Bastia continued to extend their lead away from ho.
The few hundred visiting fans in the away section celebrated wildly. Since away fans weren't allowed to bring flags, they stripped off their jerseys and waved them frantically.
Passionate cheers erupted!
Lukaku rushed to the sideline, mimicking Julien's celebration with arms spread wide.
However, what greeted him were the jeers and insults from Rennes supporters. Finding it uninteresting, he turned back toward his teammates.
His teammates rushed over to embrace him in celebration.
Lukaku was triumphant and said. "I told you—give the ball and I'll score! Julien, beautiful pass!"
Julien ca up to high-five him, replying, "Keep up this efficiency."
Though Lukaku had wasted quite a few chances, those opportunities were ones he had genuinely created through his runs. Another player might not have been able to convert them into scoring chances.
So, while they could joke around, nobody should underestimate Lukaku. He could really score goals.
On the sideline, Fournier pursed his lips, quietly observing each player's deanor on the field.
He hadn't expected to be demolished like this by Bastia at ho.
This Bastia team had grown stronger.
Last season, he thought losing to Bastia was just a fluke, but this ti, he truly saw the gap in player quality.
On Bastia's side, not even ntioning Julien, just Lukaku and De Bruyne in attack had caused Rennes enormous trouble.
Additionally, in defense, Kanté and Sidibé made it equally difficult for Rennes to pedestal attacks.
Fournier pondered how he could break through Bastia's defense.
anwhile, not far away, Hadzibegic had already started thinking about how to secure the result after this goal.
Once this match ended and they entered September, Bastia would face a hellish fixture schedule.
Thirty-one days with seven matches to play, including league gas, Europa League, and the French Cup.
Moreover, there would be two weeks of international fixtures at the beginning of the month!
Hadzibegic made a decisive substitution. He brought on another defender, substituting Julien.
Thinking about the international break, Hadzibegic couldn't help but curse Deschamps under his breath: "Can't he use Julien more sparingly?!"
anwhile, Deschamps was actually present at the match, watching from a private box alongside national team chief assistant coach Guy Stéphan.
Deschamps said to Stéphan, "Look, who can I use to replace Julien's role? *Sigh*, there's nobody. The World Cup qualifiers are in two weeks, and I bet the Bastia fans will curse again."
Last ti, when Hadzibegic said in a post-match interview, "Deschamps, watch carefully—this is how you use Julien,"
Deschamps had seen that interview. He actually knew that constantly using Julien wasn't ideal. But who else was there? Who could fill his role?
In all of France, no one could replace Julien's tactical importance.
Stéphan nodded and said, "I'll have Cyril specifically design a fitness plan for Julien, plus a recovery plan."
Cyril Moine was the French national team's assistant fitness coach.
Deschamps watched the match continue, then added, "We might all be underestimating Bastia. This team's players are impressive. Their defensive midfielder Kanté and left-back Sidibé deserve attention. If they maintain such consistent performances in important matches with Bastia, we could consider calling them up in the next national team cycle."
Stéphan replied, "Alright, I'll record their situations and continue monitoring them."
Beep!
67th minute, dead ball situation.
The referee blew his whistle.
He pointed toward the sideline—Bastia substitution.
Number 10 De Rocca was being substituted.
Coming on was defender Marchal, who had joined on a free transfer from Saint-Étienne this sumr.
Marchal had co through tz's youth system. Due to this connection, he had a good relationship with Mané within the squad.
In his younger days, Marchal had represented tz in defending against Ronaldinho during his European debut.
Though he hadn't been successful in stopping him.
In an interview, he had said, "I simply couldn't defend Ronaldinho. He's a pure genius. His elastico skill, ball control, and passing ability all demonstrated his extraordinary talent.
Every ti I faced Ronaldinho's breakthrough; I had to give two hundred percent effort just to keep up with him. Each ti I could only pray that he had just co from a nightclub before the match."
However, after Marchal arrived at Bastia and participated in training sessions, that fear of being dominated by Ronaldinho resurfaced—this ti with Julien.
Fortunately, this ti Julien was a teammate.
Julien walked to the sideline, and Marchal embraced him.
"Good luck."
Marchal nodded and said, "I'll hold the line."
Julien left the field.
In the box, Deschamps shook his head slightly, "Bastia really protects Julien well."
This made him think about how to optimize Julien's playing ti.
But more importantly, he needed to create proper training and rest schedules for Julien during regular periods.
He didn't know Bastia's thods, but he felt Bastia should hire a professional personal trainer for Julien to handle everything.
As Deschamps said this, he changed his tone: "But when you have a player like Julien under your command, it's really hard to resist using him."
He even ntioned Zidane, "Don't look at how Zinedine stays at Real Madrid now, seemingly hidden from fan attention. The truth is, that guy wants to coach the French national team and wants to manage Julien. This ti, he felt the timing wasn't right and didn't want to delay the national team.
Otherwise, he'd be in my position. For now, he'll have to wait, ha-ha. Wait until I don't want to do this anymore.
Championships aren't that simple. Let him experience more failures and gain more experience. Otherwise, this guy had it too easy during his playing career and thinks coaching is simple, and always covets my position."
After Deschamps finished speaking, he seed to mutter to himself: "Now every team in France is eyeing Julien, they all want him. Many European giants are also watching him.
Zidane would definitely want to coach Julien, so which team could he go to? Real Madrid? But I don't think Real Madrid would use a coach who's never had first-team coaching experience."
Stéphan listened with a smile, saying nothing.
Deschamps and his forr teammate Zidane were both French legends; they could joke with each other, but it wasn't his place to join in.
Another bald man appeared in Stéphan's mind. It seed Barcelona had already set a precedent.
Maybe Real Madrid would follow suit?
But he didn't contradict Deschamps.
Beep!!!
At the Roazhon Park, with the stands silent, the referee's whistle sounded particularly loud.
Full ti.
Rennes lost 1-3 at ho to Bastia, starting the new season with three consecutive defeats.
Fournier walked into the dressing room with a dark expression.
The players were also dejected and silent. On the other side, Bastia was jubilant.
Away victory with all three points!
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