The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1 Chapter 170

Smash!

The sound of glass shattering.

Martin slapped his chest, yelling, “That’s so f*cking awesome! Gaio! It has to be Gaio!”

Others chimed in.

“The ability Gaio has shown is clearly a tier above everyone else. Ilan is completely incapable of supporting the right-wing offense.”

“No one can be a substitute for Gaio, because the difference is just too big. If we had another powerful left-winger to fly down the flanks with Gaio, no one in Ligue 1 could stop us. What a shame, the team doesn’t have money to buy more players.”

They couldn’t recall a player named Sadio Mané.

Inside the stadium.

Hajji Begic and the assistant coaches embraced each other. “The team would truly fall apart without Gaio.”

Galtier shook his head, but his eyes still gleamed with determination as he gestured to his players: keep attacking.

He knew.

Playing against a team like Bastia, defense was difficult. It was better to exploit the weaknesses in Bastia’s defense and repeatedly attack.

It was a test of who would break first.

Beep!

The match resumed.

After the kickoff, Saint-Étienne continued to attack Bastia’s defensive zone.

Kanté and Rothen’s direct central defense had already made Saint-Étienne feel the defensive intensity in the first half.

So Saint-Étienne still focused on attacking Bastia’s flanks.

And, directly playing through balls behind the defense!

Boom!

Cohade took the ball and immediately launched a long pass towards Aubameyang in the center.

Fortunately, Choplin headed the ball away.

Aubameyang repeatedly sprinted back and forth, challenging Bastia’s defensive line.

When Bastia gained possession, they primarily relied on De Bruyne and Gaio’s offense.

The left flank was relatively empty.

This was Bastia’s usual attacking pattern, so Sidibé often overlapped to support the attack.

But with little success.

The real threat still came from Gaio.

Whoosh!

In the 64th minute, Gaio seized an opportunity to cut inside and curled a shot towards the far corner, which grazed the post and went out for a goal kick.

Leaving Bastia fans very disappointed.

“Just barely missed. The quality of that shot from Gaio was already high enough. Brison still interfered with Gaio a bit, otherwise Gaio could have shot more comfortably…”

The commentator’s voice echoed on the television.

Deschamps and Zidane, in different countries, but almost at the same time, felt a sense of regret for Gaio’s shot.

Zidane actually saw that Gaio still had a lot of room for improvement.

He also finally understood that the reason Gaio so often chose to dribble past the goalkeeper instead of shooting directly was likely because his shooting ability wasn’t that strong.

However,

That bicycle kick just now was indeed stylish enough.

But compared to top strikers, Gaio’s shooting still had room for improvement.

Gaio’s current goal-scoring efficiency was still high, with many goals, but this was built on the premise of him having a lot of possession and unlimited shooting opportunities.

This was also why Zidane felt that Gaio should not go to a big club at the moment.

Because at a big club, no one would give him so much possession.

Mourinho even wanted Gaio to have defensive ability.

Defense,

Was another major weakness for Gaio.

However, these “flaws” of Gaio were nothing in Zidane’s eyes.

What is a genius? Is it being all-around?

No!

Never!

In Zidane’s eyes, a top-class football player wasn’t afraid of having weaknesses, only of lacking unique qualities.

Mediocrity was the true flaw.

“Romelu! Buuutttt!! Beautiful footwork, beautiful shot…”

Zidane was still thinking about Gaio when Lukaku scored on TV.

He received a pass from De Bruyne in the box, faced Zouma’s defense, pulled off a “roulette” to create space, and then unleashed a powerful shot into the near post from a tight angle, scoring.

Bastia equalized!

Lukaku ran out of the field, laughing, leaping high and pumping his arms in celebration. After landing, he spread his arms towards the stands.

This time,

He was met with thunderous cheers from the Bastia fans.

Though not as fervent as when Gaio scored, it still made him feel a power flowing within him.

This was why he loved football.

He could gain confidence and recognition from others through football!

Recognition was very important to Lukaku.

Two goals in a row.

Bastia fans went wild, singing their team anthem loudly in the stands.

Chatham, in the stands, laughed heartily. He even felt an urge to stand up and shout, “These players were all signed by me!”

Beside him.

Jéronimi watched the surging blue ocean across the stadium, his heart pounding, and repeatedly exclaimed “Good!”

His eyes were even a little moist.

“This is the Bastia I want to see. This money wasn’t wasted!”

Chatham heard Jéronimi’s words and smiled, “Mr. President, if you can get more money from the bank, we can be even better.”

“Haha,” Jéronimi was in a good mood now, but when it came to money, he also spread his hands, “It’s difficult. Unless, by the winter transfer window, we can confirm the team will enter the Europa League knockout stage, and it also depends on our wins in the group stage. If things go well, I can continue to get loans based on the team’s projected earnings in the winter window. If…”

Jéronimi shook his head, not continuing.

But the meaning was clear.

If they were eliminated early from the Europa League, there would be nothing.

Chatham nodded. “Your word is enough!”

Qualifying for the Europa League meant that every victory was money – each team would receive a minimum prize of 640, 000 euros. Each win in a single match earned 140, 000 euros, and a draw earned 70, 000 euros.

If they won all six group stage matches, they could accumulate a maximum of 1.84 million euros!

For big teams, this was a drop in the ocean, but for a team like Bastia.

Nearly two million euros in prize money was enough for them to sign a strong defensive player.

And,

Advancing to the Round of 32 earned 200, 000 euros; each subsequent advancement would earn an additional 300, 000 euros, 400, 000 euros, and 700, 000 euros, respectively.

Up to 3 million euros for the champion and 2 million euros for the runner-up.

The total prize money could reach a maximum of 6.44 million euros.

Of course, this was assuming they won every match.

Chatham didn’t dream so big; he just hoped the team could reach the knockout stage.

With an extra one or two million euros in budget for the winter window, he could bring in a more reliable goalkeeper for the team.

Novais was truly not good enough.

Splash!

While he was talking to Jéronimi, just as he said Novais was not good enough, he made another mistake!

Bastia’s attack in the final third was intercepted.

Saint-Étienne launched a long ball directly into Bastia’s half. Novais came out of his box, and Aubameyang sprinted to challenge for the header.

Novais was shorter than Aubameyang and couldn’t head the ball clear.

Aubameyang headed the ball towards the box.

Then Aubameyang quickly chased after it and scored into an empty net.

Saint-Étienne took the lead again!

Bastia fans felt devastated.

But it wasn’t over yet.

In the 73rd minute, Aubameyang’s hat-trick arrived.