The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1

Chapter 250 The Mid-Season Champions Battle Continues to the Final Round!
On a cold winter night in Toulouse, you could see the white breath of the fans.

However, at the moment Gaio took the shot...

The white mist disappeared.

Everyone gasped as the football arced through the air, piercing Ahmad's fingers and crashing into the net.

Swish!
The sound of the soccer ball's leather rubbing against the net seemed to echo in everyone's ears.

2-1.

Bastia recovered one.

"Geo!!"

In the away section, Modoso and the fans chanted Gaio's name together.

The TF1 commentator shouted, "Buuuuut!! Gaio's volley! This was only Gaio's first touch after coming on as a substitute, and he scored directly. As expected of Gaio, as expected of the top scorer in Ligue 1, as expected of France's rising star!!"

The narration was barely audible in the various taverns and bars of Bastia.

At this moment, the roar of the fans and the loud clinking of glasses completely drowned out the noise.

On the field.

After scoring, Gaio didn't celebrate. He rushed towards the net, took the ball from Ahmad's hands, and then waved to his teammates, telling them to hurry back to the center circle.

"Hurry up, there's still a chance!"

As Gaio shouted, he ran to the center circle and placed the ball on the service spot.

Gaio's goal greatly boosted the morale of the Bastia players, including Hagi Bejic on the sidelines.

Toulouse's head coach, Casanova, looked worried. After seeing Gaio come on, he deliberately gave his players some instructions, telling them to pay attention to defending Gaio.

As a result, Gaio scored directly with his first shot!
Casanova touched his bald head, pondering what to do next.

This goalkeeper, who played only for Le Havre and Toulouse during his playing career, seamlessly transitioned into becoming Toulouse's assistant coach after retiring from Toulouse.

He worked as a head coach from 1995 until 2008, during which time he was officially appointed as the team's head coach. He went through five head coaches during this period, including the current Marseille head coach, Joachim Bopp.

Bopp led Toulouse to their first-ever appearance in the Champions League in 2007.

Then something interesting happened: they faced Liverpool in the Champions League and suffered a crushing 0-1 defeat at home and a 0-4 defeat away. But according to Bopp, Liverpool's manager at the time, Benitez, sent people to Toulouse a week before the match to monitor their training.

It just so happened that Toulouse's assistant coach at the time, now head coach Casanova, discovered that person.

Bopp also made a sarcastic remark about Benitez, saying, "This shows Benitez's professionalism. He always prepares for every game in great detail, which is very flattering for us. At least I have never encountered such a situation before."

Casanova has been in charge of Toulouse since 2008, and the team's performance has been steadily improving, which is quite good.

Given the current situation, he ultimately decided to play it safe.

"Hey, Dido!!"

Casanova called out the name of winger Dido and waved for him to drop back a bit, which was also a signal to the forwards to collectively retreat and defend.

Focus your defense on Gaio's side.

The other players can use zonal marking, and given Bastia's form tonight, that should be no problem at all.

And indeed, this has proven to be true.

Even when they conceded some possession, Bastia failed to mount a strong attack.

Bastia's current attack is mainly focused on Gaio and De Bruyne.

In the past, the two players would pull each other's defense, creating space for each other, but tonight De Bruyne was clearly not in good form.

When Gaio got the ball, he was surrounded by three people, which made things very difficult.

Time passes minute by minute.

After the passion of Gaio's debut goal, the Bastia fans fell silent again, but their eyes still sparkled with a hint of starlight.

It was getting deeper and deeper, and the temperature was getting lower and lower.

However, Gaio was sweating more and more, and the stains on his jersey were becoming more and more obvious.

In other words, the blue color is not noticeable, but any white jerseys have now turned into grass green and earthy colors.

Hu Chi.

Gaio took a short break when he wasn't holding the ball, and his continuous high-intensity attempts to break through quickly caused his stamina to decline.

Toulouse really went all out to defend the right flank this time, with three players on the first line of defense and others ready to cover from behind.

They simply didn't give Gaio even the slightest bit of space.

