The road to godhood starting from Ligue 1 Chapter 198

“I think against Spain, we need faster players. We can’t just wear out Gaio, and if he’s our only explosive point, Spain can easily limit him.”

Deschamps watched the close-up of Gaio on the broadcast, discussing the World Cup qualifier against Spain in two weeks with Stéphane.

Stéphane nodded. “Their midfield control is very strong. We definitely won’t be able to get the ball out, so we must intensify our pressure on their midfield and pick up the pace. That means we need players who can run a lot.”

Deschamps knew this well. Spain and Barcelona were scrutinized under a microscope, studied by coaches worldwide, and defensive strategies against them were already well-established. The key was whether they had players who could execute the tactics. Spain was currently on a 23-game winning streak in international matches, which put immense pressure on Deschamps. Who wanted to play in a playoff if they could qualify directly for the World Cup?

“We also need someone in the midfield who can distribute the ball…”

Deschamps had scouted many new players, but none had yet met his expected standards for a midfielder. He shook his head. The talent pool of the French national team had withered to such an extent that many positions were merely being ‘managed.’ He remembered a time when the French team was brimming with talent—what a glorious era that was. Even the substitutes were starters for upper-mid-tier teams in the top five leagues. Starters for lower-tier teams couldn’t even get a game in France. But now? Alas, a sigh.

“In the 70th minute, Bastia makes a substitution. Their captain, number ten Gaio, comes on as a substitute, replacing Ilan, who had a poor performance in this match. Gaio has now made four appearances in Ligue 1, scoring eight goals, averaging two goals per game. He is arguably the most efficient scorer in Ligue 1. Even Zlatan, the highest-valued player in all of Ligue 1, can’t match Gaio’s efficiency…”

On TV, Gaio entered the field. Deschamps and Stéphane’s attention returned to the broadcast. Deschamps couldn’t help but exclaim, “The two wing positions are still the most reassuring.”

Stéphane fully agreed. The strength of France’s two wingers was striking: Ribéry and Gaio. One old, one young—they were exactly what was needed to support the French team’s future generational change.

Stade du Ray.

Gaio and Ilan embraced. Gaio tapped his toe on the touchline and then entered the field.

“Gaio!”

The Bastia fans in the away section cheered his name excitedly. De Bruyne, Lukaku, Kanté, and other teammates all exchanged glances with Gaio. Gaio’s arrival meant their style of play would change slightly. Ilan had indeed been ineffective; he was almost an attacking dead end. He couldn’t dribble past opponents or hold onto the ball. A winger who couldn’t dribble made it much harder for his teammates.

After Gaio came on, Nice still chose to attack. They were two goals down, and not attacking meant waiting for death. Furthermore, this was their home stadium. Pierre could only hope that left-back Kolodziejczak could withstand Gaio.

Unfortunately.

When Gaio first touched the ball, he shattered that hope.

Nice’s attack came to nothing. De Bruyne advanced with the ball through the middle. Gaio formed a one-on-one with Kolodziejczak on the wing, and De Bruyne immediately passed the ball to him. Kolodziejczak saw the incoming ball and instinctively wanted to intercept it, but a sense of awe for Gaio made him suppress that impulse. He stood on Gaio’s line of advance.

At the same time, Nice’s defensive midfielder Digard came over to cover. Gaio knew these Nice players well; the coach would provide scouting reports before the match to ensure they knew their opponents. Digard was a typical defensive midfielder, known for his interception ability and strong tackling. He had a wide range of coverage, excelled at winning tackles and disrupting opponent attacks, but his technique was relatively rough, and his passing success rate was low. He often received cards in matches due to overly aggressive defensive actions. This was a crucial breakthrough point for Bastia. However, Ilan hadn’t been able to execute the tactical effect in this position during the first half.

Gaio had the ball in a one-on-one situation. Kolodziejczak didn’t even wait for Digard to arrive and was directly shaken off by Gaio with one move. He had overestimated his defensive ability against Gaio. Kolodziejczak hadn’t even figured out how Gaio had dribbled past him when he instinctively reached out to pull Gaio’s jersey. But because he was off balance, he grabbed the jersey but couldn’t exert force before Gaio took a step away. Instead, Kolodziejczak himself almost fell, stumbling repeatedly to regain his footing.

Digard quickly followed up, forming a wall with center-back Pejčinović, who had come out to defend, blocking Gaio. Gaio observed the situation in the middle and didn’t force another cut-in breakthrough. Instead, facing two defenders, he performed two step-overs, then suddenly pulled the ball to the byline with his left foot, instantly unleashing his burst of speed and sprinting straight for the byline. Pejčinović’s defensive ability was undoubtedly strong, but against a player like Gaio, who possessed both speed and dribbling skills, he was completely outmatched. He simply couldn’t keep up! He watched helplessly as Gaio surged towards the byline. Fortunately, the distance to the byline wasn’t long, so Gaio didn’t have much room to shake him off. Pejčinović saw Gaio feinting a pass with his right foot and launched a sliding tackle, attempting to block Gaio’s path.

