Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca

Behind him, Ghisolfi watched everything Julien did. By the time he tracked back, Julien had already run off the pitch celebrating.

Watching tens of thousands of Bastia fans frantically waving their hands toward Julien, cheering his name.

For the first time, Ghisolfi felt some regret about leaving Bastia.

Perhaps, if he hadn't left, he would be part of Bastia's celebrating team now.

He would have become one of the future legendary players of this city due to his pure Bastia DNA.

He might even have written a beautiful football story of one man, one city here.

But he had left Bastia. Left the place that raised him, that brought him to the bigger stage.

Among the cheers of thousands of Bastia fans, Ghisolfi walked silently toward the center circle.

Around him were his Reims teammates—angry, helpless, or clapping to urge everyone to stay strong.

Behind him were fluttering blue flags.

Excitement, noise, endless praise for the young talent.

In front of the stands, Julien spread his arms wide, like a prince accepting his subjects' cheers.

The fans' cheers blended together becoming completely indistinguishable. Everyone's voice merged into one—streams becoming rivers, waves of sound washing over the entire Stade Armand Césari.

Bastia fans watching the broadcast excitedly discussed this goal on forums and social media.

"Julien is absolutely the deciding factor in whether Bastia can win the title this season!"

"Yes, I completely agree. Whether we can win the title depends on Julien's performance."

"So beautiful! With De Rocca's touch, his dribbling, those media calling him the new Ronaldinho, that's not exaggerating at all!"

"That ungrateful bastard thought he could defend against Julien, but Julien destroyed him multiple times, ha-ha-ha. That's the difference in talent. Did he really think leaving Bastia would make him better?"

"With this goal, we're temporarily first, right? Wow! This is reaching the summit with one goal!"

"Yes! With the current score, we'll overtake Clermont to become first in the Ligue 2 table."

In the stands, Châtaigner applauded excitedly, then said to a middle-aged man beside him. "Chairman, look! This is the kid I signed on a free last year. I said he had talent—as long as he played seriously, no one in Ligue 2 has higher talent than him!"

Pierre-Marie Géronimo, the portly French businessman, beamed with satisfaction.

He knew Julien's situation very well.

The better he played, the higher the team's future revenue!

"Excellent! This goal fully demonstrates his talent. Châtaigner, indeed, I was right to trust you completely! All the players you've signed have played above their value."

Géronimo was generous with his praise.

He owned a car rental company and bought Bastia purely out of love for football and belief that this historic club could bring him sufficient profit.

He wasn't a professional football person.

So apart from providing money, he unconditionally trusted Châtaigner in all other aspects.

He believed Châtaigner loved Bastia more than he did.

The team's current development proved this point—Châtaigner had achieved ideal results with the most economical signings!

Now they were leading by one goal. If they finished with this score.

Bastia would reach the summit!

"We can now see the live table—Bastia have overtaken Clermont to top Ligue 2, provided they maintain this scoreline."

The Ligue 2 commentator then discussed Julien.

"From leaving Chelsea to being released by Nantes, Julien has brought huge returns to Bastia, who trusted him! I wonder if Nantes, also in Ligue 2, might regret their decision to release De Rocca?

The ability De Rocca is showing now absolutely makes him Bastia's attacking lynchpin!

Four league matches, six goals; two French Cup matches, two goals and two assists.

This is the return De Rocca has brought Bastia!

I think it's worth more than some multi-million-euro signings. All Bastia paid was giving De Rocca a chance."

Seeing his team finally break the deadlock, Hadzibegic was equally excited.

The surprises Julien brought him were truly endless!

Fortunately, after celebrating, he remained very composed, gesturing to the players walking back to the center circle after their celebrations while shouting. "Focus on defense!"

Now that they were leading, defense was crucial!

After conceding, Fournier had Reims increase their attacking intensity, though all he could hear were Bastia fans' cheers.

But he could almost hear those media reporters' interview questions. "Didn't you say you could prevent De Rocca from scoring even one goal? Why did he still score?"

Such words would be like hitting him in the face with a shoe.

So, he wanted to use victory to offset this embarrassment. At least if they won, he could say. "We made targeted arrangements. There were some technical errors, but we ultimately took three points and became the league leaders. That's enough."

Unfortunately, scoring goals wasn't something that happened just because he said to increase attacks.

After the restart.

Bastia's defensive line stood more firmly, leaving players up front for counter-attacks, playing defensive football against Reims at home.

After several of Bastia's counter-attacks nearly created threats, no matter how stubborn Fournier was, he didn't dare have his players commit too many men forward.

Bastia wasn't like other Ligue 2 teams with poor attacking output.

By the 68th minute, Julien's energy was nearly spent.

Hadzibegic simply substituted Davide for Julien, letting the veteran make another run.

This also let Julien rest—having scored the breakthrough goal, Julien had performed well enough in this match.

Ghisolfi had been substituted as early as the 60th minute.

When Julien came off, he received a standing ovation from the entire stadium.

Julien waved to the fans.

Reaching the sideline, a beaming Hadzibegic gave him a big hug.

"Good lad, brilliantly done!"

In the remaining twenty-plus minutes, both sides had chances, but none were clear-cut opportunities. Neither set of forwards, without exception, could capitalize.

Beep!!

When the referee blew the final whistle.

Stade Armand Césari erupted in celebration once more!

Bastia fans didn't know how to express their excitement and could only release it through shouting.

They had reached the summit!!

As a promoted team, after 25 league rounds, they had reached the summit!

This left many reporters on the sideline wondering—

Now that Bastia were league leaders, surely Hadzibegic couldn't still be talking about relegation?