In the 83rd minute, Hagi Bejic made another substitution, making a final attempt to bring on Mane and Klose, replacing Palmiri and Joplin with Angura and moving him back to center-back.

After this change, Bastia's attack became slightly stronger.

However, Toulouse had already substituted two forwards and brought on two midfielders around the 70-minute mark to significantly strengthen their defense.

Hagi Begic looked at the scoreboard and time, his heart sinking to the bottom, just like the Bastia fans.

Gaio tried hard to find opportunities on the field, but Dido and Mbengue were like leeches sticking to him, with Tabanu following behind them as well.

Bang!
Rothen passed the ball to Gaio, and now Bastia's attacking tactics are somewhat chaotic, and they can't organize their attack in the frontcourt.

Some fans called it a disastrous performance by De Bruyne, his worst game since arriving in Bastia.

But more often people say, "He was too tired."

He was indeed tired; after seventy minutes, De Bruyne was barely running anymore.

So right now, the team can only rely on Gaio.

Gaio catches the ball.

The three surrounded him once again, and Gaio was actually analyzing possible opportunities with each attempt.

And this time, he has helpers.

Gaio had the ball and suddenly accelerated, drawing Dido and Tabanu to follow. Then, Gaio deftly flicked the ball with his heel.

He knocked the ball to Klose, who was overlapping on the wing.

After receiving the ball, Klose quickly moved forward. Klose is a variable in Toulouse's defensive strategy. In the previous few attacks, Klose did not show any threat, and Toulouse's defense against him was relatively weak.

Klose was fast, and Mbengue couldn't keep up immediately.

This allowed Klose to rush to the front of the defensive line.

Klose immediately glanced towards the center; such crosses are extremely dangerous.

The Toulouse players realized this and quickly followed up, especially by blocking Lukaku's position and marking Rothen's forward runs.

Klose instantly understood the current situation.

But there's still a chance!

Gaio!

Klose suddenly slammed the ball down, not only waving off Mbengue who was rushing up, but also waving off all the other Toulouse players.

Bang!
Klose played a through ball back into the penalty area, and Gaio had just passed the ball and was already charging towards the inside, arriving perfectly in time.

The moment Gaio received the ball, his teammates immediately surrounded him.

At this moment, what you see in the broadcast is the only blue jersey among the five purple jerseys!
1V5!

Knowing he had little room to maneuver after receiving the ball, Gaio simply received it with his right foot and then smoothly flicked it towards his left. The defender completely blocked his view.

But he has a better shooting ability!
Bang!
He leaned his body forward, and with his left foot he curled the ball into the air.

Sirex reacted as quickly as possible, trying to head the ball.

But the ball's arc perfectly bypassed him, heading straight for the net.

Goalkeeper Ahmad had no idea Gaio was shooting, because in his field of vision, just like Gaio was looking at the goal, he couldn't see anything at all; everything was blocked.

When he heard the sound of the ball being kicked and saw the ball flying towards him...

Ahmad quickly lunged forward, but unfortunately Gaio's shot was too fast and went straight into the far corner.

Even with his fastest reaction, he couldn't keep up at all!
Swish!
A beautiful sound rang out.

2-2.

In the first minute of stoppage time, Gaio scored his second goal, and Bastia nearly equalized for Toulouse.

Gaio clenched his fist hard.

His face showed a sense of complete emotional release, but he still didn't celebrate. With three minutes of added time, perhaps a miracle could still happen?
He rushed into the goal again, grabbed the ball, and ran towards the center circle.

His teammates followed him as he ran toward the center circle, high-fiving each other and celebrating along the way.

Courtside.

"Ah!" Hajibegichi couldn't help but roar. He was under a lot of pressure, and this shout was also a way of venting his emotions.

Casanova touched his bald head and shook his head helplessly.

Three points that were within their grasp were lost just like that.

"Ah~"

He let out a soft sigh, and at the same time quickly signaled to his players to hurry up and not waste any more time.

Bastia fans were filled with excitement and their blood was boiling, but they managed to suppress it.

With only two minutes left, everyone was hoping for a miracle.