However, as he slid, Gaio merely pulled the ball back, half-turned, and curled a shot with his left foot directly towards the top corner of the goal!

Whoosh!

The ball was very close to the Nice fans behind the goal, and they gasped at the sight. No one expected Gaio to shoot directly from that position. Fortunately, goalkeeper Hassen’s instinctive reaction was quick enough. He touched the ball with his hand, deflecting it towards the front of the goal.

A large dark shadow, both man and ball, rushed into the goal.

Whistle!

The referee blew his whistle, pointing to the center circle.

0- 3!

Bastia scored again! Lukaku, who was on the ground inside the goal with another Nice center-back, Renato Civelli, quickly got up. His face was practically creased with a smile. He pointed at Gaio and shouted, “Beautiful, Gaio!” He then said, “Come on, the celebration I told you about in training.”

Gaio smiled. He joined Lukaku on the sidelines, facing the Nice stands, and performed the celebration—both of them put their hands on their waists and swayed from side to side, mimicking the rocking motion of putting a baby to sleep. Lukaku’s interpretation of this move was to tell the fans they could sleep soundly; with him, there would be no surprises.

Boo!

However, in the eyes of the Nice fans, this was a direct taunt, and they booed Lukaku and Gaio. Some even threw cola cups onto the field. Bastia’s other teammates quickly joined in for hugs and celebrations. It was only the 73rd minute, and they were already three goals ahead. This match was practically won!

After coming over to celebrate, De Bruyne told Gaio, “Good form.”

Gaio shrugged. “Their physical condition has declined significantly. It’s normal for them not to be able to defend me.” That was the truth. Lukaku’s several bursts in the first half had severely drained the Nice defenders’ stamina.

Gaio walked towards the center circle and saw Pejčinović. He remembered that in a few years, when the “money football” era swept through the Chinese Super League, Pejčinović had also gone to Changchun Yatai to “make some money.” Of course, he went to Yatai as a star player, but unfortunately, Yatai had a tough season that year, with continuous injuries preventing them from replicating their success of the first half of the season. They were eventually relegated during the final frenzy of “money football,” naturally leading to their parting ways with Pejčinović.

Whistle!

Back in the center circle, the match resumed. Bastia’s morale was soaring. After Nice kicked off, they actively pressed high, forcing Nice to pass the ball. Any pass would lead to a mistake. Bastia was looking for such mistakes.

Soon, Pierre made adjustments, substituting two attacking players, Camel and Bosetti. He brought on a defender, Pied, and a forward, Bosetti. Bosetti was a product of Nice’s own youth academy. Although young, he had already shown characteristics of refined technique and calm finishing. He excelled at using his runs to find open spaces and had a keen sense for goal, but his physical strength and consistency still needed improvement. In previous matches, he had contributed crucial goals as a super-sub in limited appearances.

Nice’s youth academy was indeed flourishing at the moment. The current French national goalkeeper, Lloris, came from Nice’s youth system. After Nice’s president, Rivière, took office, he reformed the youth academy system. From the youngest age groups to the senior team, Nice adhered to a unified tactical style. For the club, players training there only differed in how early or late they matured, making it easy for players to seamlessly transition from the academy to the first team.

However, Bosetti’s first touch after coming on was not ideal. He received a pass from a teammate and was about to turn when Kanté, who was shorter than him, stole the ball from behind. Bosetti threw his hands up at the referee, feeling that Kanté had fouled him. But the referee ignored it. Bastia had an opportunity for a counter-attack, but De Bruyne deliberately slowed down, not pushing for a fast break. With a three-goal lead and Nice switching to a five-man defense after the substitutions, there was no need to speed up the tempo. De Bruyne knew when to go fast and when to go slow. This was more like an innate instinct; it was very difficult to learn.

Bastia entered a positional attack. De Bruyne appeared more and more frequently, constantly moving through the middle, drifting wide, creating space, and distributing the ball. Nice struggled to cope.

Time gradually elapsed. Just when everyone thought the match would end like this, Bastia suddenly accelerated. De Bruyne played a through ball, and Gaio understood his intention, bursting into extreme speed from a standstill, instantly surging behind Digard. Pied and Pejčinović both rushed towards Gaio.

Bang!

Gaio didn’t hesitate, unleashing a powerful shot! The ball threaded through them. Pied and Pejčinović instinctively threw themselves to the ground to block. From the fans’ perspective, it looked like Gaio’s shot was like bowling: the ball went through, and two players fell. Then a third person fell too: goalkeeper Hassen. He stretched his body with all his might, attempting to block the ball, but it still grazed his fingertips and flew into the net.

84 minutes, 0- 4.

A slaughter!

The TF 1 commentator exclaimed, “Gaio! The connection between Gaio and De Bruyne! They’re on fire!”

“Bastia’s attacking level is completely out of place in Ligue 1!”