Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

On the football pitch, never mind half an hour—even ten minutes, five minutes, or even just one minute can completely change the situation.

The Bastia players hadn't become complacent despite their two-goal lead.

Instead, in this match with relatively lenient refereeing standards, they sought out every opportunity to commit tactical fouls, fragmenting the game's flow to prevent Lille from organizing effective attacks while giving their teammates breathing space.

Julien glanced at the time on the scoreboard.

Minimize unnecessary running, conserve energy.

The Bastia fans could see Julien's tactical adjustment immediately.

"Sigh, Julien's exhausted—he's been starting and playing until now."

"But Julien can't come off now. He's our most threatening attacking player up front. Even if the others have fresh legs, they can't hold onto the ball like he can. When Julien has possession, unless the opponent fouls him, there's no way they can dispossess him."

"Julien still needs to hold on. As long as he's up front, their defense won't dare push forward aggressively, which reduces pressure on our backline."

Lille's attacks grew increasingly fierce as time passed.

The Bastia fans watched with mounting tension and anxiety.

Cahuzac made a crucial sliding tackle on the flank during a defensive play, getting to the ball first and clearing it out for a throw-in, stopping this Lille attack. He rose to his feet with a roar.

Clap clap clap!

The fans on the sidelines applauded vigorously and cheered.

Cahuzac needed to vent his emotions under pressure, and the fans felt the same need.

No one considered a two-goal lead safe.

Seventieth minute.

Bastia defender Mari successfully intercepted a Lille pass but then collapsed on the ground, clutching the back of his thigh—he got a cramp.

His teammates quickly rushed over to help him stretch.

Over the next few minutes, Bastia players went down with cramps with increasing frequency.

Lille players grabbed the ball and angrily shouted at the referee, "This is time-wasting bullsh*t!"

The referee simply pointed to his watch.

While his teammate received treatment, Julien walked to the sideline for water.

Hadzibegic approached with concern, "How are you holding up?"

Julien was breathing slightly heavily and panted, "I can still manage."

The intensity of this match exceeded his expectations, and he now had a precise understanding of his current ability limits.

With his present capabilities, maintaining high-level performance for a full ninety minutes was impossible.

He could play well for sixty to seventy minutes.

Julien could feel that as his stamina declined, his ball control wasn't as smooth and fluid as before.

Hadzibegic nodded, "Hang in there a bit longer. When you get the ball later, don't worry about scoring, but make sure you hold possession in their half. Use your dribbling ability to waste time."

"Got it!"

Rudi Garcia paced restlessly on the sideline.

Just over a minute after play resumed, Lille made their substitutions—three players at once!

Joe Cole, Balmont, and Idrissa Gueye—all three midfielders came off.

They brought on an additional forward and made two positional changes.

Gianni Bruno, Pedretti, and Payet entered the game.

Seeing Pedretti and the others, the away Lille fans applauded vigorously, hoping the substitutions would bring change to their team.

The fans had high expectations for them.

Especially for Pedretti.

This was a former French international, once called "Deschamps' successor" and "France's Pirlo" during his peak.

Though his stamina wasn't what it used to be, he still possessed excellent passing ability.

Lille adjusted, and Bastia chose to substitute as well.

Hadzibegic didn't use all three substitution slots at once, instead replacing Maolida with a midfielder to strengthen the defense.

Rudi Garcia watched the siege-like attacking formation, his mood sinking deeper into despair.

He had gone all-in.

With no substitutions remaining, if they still couldn't break through Bastia's defense, they would have to accept defeat.

Both sets of fans felt their hearts rising to their throats.

Everyone was nervous!

The Bastia supporters' chants grew louder and louder!

The fans needed to release their tension through unbridled screaming.

They also wanted to give strength to their players with their voices—

"We are Bastia! The blue ocean fills with our songs, we are forever on the path of battle."

The sound rolled like thunder.

Bastia players slid into tackles, threw themselves into blocks, and engaged in physical duels again and again. The cool February night wind was swept up and boiled by their passion.

The away Lille fans' voices were completely drowned out by Bastia's support.

Whoosh!

In the eighty-first minute, after an initial gasp from the Bastia fans, they resumed their loud singing.

It seemed no one was affected by what had just happened on the pitch.

Lille had scored.

Hazard finally found space to cut inside, emerging between two defenders to pass the ball to Pedretti at the edge of the penalty area. The latter unleashed a powerful long-range shot that finally breached Bastia's defense.

Pedretti didn't celebrate, but rushed to retrieve the ball from the goal and waved for his teammates to quickly restart from the center circle.

The atmosphere for both teams reached peak tension at this moment.

Rudi Garcia didn't celebrate either, but continued to shout for his players to hurry up.

Hadzibegic loudly reassured his players, telling them to maintain their defensive shape. He appeared unaffected by the goal, but his clenched fists were trembling slightly.

If it went to extra time, Bastia might not have another chance.

Everyone's attention was now completely focused on the pitch.

Elion was also hoping Bastia could hold on.

Looking at those blue jerseys, he felt a sense of kinship.

At the same time, he hoped Julien could go further in the French Cup and attract attention from more clubs.

Bastia was just a stepping stone.

Not Julien's final destination.

Thump!

