firstly, weaker teams have difficulty accumulating points, and secondly, even if you have previously defeated an opponent, you may not have enough points.

The reason why Atletico Madrid had a good points margin in the second leg was because Simeone did not bring Atletico Madrid to their full strength in the first leg, while Atletico Madrid was at its complete strength in the second leg.

Finally, if you are defeated and the opponent's lineup strength has declined for various reasons, then the points will be negligible.

Just like this time against Lille, only 3 points.

It's because Bastia defeated Lille, a team that had won both the World Cup and the Champions League, last season.

This season, Lille's key players have left one after another, and their strength is not as good as before.

Even head coach Garcia, after leading the team for several years, doesn't know if he can continue this season.

Lille is in such a bad state now.

When Bastia played in Israel, Gaio did not travel with the team to Israel but stayed in Bastia to train.

He also met the team's new signing, Damian Martinez. The two met without any awkwardness, mainly because they are both good friends of Giroud.

Giroud even called Gaio specifically to ask him to take care of Damian.

Gaião is very happy with the team's signings. Although Darmian is still young, he is definitely a goalkeeper with full potential, at least better than the current first-choice goalkeeper, Noves.

Hagi Bejic has wanted to replace Noves many times, but the second and third goalscorers are even worse. This winter transfer window finally presents an opportunity.

Simultaneously,

Gaio also remotely advised Pierre to talk to Monaco's youth academy director about getting Mbappe to sign with Monaco.

In fact, Gaião was very clear about Mbappé's ability; all he needed was a platform. Therefore, he didn't try to change Mbappé's original trajectory.

Let him practice in Monaco first.

That night.

Bastia drew 2-2 with Hapoel Tel Aviv away from home.

De Bruyne scored twice.

One of his goals came directly from a free kick, helping Bastia to almost equalize in the 84th minute.

Ultimately, with this score, Bastia successfully advanced from Group B, where defending champions Atletico Madrid were located, as group winners.

So far,

All the teams that will advance directly from the group stage have been determined.

Since the Champions League matches end before the Europa League, by this point all the teams that have advanced to the Europa League knockout stage have been determined.

Gaio glanced at it.

As expected, Chelsea moved up to the Europa League from third place in their Champions League group.

Chelsea have a good chance of becoming the fourth team, after Juventus, Ajax, and Bayern Munich, to win all three major European trophies.

Barcelona is considered to have a minor trio of cup titles, mainly because they have never won the Europa League/UEFA Cup, but they have won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the predecessor of the UEFA Cup, which is the predecessor of the Europa League, so it is included in the calculation.

After thinking about it, Gaio realized that UEFA later created the Europa League.

Before he crossed over, Mourinho had already led Roma to this championship.

I wonder if Chelsea won the Europa League. If Chelsea had won the Europa League in the original timeline, they would have been the first European team to achieve a UEFA Grand Slam.

But now, Gaião will definitely do everything in his power to stop Chelsea from winning the title.

otherwise,

Chelsea won the title, what will Bastia get?
Gaio also glanced at the tiers.

Bastia is finally in the top tier this time.

The first tier consists of the better-performing third-placed teams in the Champions League groups: Chelsea, CFR Cluj, Olympiacos, and Benfica.

And the Europa League group stage winners: Liverpool, Bastia, Fenerbahce, Bordeaux, Steaua Bucharest, Dnipro, Gent, Rubin Kazan, Lyon, Lazio, Metalist Kharkiv, and Hannover.

However, there are quite a few top teams in the second tier as well.

The worst performing third-placed teams in the Champions League group stage are: Zenit St. Petersburg, BATE Borisov, Dynamo Kyiv, and Ajax.

The second-placed teams in the Europa League group stage are: Anzhi Makhachkala, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Newcastle United, VfB Stuttgart, Napoli, FC Basel, Inter Milan, Sparta Prague, Tottenham Hotspur, Bayer Leverkusen, and Levante.

It's fair to say that this year's Europa League is very competitive.

