Monte Carlo's Grimaldi Conference Center.
The 2012/13 Europa League group stage draw ceremony was underway.
Chataigner attended as Bastia's representative.
Back in Bastia, many players were also following the draw ceremony.
Europa League!
Many of them had never imagined that one day they would play in European competition.
Even if it was only the Europa League.
"Liverpool, England."
Group A's first-seeded team was Liverpool.
Liverpool representative Edwards smiled and nodded.
Then the second-seeded team for Group A was drawn: "Anzhi, Russia."
When Anzhi—dubbed the "Russian Manchester City"—was drawn, Edwards' smile beca awkward.
Third seed: "Udinese, Italy."
The Serie A powerhouse Udinese.
Edwards' smile was becoming strained. This was a bloody group of death.
Fortunately, the fourth-seeded team wasn't the widely considered strongest fourth seed, Bastia.
Otherwise, Edwards would have been livid.
The fourth seed went to Young Boys from Switzerland.
But Edwards was still very unhappy—Liverpool was in a true group of death.
Next ca Group B.
First seed: La Liga's Atlético Madrid.
Second seed: Israeli Premier League's Hapoel Tel Aviv.
Third seed: Czech Republic's Viktoria Plzen.
Atlético's representative Cerezo looked reasonably pleased at this point. They should be able to handle these two teams.
Last season, Atlético had won the Europa League but failed to qualify for the Champions League, so they had to settle for the Europa League again.
Cerezo particularly wished UEFA's reform allowing Europa League winners direct qualification to the next season's Champions League had started last season.
Unfortunately, that reform wouldn't begin until the 2014/15 season.
"Bastia, France."
When the fourth-seeded team was announced, Cerezo's expression froze.
They had drawn the strongest fourth-seeded team.
anwhile, in Bastia, Julien watched the live broadcast with De Bruyne, Lukaku, and others.
When Bastia was drawn into Atlético's group, everyone's expressions beca awkward.
Courtois was currently playing for Atlético—Madrid was sowhat of a painful place for De Bruyne.
Julien said, "Atlético are last season's Europa League champions."
"Yeah," De Bruyne replied quietly.
Julien continued, "So if we beat Atlético, doesn't that an we've beaten last season's Europa League champions, proving we have the strength to win the Europa League? So, we must take down Atlético!"
"Must take them down!" Lukaku chid in.
Kanté sat quietly beside them without speaking, but whatever the team needed him to do, he would do. Whoever the coach told him to mark; he would mark them.
On television, the draws for other groups continued. De Bruyne remained silent, not shifting his gaze elsewhere.
He kept staring at the screen.
Soon, the draws from Group A to Group L were completed.
All 48 teams were placed.
Among the closely watched powerhouses, Liverpool fell into a group of death, while Inter Milan drew an excellent group with all three opponents from outside the top five leagues.
Tottenham, Bayer Leverkusen, Atlético Madrid, and other teams were considered to have reasonable draws by the dia.
According to the schedule, the new season's Europa League group stage first round would kick off on September 22nd.
Until all six group stage rounds were completed.
The top two teams from each group would advance to the knockout stage—24 teams total—joining eight third-place teams eliminated from the Champions League group stage to form the Europa League's Round of 32.
Two-legged ties would determine winners.
The final Europa League final would be held on May 13, 2013, at Amsterdam Arena in the Netherlands.
Seeing this draw, Hadzibegic had already set his goal with Chataigner—secure second place, fight for first.
Of course, he didn't have ti to dwell on this.
The day after the Europa League draw, the entire Bastia squad departed for Rennes, the capital of Brittany in western France.
There, they would face their third-round Ligue 1 opponent.
Last season, they had eliminated Rennes in the Coupe de France quarterfinals, so there was a bit of bad blood between the sides.
The Bastia squad arrived in Rennes that afternoon.
As Julien sat on the bus heading to the hotel, he observed this city known as "one of France's most livable cities"—Rennes.
Brittany was jokingly called "an isolated corner forgotten by the world" by the French, while locals proclaid "we are not ordinary French people."
As Bastia's bus drove through Rennes' streets, they could already feel the local fans' "warm welco"—
"Welco to Ligue 1, rookies!"
"Ligue 2 champions? It's not so easy here!"
"The Coupe de France was just a fluke—the league is where we'll see the truth! Don't cry when you crawl back to your island tomorrow, shorties!"
"Do you rember how 4-0 felt here in 2004?"
There were also so unfriendly gestures.
The Bastia players remained unmoved. For professional footballers, encountering such provocations when visiting away grounds was perfectly normal.
Julien quietly admired Rennes, this city where modern and classical architecture blended together.
The bus passed by the outskirts of Rennes' old town.
The Bretons' love of alcohol had severely damaged this historic city.
Three hundred years ago, a drunk carpenter arguing with his wife knocked over a candle, igniting wood shavings, and then Rennes was consud in the resulting fire.
The Rennes old town visible today except for a very few buildings preserved from the fire was mostly rebuilt later.
That evening, after the Bastia squad checked into their hotel, Hadzibegic prepared for the pre-match press conference. He casually asked Julien, "Want to join?"
He didn't hold much hope, though. After all, Julien had never liked dealing with the dia.
This ti was no different. Julien declined again.
Hadzibegic brought Rothen along.
Facing the reporters' "interrogation," Hadzibegic said simply, "Although we're currently in ninth place, this doesn't reflect our true level. As I've said, our goal is simply to avoid relegation and stay in Ligue 1."
"Beating Rennes last season was a wonderful night, but we won't apply that match's experience to this one. We'll approach this ga very cautiously."
When a reporter ntioned Rennes' two matches without a win, Hadzibegic replied, "This doesn't indicate Rennes' weakness. Rather, it shows they have every reason to win this match. This ga will be even more difficult for us."
At Rennes' pre-match press conference, Antonetti said exactly what Hadzibegic had predicted:
"We have no way out. We must win this match. Last season we lost to Bastia away—we must win it back at ho!"
"Julien will be our key defensive focus!"
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