Kanté hadn't been in Bastia for long, and in his mind, he had no concept at all of the Corsican derby.
Throughout France, the derby that left the deepest impression on him was only the match between PSG and Marseille.
Julien, however, was very aware of the madness that was the Corsican derby.
Earlier, just participating in a Corsican youth derby had given him a slight taste of it.
"Some bad things have happened in the past, fans have even died in the chaos. As for injuries, those are just as usual."
Chataigner spoke about past Corsican derbies as he drove.
In fact, the Corsican derby was so crazy largely because the two teams carried the emotional baggage of Corsica's north-south rivalry.
Moreover, neither team was a traditional Ligue 1 side.
Unlike other famous derbies like Real Madrid vs Barcelona, the Milan derby, the Ruhr derby, and so on where teams were guaranteed to meet at least twice each season, Bastia and Ajaccio might not face each other even once across multiple seasons.
And most of the time, they met in Ligue 2.
Previously, the two teams had only faced each other four times in Ligue 1 history.
This would be the fifth time.
The previous four encounters were all concentrated in the 2003-2005 period across two seasons. During those two seasons, both teams were in Ligue 1, so they played each other four times in the league.
At other times, either Ajaccio was relegated or Bastia was relegated.
The Ajaccio currently being discussed was actually called "AC Ajaccio."
Corsica had a third team as well: GFC Ajaccio, commonly known as Ajaccio Gazélec.
This team was Ajaccio's city rival and also Bastia's north-south enemy on the island.
The traditional home jersey colors of the three teams were quite interesting too.
Bastia wore blue.
Ajaccio wore red and white stripes.
GFC Ajaccio wore red and blue stripes.
They were truly bound by fate.
Similarly, in their crest designs, all three teams shared two common features: shield-shaped emblems with Moorish heads.
This was related to Corsica's spirit of independence. The three teams were mortal enemies among themselves, but when facing outsiders, they were brothers.
Although France had occupied Corsica for over 200 years and had even produced Napoleon from there, the conflict between the French central government and the Corsican region had never disappeared.
Historically, Corsicans never stopped expressing their dissatisfaction with colonial rule by Genoa and France.
This was also why Julien could see on the streets of Bastia that the islanders always maintained their ethnic characteristics, possessing their own language and culture.
Julien had now learned a few phrases in Corsican.
After World War II, as numerous French colonies gained independence, Corsicans also began pursuing autonomy and even independence.
But for France, the Corsican region was different from other colonies. Corsica held important significance for maintaining France's presence and influence in the Mediterranean.
France would never allow Corsican independence.
To improve conditions in Corsica, France took a hardline stance against independence advocates on one hand, while on the other, continuously developed the local economy, and recognized the status of the Corsican language, and granted greater autonomy to appease Corsican discontent.
The French government-built railways, roads, and other infrastructure, opened maritime and air routes, and worked to develop the tourism industry there.
Football could never exist apart from politics and economics.
It was precisely because of this background that after Corsica's overall economic improvement, this isolated island could support two Ligue 1 teams.
And so came the fifth Ligue 1 Corsican derby.
"We were founded five years before them. There's been too much bad blood over the years, but ultimately what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch. Still, I've got another headache, I just hope Modoso doesn't go to Ajaccio and stir up trouble."
Chataigner sighed as he recounted the history between the two teams.
He continued, "Modoso's old man went to Ajaccio back in the day when we were still in Ligue 2. He took down four Ajaccio fans by himself and chased them around. Later he got beaten badly by a group of them. If others hadn't arrived in time, something terrible might have happened."
Only when they reached the training facility did Chataigner stopped talking about the derby, and changed the subject, "Get some good rest. Players returning from national team duty don't start training until tomorrow. If you need anything, you can see the team doctor for treatment."
Julien and Kanté both nodded.
Back in the dormitory, Julien was still thinking about those stories concerning Bastia and Ajaccio.
Football was never just about football. It was an extension of economics and politics.
