Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

"BASTIA!"

The Stade Armand-Cesari exploded as ten thousand fans' emotions were ignited by that single moment!

Vincent, after scoring, was the first to rush over and pull Julien to his feet. Together they ran to the corner flag to celebrate wildly with the fans in the stands.

"Forza!"

"BASTIA!!"

Players and fans celebrated together, unable to contain their joy.

Less than two minutes remained, and they led by two goals!

Hadzibegic jumped up when the goal was scored—a fifty-five-year-old man was laughing like a child.

The stadium was in complete celebration.

The Lille players were devastated, knowing there would be no miracle.

They hung their heads as they walked toward the center circle.

Rudi Garcia stood on the sideline, frowning and silent for a long moment before turning dejectedly toward the bench.

The entire substitute bench sat in silence like statues.

Sunset Café Bar.

Cheers were mixed with alcohol.

"We won!"

"We won!"

"It had to be Julien—no wonder they kept him on. Every time he gets the ball, there's a threat."

"Julien is incredible!"

"Too bad it wasn't Julien who scored this time, guys. We can only do ten percent off today."

This comment drew some disappointment from the crowd.

Bartender Bertrand, hearing this, immediately shouted, "Julien's assist counts too! Twenty percent off all drinks tonight!!"

Whooo!

The fans were pleasantly surprised, and called him "generous!"

"Haha, your pass was beautiful!" Vincent hugged Julien tightly, repeating his praise excitedly.

In his view, if he hadn't scored from that position, he would have been a criminal—Julien had done all the hard work.

The Bastia players embraced and high-fived each other, their expressions were relaxed.

With just over a minute left and a two-goal advantage, surely, they could hold on?

French Cup quarterfinals!

Though Bastia had won the French Cup before, that was thirty years ago.

Bastia won the French Cup in 1981.

That period was the club's golden era—in 1978, before their Cup triumph, they even reached the UEFA Cup final, ultimately losing to Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven.

Their last close approach to French Cup glory was in 2002, when they reached the final but lost 0-1 to Lorient.

Now, after years of turmoil, the fans once again saw hope for the club's resurgence.

Though it was only a French Cup quarterfinal, for Bastia, it held special significance.

It gave the team confidence to return from the lower leagues to the top flight!

"Fight!"

"BASTIA!!"

Châtaigner joined the fans in chanting the team's motto.

Watching Julien's handling of that final move, Châtaigner sensed a quality in him.

Composure under pressure.

It reminded him of that legendary bald head who had greatly influenced him—Zidane.

Watching Zidane play had given Châtaigner the same feeling.

Perhaps this was the inherent confidence that genius players possessed.

In the stands, some cheered for Vincent's goal, others for Julien's assist.

All were celebrating Bastia's victory!

As the match continued.

The cheering never stopped.

Lille had no desire to attack in the final minutes plus, their spirit was broken.

Hazard attempted a breakthrough on the left but, seeing no teammates making runs, passed backward.

Until the final whistle blew.

Match over.

Bastia 3-1 Lille.

ROAR!

The Stade Armand-Cesari shook like an earthquake!

The French Cup TV commentator said, "No one knew this match would end this way. Julien's performance in this game was simply astounding—is this really just a seventeen-year-old player?

This is what genius looks like!

Let's congratulate Bastia on reaching the French Cup quarterfinals for the first time in nine years.

We don't know how far Bastia will ultimately go in the French Cup, but we know they have a genius player named Julien De Rocca!

In two French Cup matches, Julien has recorded two goals and two assists—he's truly Bastia's key player!

He came from Clairefontaine, was spotted by Chelsea, ultimately returned disappointed to Corsica, and now he's back, fulfilling his potential again. We hope to see him on bigger stages in the future."

Elion left the stadium. Though the match was over, he moved freely through the crowds.

He turned back toward the tunnel.

Bright lights.

Thunderous voices.

After the match ended, not a single Bastia fan left the stadium.

They continued applauding, continued singing their support songs.

Savoring the victory.

Forza Bastia! Hear us roar!

We fight with heart, we ask no more.

United strong, we'll never fall—

For Corsica, we give our all!

Over and over, until the players finished their lap of honor and left the pitch, the fans reluctantly left.

"Haha! Quarterfinals!"

In the post-match Bastia dressing room, laughter filled the air.

No one had expected this result.

The fatigue from playing the full match was completely washed away by victory.

Châtaigner came to the locker room, praised the players' performance, then pulled Hadzibegic aside.

He said somewhat embarrassedly, "Maybe the team's plans need to change."

"Hm?" Hadzibegic looked puzzled.

Châtaigner scratched his head, considered his words, then said directly, "Didn't I say before that we should abandon the French Cup to focus on promotion? But now, I hope you can take the team as far as possible in the French Cup, but without affecting the league."

Hadzibegic was surprised, wondering if Châtaigner had seen through his thoughts.

Seeing his expression, Châtaigner apologized, "If it's too difficult..."

Hadzibegic interrupted, "Of course it's difficult, but how can we give up because of difficulty? I'll carefully consider the squad rotation!"

Châtaigner nodded with a smile, "The league is still the priority—promotion is the main thing. Also, let Julien play more in the French Cup. Facing high-level teams might help him improve faster."

"Understood!"

Bastia's celebration lasted a long time.

Only when the players were showering did Julien get some peace.

He opened the post-match settlement.

The victory points were actually 70!

This brought his total to 75 points. If he could gather a few more points in the league, he could try for another treasure chest.

After the last pace improvement, Julien had gotten a taste for it.

But today's match had truly pushed him to complete physical exhaustion.

And he only had three days to recover.

On the 13th afternoon, in Ligue 2, they would travel away to face Angers.

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