Even the commentators, after their enthusiastic goal celebrations, said that Bastia might still have a chance to score the winning goal.

but,
As time passed, the Bastia fans returned to reality.

There are no miracles.

drop! !

With the referee's final whistle, the score was tied at 2-2.

Even without a last-minute winner, Bastia fans were still overjoyed at the final whistle.

They knew how tough this game would be.

They also know what the team is facing.

How many teams have collapsed during the long season, and how many talented players have become exhausted and injured due to the tight schedule?
Bastia's ability to secure a draw away from home, given their schedule of playing every three days, is truly remarkable.

The game is over.

The Bastia players hugged each other, and when Gaio and De Bruyne high-fived, De Bruyne was too exhausted to say a word.

He just shrugged.

He was also dissatisfied with his performance in this match.

Gai hugged him and said, "The league is far from over. Remember what we said in the locker room."

De Bruyne nodded.

"A long league is like a marathon; the ultimate winner isn't the one who runs the fastest in any given phase, but the one who runs the fastest throughout the entire race."

After the game.

Haji Begitch was not as spirited as before; he said the same thing, but in a different tone.

"This match was tough, and it proves once again that we are a relegation team. We can't be too ambitious. We need to make more detailed naturalization efforts and ensure playing time for every player. My players are very tired. This is the responsibility of our entire coaching staff. I am sorry to them and also to the fans."

Rothen, who was also present, disagreed with Hagi Begic's statement, saying, "That's the league. The pressure is always there. No match is the responsibility of any one person or group. The match is the responsibility of all of us!"

Finally, Rothen spoke of Gaio's brace, saying, "That was the only warmth in Bastia on this winter night."

On the other hand, Casanova praised Bastia highly, saying, "Bastia are very tenacious, and they impressed me a lot, especially Gaio, who I think is the most talented winger among French players. Both of Bastia's goals in this game came from him, which is incredible."

I know that Bastia will be second in Ligue 1 after this match, but in my heart, they are a team like Paris Saint-Germain, or even more admirable. If I remember correctly, Paris Saint-Germain spent nearly 300 million euros on their squad in three transfer windows, while Bastia was still in the French national league the season before last, and they didn't have a single player worth more than one million euros.

They're now second in Ligue 1, which is fantastic. I wish them the best of luck in achieving their desired result at the end of the season.

Casanova's words were very frank.

Bastia now sees Paris Saint-Germain as their only rival.

Bastia returned to Corsica with a draw.

Now they are trailing Paris Saint-Germain by one point.

Throughout Bastia, everyone was in high spirits and full of fighting spirit.

They will win!

If they had never tasted first place, perhaps Bastia's players and fans could accept second place, after all, it's a Champions League spot.

But now that they've tasted the sweetness of being number one, there's no going back.

Fortunately, after the match against Toulouse, Hagi Begic learned his lesson and completely changed his approach.

It is essential to give key players time to rotate and rest.

This is his primary thought when arranging the roster, a point he has discussed with Chatham, and both of them understand that they cannot exhaust the resources for short-term gains.

Chatham also gave Hagi Bejic a hint: "Hang in there, get through these last three games before Christmas, and we'll have signings in the winter transfer window, and they'll be strengthening our defense."

Hearing this, Haji Begichi felt more confident.

13 number.

Bastia will host Lorient.

Hagi Béjić substituted De Bruyne this time, using a 4-4-2 formation and pushing Rothen to the midfield playmaking position.

Despite playing at home and facing Lorient, a team that has been struggling this season, Bastia still opted for a defensive counter-attacking strategy. They are very pragmatic and don't care much about the spectacle.

This way, you can take down your opponent with a more economical 2-1 score.

Lukaku scored twice.

Both assists came from Gaio.

When Gaio was substituted off in the 60th minute of the second half, Hagi Borgic brought on De Bruyne to play for half an hour.

The match in Bastia was moved up a day from Paris.

So they are in first place for now.

On the second day.

Amidst the anticipation of all of Bastia, Paris Saint-Germain secured a draw!

(End of this chapter)