After the restart, Julien collected the ball and immediately dribbled toward Lille's half. Though his stamina had seriously declined, limiting his ability to perform more feints, his touch remained exquisite.

Setto blocked his path while Hazard tracked back to harass Julien.

At this moment, only the substitute Vincent had enough energy to support Julien in the center.

When Julien passed to him, Vincent was immediately closed down by defenders and quickly passed back.

Lille rushed forward to press.

The pub patrons, seeing Bastia's attacking situation, shook their heads.

"Julien has no stamina left—he should be substituted."

"His touch has clearly slowed down. Hadzibegic is really pushing the kid to his limits—he's only seventeen years old."

"He really should be substituted."

Bastia lost possession again.

Julien breathed heavily, adjusting his breathing as he slowly walked back from the front line.

He truly couldn't run much more.

The final minutes felt especially long—this was a test of willpower for both teams' players.

Just as Hadzibegic had said, a battle of wills between men.

Bastia then used their final two substitution slots.

To everyone's surprise, Julien still wasn't among them.

"Hadzibegic has used all his substitutions, but Julien, who's clearly lacking stamina, remains on the pitch," The TV commentator said with surprise.

In the stands, Châtaigner was also dissatisfied with Hadzibegic's substitution choices—wasn't this overworking Julien?!

What if he got injured?

Players are most susceptible to injury when fatigued!

But it was too late now, he had no choice but to watch the scoreboard, where the bright red 2-1 showed time flowing away.

89:42

The fourth official held up the stoppage time board.

Five minutes.

More and more Bastia players went down, with Cahuzac even receiving a yellow card for time-wasting.

Goalkeeper Novaes also received a yellow card for delaying the game.

In these final moments, the players' will and emotions had reached their breaking point.

Lille's desperate attacks gave Bastia an opportunity.

Vincent intercepted the ball and immediately charged forward.

He knew he was fresh legs and had to push forward!

The Lille players were also running on empty, their recovery speed noticeably slower.

Vincent pushed past the halfway line.

But his path was quickly blocked, though Vincent had already planned for this.

Thump!

He played a pass to Julien, who had come to collect the ball.

Julien quickly assessed the situation—most of the defensive pressure was on the left side with Vincent.

This was his chance!

Julien immediately pushed forward with the ball. His pace wasn't fast enough now, but Beria's large frame was at a disadvantage against a player with Julien's technical ability.

With just a simple stepover feint, Julien drew Beria into a tackle.

Then he ran past Beria's side.

After advancing a few steps, Beria caught up with him. Julien stopped suddenly, and Beria couldn't stop in time.

He knocked Julien down directly.

Tweet!

The referee immediately whistled for Beria's foul, awarding Bastia a free kick in a dangerous position.

Beria protested to the referee that it wasn't a foul.

The free kick would waste precious time, which he couldn't accept.

But his teammates pulled Beria away, "Don't waste time."

However, the Bastia players weren't in any hurry.

They strolled slowly toward the attacking half.

Since the free kick was from a considerable distance, Bastia didn't position many players forward—it was mainly to waste time.

Rudi Garcia cursed furiously.

The referee waved his hands, signaling for Bastia to hurry up.

Hadzibegic wished his players could move even slower—they were already three minutes into stoppage time.

They were still ahead!

Everyone thought Bastia would definitely use this free kick primarily to waste time.

Rothen, who was taking the kick, felt the same way.

But before the kick, Julien quietly said to him, "Their backline is empty—pass to Vincent, I'll make a run forward."

Rothen nodded slightly.

Looking at Lille's formation, they were indeed thinking about counterattacking, leaving their defense vulnerable.

Tweet!

As the referee's whistle sounded, Rothen kicked the ball.

He didn't aim for the near post.

Instead, he played a cross-field pass to Vincent on the left. When Rothen made the pass, Julien, who had been a step or two in front of Beria, suddenly made a reverse run.

Thump!!

Vincent immediately played a through ball!

It went behind Beria, where Julien appeared, taking the ball forward a step as the central defender rushed to cover.

Julien gritted his teeth and pushed forward a few more steps, reaching the corner of the penalty area on the right, making as if to continue toward the byline.

Chedjou instinctively made a sliding tackle.

Julien stopped suddenly and cut the ball back.

He shifted it to his left foot, but due to his declining stamina, Julien couldn't plant his foot properly and slipped to the ground.

But he quickly pushed himself up.

Lille's central defender Mavuba rushed forward when he saw Julien fall.

Julien got up quickly. While Mavuba was still charging forward and before Julien had fully regained his balance, he quickly played a cross!

A golden opportunity!

Lille's center was wide open!!

Vincent was making his run!

Faced with such a perfect pass from Julien, Vincent didn't take a touch, giving goalkeeper Landreau no time to react.

A thunderous shot!!

BANG!

The ball flew with tremendous power toward the bottom left corner. Landreau, positioned slightly to the right due to Julien's dribbling on that side, reacted too late.

The ball beat him into the net!

Swoosh!!

The ball crashed into the netting, which wafted up and down like Mediterranean waves.

Julien, whose legs gave out after making the pass, fell to the ground but pumped his fist triumphantly when he saw the ball hit the net.

ROAR!!

Simultaneously, the Stade Armand-Cesari erupted with a sound that broke through the heavens!!

3-1!

French Cup quarterfinals!!