Like the Ruhr derby: coal mines versus steel mills.
Like Spain's national derby: the Spanish government versus the Catalan government.
Or Maradona's "Hand of God," which made Argentinians view him as a national hero.
And so on.
People who grew up in regions where football culture wasn't deeply rooted often found it hard to understand fans' fanaticism for the sport.
Perhaps football was the only sport in the world where a single match couldn't determine a champion or runner-up, yet still made people's blood boil.
After learning that Julien had returned to Bastia, Fabruetto specially called to inquire about his condition. After Julien answered that he felt fine, Fabruetto scheduled him for a comprehensive examination the next day.
National team matches were when clubs worried most.
Long-distance travel combined with high-intensity matches made injuries most likely.
Therefore, FIFA created a "Club Protection Programme" starting in 2008, reaching an agreement with clubs on injury compensation for international match days and tournament club subsidies.
The "Club Protection Programme" covered players within two years before the day after their team's elimination from the tournament.
According to the current situation, Bastia could also receive this money because of Julien.
After Fabruetto, His father Pierre also called him. He mainly wanted to mention one thing, after yesterday's Spain vs France match, Pierre had encountered Marotta.
Only then did he learn that Marotta had also been at the stadium watching the entire match.
The two exchanged contact information, though clearly, Marotta had already had Pierre's contact details. However, until now, others had been contacting Pierre on behalf of Juventus.
Now Marotta was personally involved.
After hanging up, Julien pondered everything about Juventus for a moment.
It seemed that going to Juventus at this point in time wouldn't be a bad decision.
Since last season, the 2011/2012 season: when they escaped a handball call at San Siro and won Serie A, Juventus's domination of the Apennines would continue for nine years.
In the early period, it was absolute strength; in the later period, it was purely because their Serie A opponents collectively gave up.
This could be seen from Juventus's Champions League performances.
In the afternoon, Julien didn't rest but came to the training ground to continue training.
By the time he finished training, De Bruyne and Lukaku had also returned to Bastia.
The three greeted each other.
De Bruyne and Lukaku were both in good spirits, Belgium had won both matches in this window.
Away 3-0 victory over Serbia, home 2-0 victory over Scotland.
Both clean sheets.
In this group, Belgium's only rival was Croatia.
And Croatia's record was the same as Belgium's—perfect wins against the other four teams.
Last month, Belgium and Croatia's direct confrontation ended 1-1.
De Bruyne felt somewhat regretful about the goal-line controversy in Julien's France match. "That goal could very well affect your qualification situation."
Julien had already come to terms with it. "Everyone says refereeing mistakes are part of football too, so what can we do? There's no way to change the result now. Next time at home, if we can win, it'll be the same."
Lukaku chimed in from the side, "We're pretty much the same. It all depends on the return leg, how we handle Croatia."
Thinking about Croatia, De Bruyne said, "That midfielder of theirs is really impressive."
"Modrić?" Julien asked knowingly.
"Yeah. No wonder Real Madrid made such a fuss to bring him from Tottenham to the Bernabéu. Even someone as proud as Mourinho personally went to negotiate with Levy for him. He really is excellent." De Bruyne said.
After arriving at Chelsea, he'd heard some rumors about Modrić.
The last summer, Modrić had wanted to transfer to Chelsea. He was desperate to leave Tottenham at the time, even refusing to participate in preseason training and submitting a transfer request, but Levy blocked it.
Having finished training, Julien chatted with De Bruyne and Lukaku as they walked, talking about nothing but matches and football.
A footballer's life was actually quite monotonous much of the time.
It was just an endless cycle of training and matches.
This was why, once self-discipline was lacking, it was easy to let loose: indulging in alcohol, women, games, and all sorts of self-destructive activities.
That's why in Julien's previous life, people said that while seventeen or eighteen-year-old Ronaldos and Messis were uncommon, thirty-seven or thirty-eight-year-old Ronaldos and Messis were absolutely unique.
