Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

After the match against Troyes, Julien could clearly feel that his popularity in Bastia had risen significantly.

Occasionally leaving the training base, he would be stopped by fans on the street, seeking photos or autographs.

However, Julien's handwriting was terrible.

Photos were fine, but signing autographs was out of the question—he didn't want to embarrass himself.

Before his memory fusion, he had focused on football training from a young age. While there were cultural classes, they were superficial with no real academic pressure.

This resulted in him being essentially semi-literate.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have done those terrible things—besides the robbery that landed him in prison, there was also partying with bad friends and other misdeeds. If not for the team's strict management, he might have even tried drugs.

To a large extent, Julien agreed with something Mourinho once said. "Study hard, become a doctor, engineer, or teacher. They are the people the world needs. Don't worship players; some of them are just trash."

"Looks like I'll need to go back to school when I get the chance," Julien set himself another small goal.

Training was monotonous.

So often players would seek entertainment after daily training—alcohol and women.

But under Hadzibegic's strict control and with veteran players like David and Rothen leading by example, no one in Bastia touched alcohol during the season.

As Hadzibegic had put it: "While the season isn't over, I only allow drinking under two circumstances. your wedding night, or the night we win the championship."

Wedding night could wait.

The players were now looking forward to championship night.

During training breaks, as players sat on the ground resting, Vincent was still hopeful. "Do we have a chance at a title this season?"

There were theoretically two opportunities. Ligue 2 and the French Cup.

But everyone lacked confidence.

Rothen was the first to respond. "Of course we can! If we maintain our current form, the French Cup will be very difficult, but Ligue 2 definitely has championship potential! This season other teams' attacking efficiency is poor, but we have Julien. As long as we defend well, the Ligue 2 title is very promising."

It was true that other teams' attacking efficiency was poor this season.

Last season's Ligue 2 golden boot had 23 goals.

But this season, after 24 rounds, there wasn't a single player in all of Ligue 2 with double-digit goals.

Bastia's 4-1 victory over Troyes was already considered a high-scoring match this season.

After hearing Rothen's words, Julien said, "Hey, Rothen, don't drag me into your bragging. I'm just a substitute."

"Hahaha."

His teammates all laughed, not taking Julien's words seriously.

In their eyes, Julien was already a starter.

Which substitute scores five goals in three matches?

The team just didn't want him playing too much, and were controlling his playing time to protect him.

Rothen turned to him and said, "You have a real chance at the golden boot this season. The team's attack depends on you, and we'll defend well."

"Yes! Golden boot!"

The others joined in the cheering.

Julien waved his hands, indicating he hadn't considered this issue—the golden boot was difficult.

In fact, he really hadn't thought about the golden boot.

After all, the golden boot wouldn't add any attributes.

But after several consecutive high-level performances, even if Julien didn't think about the golden boot, the media would think about it for him.

On February 25th, at the pre-match press conference before the Reims game, a reporter asked Hadzibegic whether, given Julien's hot form, he planned to give him more playing time to compete for the league's golden boot.

If you asked Hadzibegic about the team's situation, the goal was definitely survival.

But ask about Julien, and Hadzibegic was full of praise. "Julien has a gift for scoring goals. He can absolutely win the golden boot. In Ligue 2, I haven't seen a player with higher talent than him. If he doesn't get the golden boot, it's only because he has limited playing time."

"As for more time, that's not up to me. It must be decided by the medical team after monitoring Julien's physical condition. He's still young, and we must use him cautiously."

On the other side, Reims coach Fournier was also asked by reporters about Bastia's recently hot in form Julien.

Fournier didn't say much about Julien, only commenting. "We can prevent Julien from scoring, and that's enough. How many goals he's scored against others, how talented he is—that's irrelevant to us."

After 24 rounds, Reims had 12 wins, 6 draws, and 6 losses for 42 points, closely following Bastia.

Fournier, appointed in 2010, had a very secure position.

As a player, Fournier had created a record—he played for German Bundesliga team Borussia Mönchengladbach from 1996 to 1998, becoming the first French player in the club's history.

Rather than discussing Julien, Fournier focused more on Reims' promotion prospects. "We've done brilliantly this season. We're currently in the top three, and everyone on the team is working hard for promotion."

The match between Bastia and Reims was considered a marquee fixture in Ligue 2.

No one had expected that after 24 rounds, promoted side Bastia would still maintain second place.

And with strong momentum.

Combined with Julien's emergence, this had captured fans' attention, making this match the featured game of Ligue 2's 25th round.

It would kick off at eight o'clock in the evening.

At six o'clock on February 26th afternoon, fans of both Reims and Bastia had their expectations for the match raised another level.

Because Clermont had lost!

Except for the featured match, other Ligue 2 games kicked off between two and four in the afternoon.

This meant that as long as Bastia and Reims produced a winner, the victorious side would certainly reach the summit!

If Bastia won, they would surpass Clermont on points, while if Reims won, they would top the table due to superior head-to-head record with equal points.

So, this match was even more important!

Clermont coach Der Zakarian faced increasing pressure after losing away from home.

He now only hoped Bastia and Reims would draw.

Seven o'clock in the evening.

Stade Armand Césari was packed with tens of thousands of Bastia fans eager to witness their team reach the summit.

After explaining the current points situation of the top four teams in Ligue 2, the broadcast commentator sighed. "The gap between the leading teams is extremely small, creating enormous pressure for each team. It could very well come down to a single match, a single goal."

"For Bastia, the player who has captured fans' attention before the match, Julien, is still on the substitute bench. But no one will overlook him."

"Pre-match media reports suggest Julien could very well appear in next month's U21 national team squad. Interested fans should keep an eye on that."

Boom! Boom boom!!

While the players were still warming up, the stadium already erupted with Bastia fans' celebratory roar.

Whenever Julien touched the ball, the fans would chant his name in unison—

"Julien!!"