Advancing to the French Cup final—this was Bastia's night.
At the post-match press conference, Hadzibegic maintained the flush of intense excitent that hadn't yet faded as he completed his interviews. He praised everything about Bastia: the players, the staff, and the fans.
That evening, L'Équipe described De Rocca as a savior: "Le ssie corse qui prot le double historique!" (The Corsican ssiah who promises the historic double!)
In their article, the L'Équipe editors briefly outlined Julien's career, focusing on his current reputation and even detailing Alain Giresse's leaked national team news. Combining various sources, L'Équipe speculated that the player Julien had embarrased was Nasri, though Nasri had never admitted to this incident.
For the first ti, a major national dia outlet photographed and published the massive portrait of Julien covering the entire facade of the Terra-Vecchia center building.
"Here, De Rocca witnessed the first unveiling of this portrait, telling Bastia fans he would bring them a championship. But now, with Bastia charging ahead on two fronts, perhaps De Rocca will exceed his promise and potentially bring Bastia their first-ever double crown in club history."
L'Équipe's influence in France was imnse. Once this report was published, Julien's profile surged again, with his na being discussed in countless unseen places. Many clubs explored the possibility of signing him.
His reputation had even spread from France to neighboring Spain and across the English Channel to England. Both Spanish and English dia reports were largely based on transfer rumors, claiming that multiple La Liga and Premier League giants were interested in Julien.
The Sun took a unique approach, interviewing forr Chelsea staff about Julien's ti at the Cobham training ground—stories of frequent girlfriend changes, fights with teammates, and confrontations with first-team stars. This gossip made Julien's na even more "endearing" to English audiences.
Manchester's drunk fans sighed, "Isn't this the sa 'glorious history' as United's Class of '92? This kind of player is perfect for our United!"
"Hey, he's turned over a new leaf now."
"Oh, then he's not suitable—we only want scumbags at United."
Other fans joked, "No wonder he left Chelsea after making it to the first team. With so many girlfriends, he was bound to run into Terry eventually."
"That's not fair—they were just girlfriends, not his wife. Why would he fear Terry?"
In Bastia, fans even created custom jokes about Julien,
"When Julien breaks through, even Proust would abandon writing three-page sentences to describe his dribbling style."
"Question: How many defenders does it take to stop Julien? Answer: The square root of negative one. Why? Because it's an imaginary number—impossible in reality!"
"Hugo's manuscript notes for Les Misérables: If Gavroche had Julien's dribbling, the 1832 barricades would have beco a five-a-side pitch."
These occasional jokes brought knowing smiles to Bastia's players. Julien had truly beco a star in front of their eyes—his Facebook and Twitter followers had already exceeded 100,000. This was quite remarkable, considering other Bastia players had at most 20,000-30,000 followers. Julien had reached 100,000 in just three months!
On France's dostic football community Maxifoot, posts about Julien averaged hundreds per day, mostly concentrated in the Transferts (Transfer Market) section. Many French fans were already anticipating Julien joining other clubs, arguing that Bastia was rely a Ligue 2 team, and even if they achieved promotion, they lacked the corresponding strength—Julien should transfer to a bigger club like Lille, Lyon, or PSG.
Julien paid little attention to external noise, focusing on serious training and match preparation—that was what mattered. As a professional footballer, he understood he would naturally be at the center of public attention. Only diocre players get ignored.
During a training break, Rothen spoke with a trace of reminiscence and envy, "When I was at Monaco, it was similar, but my impact wasn't as great as yours." Reflecting on the past, he sighed, "My biggest regret was not following Deschamps and going to Paris instead."
"Deschamps?" Julien's interest was imdiately piqued. "You played under Deschamps?"
Hearing Deschamps' na, Rothen showed so pride. "Yes, I was the Ligue 1 assist king under him!"
Julien gave him a thumbs up. He wondered if he could et Deschamps through Rothen, but on second thought, it seed unnecessary. For his national team call-up, Julien was certain Zidane had recomnded him to Blanc. Since Zidane could recomnd him to Blanc, he could surely recomnd him to Deschamps—they were teammates, after all.
Moreover, having already appeared with the national team, even if Deschamps took over later, he would certainly consider Julien a priority. There was no need for any backdoor maneuvers.
April 13th - Sedan Away
The entire Bastia squad traveled to Sedan, located in the Ardennes departnt in northeastern France, at the intersection of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
In Julien's mind, Sedan was primarily associated with the Battle of Sedan during the Franco-Prussian War—a minor episode in Bismarck's iron-blooded German war path. The town was only 14 kiloters from the Belgian border, built entirely around the use River.
To ensure the team perford well, Châtaigner arranged for them to arrive a day early, booking a hotel by the use riverside.
The following afternoon, while other Ligue 2 matches kicked off normally, Bastia—now the focus due to Julien—was scheduled for the evening's featured match.
Hadzibegic and his coaching staff eagerly watched Reims' match broadcast from the hotel. When the final whistle blew, they couldn't contain their laughter—Reims had drawn away at Nantes! If they beat Sedan, they would lead by 10 points, seemingly just one step away from the Ligue 2 championship.
After the match, Hadzibegic imdiately assembled the players and boarded the bus to Sedan's ho ground—the Louis Dugauguez Stadium, built beside the use River.
Seven o'clock in the evening. Less than five minutes after the opening whistle, the Dugauguez Stadium, which could hold over 20,000 fans, erupted with gasps from Sedan supporters.
On the right flank, Julien's breakthrough—a delicate touch, cut, and pull—made them feel like wind sweeping across the use riverbank, blowing toward the goal net.
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