Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

Angers was also a traditional Ligue 1 club, but since their founding in 1919, their results hadn't been stable, with 23 seasons in the top flight scattered throughout their history.

A typical yo-yo club.

At their best, they'd reached a French Cup final, entered the UEFA Cup proper, and won Ligue 2 three times, but achieved little else.

Julien was quite familiar with Angers' current manager, Moulin.

Before his transmigration, when following Ligue 1, Angers' stability in the top flight was thanks to Moulin.

This season he had just replaced Jean Garcia, who had led the team for nearly five years, as Angers' head coach.

No one knew yet that he would stay in the Angers manager's position for nearly ten years!

Becoming the most stable period in Angers' history.

Moulin had just taken over this season, and results were decent so far—21 matches, 7 wins, 9 draws, 5 losses, 30 points, not far from the top of the table.

Julien felt his body's fatigue.

He wondered if four days would be enough to recover to peak condition.

After today's match, if he'd played a few more minutes, he might have been nauseous as his stamina was completely drained.

"I still need to work on fitness, sigh."

Julien sighed.

Actually, fitness training was what he least wanted to do, and it was something many players avoided as well.

Fitness training was exhausting—the kind that made you throw up.

Anyone with gym experience who had tried conditioning knew how painful it was.

Of course, some people enjoyed that kind of pain, but Julien wasn't one of them.

Post-match.

Various Bastia media outlets were first to praise the team's performance online, especially Julien's.

Bastia Daily wrote—

"I haven't seen how 17-year-old Henry or 17-year-old Ronaldinho played, but I've seen 17-year-old De Rocca."

This captured what the fans wanted to say.

Julien had truly given them too many surprises in this match!

However, players around the world who bet on the match weren't so happy.

"Julien!! Give me back my money!"

"Haha, this is what you get for not trusting Julien. Of course, I didn't trust him either..."

"Who knew Lille couldn't beat Bastia!"

"Actually, looking closely, Bastia really isn't weak this season. Next match, I'm going all-in on Bastia!"

"Going all-in is wisdom. Next match I must bet heavy on them—Julien is just too good, he's completely won me over."

While fans discussed heatedly online, the post-match interviews were soon released.

Lille manager Rudi Garcia said apologetically, "We played very poorly tonight, and I take full responsibility. I failed to get the players to their ideal state. We need to focus wholeheartedly on the league now—it's our last chance for a title."

"Julien? I must admit he's a very talented young man. If possible, I'd even want to bring him back to Lille. He was once one of ours, and I'm sorry about his experience at Chelsea, but now he's proving himself."

Hadzibegic, as always, said this was just the result of joint efforts by the home fans and players. Perhaps the next match wouldn't be so smooth—they still needed to focus on the league.

Regarding the post-match interviews.

Hadzibegic's words didn't attract much attention. Rudi was criticized by some Lille fans for having outdated tactics, saying this group couldn't play the style from last season and needed a change in approach.

Other Lille fans said, "Julien, come home! Lille was your first professional club!"

"We were very optimistic about him from the start—it's just a pity he didn't work out at Chelsea."

"Reading about Julien's experiences after leaving Lille, they weren't great. Now seeing him back on track makes me very happy. I hope the young man can return to Ligue 1 with Bastia this season."

Throughout the night, fans from both sides never stopped discussing the match.

Sunset Café Bar.

Some fans who had watched the match even returned to the pub to drink with others until late into the night.

Not because they couldn't drink anymore, but because the pub ran out of alcohol.

The pub was already a fan hangout where Bertrand normally kept prices affordable, and tonight's twenty percent discount had everyone drinking freely.

By the end, even the French cognac that Corsicans typically avoided was drunk.

Many people simply slept in the pub.

February nights in Corsica were freezing outside.

A bunch of people sleeping in the pub.

Half-asleep, someone talked in their sleep, shouting "Forza!"

The others reflexively responded, "Bastia!"

February 12th.

At the Bastia training facility, Hadzibegic announced tomorrow's squad for the match against Angers.

Julien wasn't in the starting eleven—only on the bench.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

In the three days since the Lille match, Julien felt his training effectiveness had been much worse than before.

Only today had he finally recovered completely.

This was why FIFA required a minimum three-day gap between matches.

Otherwise, players truly couldn't recover.

Playing fatigued greatly increased injury risk, especially serious injuries.

Because when muscles are fatigued, their protective ability decreases, making ligaments and joints more susceptible to strains and sprains.

The team doctor had given Julien a thorough pre-match examination.

No problems, just muscle fatigue.

After announcing the squad, Hadzibegic specifically spoke with Julien. "With our fixture congestion, you need to rest as much as possible. Use ice baths, the hydrotherapy room—everything to relax your muscles.

Tomorrow against Angers, your playing time might be very limited. They've only had two matches in February while we've had five! And we're playing away. Though the squad includes many regular starters, we're primarily resting players."

Julien nodded, "Understood."

Hadzibegic emphasized again, "You must rest more! Stay in good condition. I know you used to do extra training, but now with more match responsibilities, I hope you'll be more restrained."

Julien nodded again.

After Julien left, Hadzibegic smiled awkwardly, "Sigh, never thought I'd tell a player to train less."

He was known for demanding training regimens. Many players disliked him because of his intense training sessions.

February 13th, 4 PM.

Western France, Angers, Stade Jean-Bouin.

Angers fans cheered excitedly. Black and white colors flew throughout the stadium!

The past three minutes had taken them on an emotional rollercoaster.

As their first-choice penalty taker Charbonnier converted the spot kick.

They finally released all their pent-up emotions!

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