The next day, at breakfast, Julien and his teammates routinely looked at the daily sports news.
Because of Julien, Bastia's media had also republished follow-ups about the France vs Spain match.
There were comments from various legends on both sides about the controversial call.
Julien didn't like watching these verbal battles.
What he saw was "Unlucky Real Madrid" in the Spain-France battle, Arbeloa was injured in the second half.
As Real Madrid's left-back, ahead of him were Marcelo and Coentrão.
Both Marcelo and Coentrão were world-class left-backs, and Arbeloa was first-rate as well.
The possibility of all three being injured simultaneously was very small. But this scene truly unfolded!
The first to fall was Coentrão. In last weekend's Portugal's 0-1 loss to Russia, Coentrão played only 19 minutes before being substituted due to a thigh muscle strain. He would be out for about a month.
The second to fall was Marcelo.
During Brazil's training last weekend, Marcelo sprained his right ankle. The examination results were shocking: a fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. He would undergo surgery in Amsterdam this week and be out for three months.
The third was Arbeloa, with a right hamstring strain. He would also miss about a month.
This media outlet said Mourinho had no proper left-backs available, and would either have to change other players' positions or look to the youth academy.
The reporter writing the article also took a jab at Mourinho: "Obviously, developing new players has never been Mourinho's option, so we can rule out the second choice."
The reporter offered his view: "In the Real Madrid squad, there's still Nacho. However, this player who was promoted to the first team this summer is a defensive jack-of-all-trades. Nacho can play left-back, right-back, and center-back, but his performance in any position isn't particularly outstanding."
Julien saw another article that mentioned his own name.
"In the Spain-France battle, De Rocca performed outstandingly, repeatedly causing chaos for the defense. Real Madrid is interested in signing De Rocca, and Mourinho has already given the transfer department a positive directive."
Seeing the content of the news in Julien's hands, De Bruyne sat down with his breakfast and casually said, "That's Real Madrid, one of the world's strongest giants. Are you really not going to consider it?
Plus, you'd have your French legend Zidane looking after you. It would be a pretty good choice."
Julien shook his head, put away the newspaper, and looked at De Bruyne. "If it were you, would you make that choice?"
De Bruyne froze for a moment, then exchanged smiles with Julien.
De Bruyne laughed. "Alright, then I probably know what kind of team you'll go to."
Julien was nonchalant, and only answered, "Rather than joining a giant, it's far more exhilarating to defeat them."
De Bruyne gave him a thumbs up.
After breakfast, the players went to the rest area to relax for half an hour before the day's training.
Julien and De Bruyne walked together, laughing and chatting with other teammates.
Suddenly, De Bruyne stopped and said softly to Julien, "Count me in."
Julien smiled.
De Bruyne smiled too. Being with someone on the same wavelength, whether on or off the pitch was just so pleasant.
"Deal."
In that instant, Julien suddenly knew where he should go.
At the training ground, Hadzibegic greeted everyone. Speaking about the upcoming derby, he smiled and said, "In this match, as long as we perform normally, there won't be any problems."
"Ajaccio's attacking ability is limited. They'll definitely choose to park the bus, so these two days we'll mainly train on how to break down a packed defense."
Breaking down a packed defense was generally a world-class problem, but this only applied when the strength difference between the two sides wasn't very large.
If the strength gap was too large, like Barcelona in the previous two or three seasons, it didn't matter who they played or what tactics were used; the opponents simply couldn't touch the ball the entire match.
Some teams playing against Barcelona had players whose total touches didn't exceed ten for the entire match, it was simply unimaginable.
For other teams, most of the time it was crossing and relying on aerial presence for headers, long-range shots, or constantly stretching the opponent's formation left and right to find attacking space.
When Hadzibegic arranged tactics, he directly abandoned headers. He didn't say why. But Lukaku in the crowd sheepishly touched his head, seeing his teammates chuckling, then looked down at his feet and up at the birds and clouds in the sky.
Those clouds were really white...
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