At the Sunset Coffee Tavern.
Fans continued to give Chataigner's sumr transfer window operations full marks.
Why "continued"?
Because last ti he had signed De Rocca!
This sumr's signings were looking very promising indeed.
"This 21-year-old player who transferred from Boulogne to Bastia, on his debut appearance, contributed a good interception for Bastia."
The comntator was discussing Kanté.
But suddenly in the shot, De Bruyne played a diagonal long pass, and the ball reached De Rocca on the right wing.
The comntator exclaid: "Chance! De Rocca has only two defenders in front of him!"
Whether it was last season's Ligue 2, the Coupe de France, or this sumr's European Championship, Julien's dribbling ability had left a truly impressive mark.
His dancing through crowds reminded people of so many dribbling masters.
Two n?
This was practically telling De Rocca: co through here!
Montpellier's defense of Julien was basically two-man marking, with a third player ready to cover at any ti.
They provided plenty of physical contact—whenever De Rocca got the ball, soone would imdiately close him down. But this only worked when Montpellier's defenders had the stamina to keep up, which was effective early on.
As ti gradually moved into the seventieth minute...
When Julien received the ball, Bédimo didn't imdiately close him down, giving him space.
By the ti Bédimo tried to rush up, it was too late.
Julien's first touch was a strong cut inside.
Bédimo and Estrada hurried to follow, but once Julien got the ball moving at pace, it wasn't so simple.
Just as Bédimo reached Julien's front, He saw De Rocca flick with his left foot and push with his right, sending the ball through his legs.
"Again?!"
Bédimo was beginning to develop a phobia about being nutgged.
Whoosh!
This kind of dribbling from Julien always drew gasps from the Arican fans in the crowd.
It was so elegant!
Despite standing 1.84 ters tall, thanks to his extrely quick footwork, De Rocca didn't give the impression of being cumberso. Instead, he appeared very light on his feet.
Julien glanced at the situation in the center and quickly went to the byline.
Lukaku had already made his run into the six-yard box, with only Mbiva beside him.
This glance made Hilton, who had been about to co over and help defend, hesitate. Hilton didn't dare rashly leave his position to help with De Rocca.
But Bédimo could no longer keep up with Julien.
Estrada had no choice. Focusing on the ball, he threw himself into a sliding tackle!
Julien constantly observed the defenders' positions. The mont Estrada went to ground, He ca to a sudden stop, using his right foot to flick the ball back.
His left foot controlled the ball. Estrada slid past him.
De Rocca smoothly pushed the ball forward. Now Hilton could no longer afford to leave him alone. Goalkeeper Jourdren had already positioned himself at the near post, anticipating a shot from De Rocca.
But just as Hilton stepped forward, Julien used the outside of his left foot to push the ball toward the edge of the penalty area.
Julien had a completely open goal!
Bang!
Facing such an opportunity, De Bruyne didn't get nervous at all. He curled it toward the far corner, completely beyond Jourdren's reach.
Seeing Lukaku in the path of De Bruyne's shot, Julien's heart skipped a beat—surely the 'le joueur poteau' or "post player" wouldn't appear now?
Fortunately, De Bruyne aid for the top corner of the goal.
Swish!
The ball t no obstruction as it crashed into the net!
3-0!
Seeing the ball hit the back of the net, De Bruyne felt the frustration that had been building in his chest suddenly explode.
He needed to let it out!
"Kom op!!"
But after holding it in for so long, he could only shout this word in his native Flemish Dutch—roughly equivalent to the English "Co on."
His celebration was modest too—just pumping his fist toward the stands a couple of tis.
At the corner flag. He embraced Julien tightly, without excess words.
Other teammates also rushed over to celebrate with De Bruyne.
A goal on his debut. This made Lukaku quite envious and he said jealously: "You've already scored!"
When De Bruyne released Julien, his face was flushed, and there were even traces of excited tears in the corners of his eyes.
Julien understood that De Bruyne had been in low spirits recently.
Putting his arm around his shoulders, he shouted, "Co on, let's win more trophies together. This championship is just the beginning!"
De Bruyne seed to finally have found an outlet for his emotions through this goal. His mood improved sowhat.
He finally smiled, looking at Julien and just said, "Alright."
"The score on the pitch—"
"3-0!"
"Bastia—leading!!"
After Bastia players finished celebrating and walked toward the center circle, the stadium DJ was still loudly building atmosphere.
But with Bastia fans present, the atmosphere didn't need his guidance at all.
The 3-0 scoreline drove the Bastia fans in attendance wild, as several hundred voices joined in passionate song—
"When the sea wind sweeps across Corsican bays,
With our shouts igniting Adriatic waves!
Moorish hearts thunder in all directions!
FORZA, Bastia..."
The singing rolled like thunder along with the song of Julien.
As they approached the center circle, Julien pointed to the Bastia fans and said to De Bruyne, "One day, they'll be chanting your na like that too. You're an indispensable midfield core for this team."
De Bruyne looked toward the Bastia supporters' section with burning eyes.
After learning Julien's story, he hadn't understood why De Rocca would choose to stay. Now it was all becoming crystal clear.
De Bruyne nodded and said to Julien, "You make good runs, and I'll assist you to a hat-trick. Consider it as returning the favor."
Julien shook his head and spoke. "I don't chase individual statistics. I care more about the team winning. Besides, I'm about to co off for a rest."
Julien tilted his chin toward the sideline. De Bruyne looked over and indeed saw Hadzibegic already preparing to make a substitution.
At this mont, the French comntator, seeing less than twenty minutes remaining, said, "It would be extrely difficult for Montpellier to mount a coback. Perhaps in another twenty minutes, we'll witness Bastia create their own history—their first French Super Cup championship!"
Beep!
A minute later, during a dead ball, the referee blew his whistle and pointed toward the sideline.
Number 10 De Rocca ca off, replaced by number 23 Vincent.
Julien left the field.
He received enthusiastic applause from both the Arican fans in attendance and the Bastia supporters.
He also waved in response.
At the sideline, He embraced Vincent and said: "Good luck."
As he ca off, Hadzibegic walked over and hugged Julien, whispering softly in his ear: "Congratulations, Triple Crown!"
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