After all, in Gaião's eyes, can you imagine Chelsea, Liverpool, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, and Tottenham Hotspur all playing in the Europa League?
However, in Gaio's eyes at this point, these powerhouse teams were no longer powerhouses, but rather potential winning points packages.

Gaio plans to transfer to a team in one of the top four European leagues this summer.

At that time, he would inevitably face more intense competition, and he preferred Champions League teams, which would put his abilities to the test even more.

He can't rack up many winning points in Ligue 1 right now, relying entirely on the Europa League knockout stage.

Therefore, we should try our best to improve ourselves in the last half of the season.

And next season ends with the World Cup.

This is also one of the trophies that Gaio most desires.

As a major European power, France's emergence of a football legend can have a significant impact on French politics.

Don't underestimate the role of football in politics.

How do we produce a football king?
A club grand slam, a national team grand slam, and ideally, a successful title defense in a major cup competition.

The next day.

The Bastia players were still asleep – they had returned to Bastia at three or four in the morning the previous night.

The Bastia Daily's headline proclaimed: "Our History: From 1978 to 2012, From Papi to Gaio."

"The near miss in the 1978 European Cup final (UEFA Cup) is an eternal pain in Bastia's heart, and also a source of agony for legendary players like Papi.

The more than 30-year absence from European wars that followed has turned that glorious past into something almost a museum exhibit.

Bertrand, the owner of Sunset Café, stroked the final ticket left by his father, Old Bertrand, and said, "The old guys always silently finish their drinks."

And now, Bastia's dream of European competition, suppressed for thirty-four years, has finally awakened at Gaio's feet!

This season, a hero has arrived!

Gaião scored eight goals in five games, leading his team to a double victory over Atlético Madrid in two legs! This not only secured them the top spot in the group and their advancement, but also completely revived the team from a 34-year hiatus in European competitions.

Throughout the group stage, Gaio was the core engine and soul of Bastia's push for European competition, and his impeccable performance made him the absolute banner for the team's return to glory.

The despair of being so close yet so far from the pinnacle of European football has now transformed into strength, flowing into Gaio and his Azzurri. The story of Bastia's European campaign will be written by Gaio himself.

Bastia is coming to the Europa League knockout stage!

The Bastia fans held the newspaper in their hands, flipping through it repeatedly. They read this headline several times.

Everyone was muttering, "Gaio will lead us to the next round."

Just like they believed in Captain Pappi back then.

The Bastia Daily also wrote about which teams Bastia might draw in the upcoming draw on December 20th, detailing all the teams and highlighting the second-tier teams.

Because Bastia will be drawn against a second-tier team.

The newspaper provided a detailed account of all the teams' records and their performance in the league this season.

The Bastia people all have a gleam in their eyes.

They are confident that their team is no worse than any other team!
In this atmosphere, the Bastia Daily even contacted the club specifically to request an exclusive interview with the team.

The focus this time is naturally Gaio.

Chatham told Gay about it, "You can avoid other interviews, but I think you can participate in this kind of interview with your own people. I think your statement is more useful to the fans than anything we say."

Gaio is well aware of this. The new year is about to end, and Bastia is currently ranked first in Ligue 1 and has also qualified as the group winner in the Europa League.

The second half of the season is all about consolidating all of this and ultimately winning the championship!
Gaio nodded and replied, "Okay, but let's wait until after the Europa League draw, um, during the daytime on Christmas Eve. We still have four league games before Christmas. I think after these games are finished, this interview can serve as my year-end summary and New Year's outlook."

Chatham laughed. "Of course!"

And that's how the matter was settled.

The next day,

Bastia immediately departed for Toulouse for their sixteenth league match.

Gaio did not start in this game.

Before Christmas, Bastia played every three days, and Hagi Begic dared not take the risk.

He's quite nervous right now. At PSG's pre-match press conference yesterday, Ancelotti clearly stated, "PSG only has one league opponent, Bastia."

(End of this chapter)