Rouen.
A thousand-year-old European city, one of the top medieval cities, it's the second-largest city in northwestern France after Nantes.
Rouen is the capital of the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region.
Unfortunately, this place hasn't produced a top-tier team.
Quevilly-Rouen is already Rouen's best team. They once reached Ligue 2, but now they're just getting by in the National League.
This season they might have a chance at promotion to Ligue 2, but Ligue 1 remains a distant dream.
Instead, it's Le Havre from Le Havre, the sub-prefecture of Seine-Maritime, that occasionally manages to reach Ligue 1.
So, this season, Quevilly-Rouen's advancement to the French Cup semifinals was already beyond Rouen fans' expectations.
They were incredibly surprised!
On the night they defeated Marseille, they stayed up all night, drinking to their hearts' content under the night breeze from the English Channel.
They yearned to go one step further.
The final?
Having reached the semifinals, why not?
As Quevilly-Rouen's coach Régis Brouard said before the match: "No one thought we could beat double-crown winners Marseille, no one thought we'd reach the semifinals. They'd say, 'Ha-Ha, Quevilly is just a National League team.' But now we're in this position, fighting for the French Cup final, while those who doubted us have gone home."
This season's French Cup might be the least prestigious edition ever.
Only one Ligue 1 team among the final four.
But it still attracted considerable attention from French fans, especially the Quevilly-Rouen vs. Bastia match.
No other reason—because of Julien.
Current Julien carries enough titles like €30 million valuation, Ligue 2 golden boot, French national team player, young genius, problem youth to attract attention.
When Bastia arrived in Rouen a day early, their team bus was surrounded by Bastia fans who had arrived ahead of time.
"We are Bastia! The blue ocean fills with our songs, We're always on the path of battle."
"Forza Bastia!!"
Corsican language echoed through Rouen's streets, drawing sideways glances from Rouen fans.
Bastia and Rouen are far apart with no historical conflicts, so relations were relatively friendly.
If Bastia were singing these songs on Ajaccio's streets, they'd probably be in an all-out brawl by now.
Bastia vs. Ajaccio matches always have maximum security measures.
Sometimes away fans are even banned from attending.
There have been too many incidents.
French football's management is somewhat lax in this regard—or rather, they simply can't control the fans.
April 12th, 6 PM.
The match wouldn't start until 8 PM, but Rouen fans had already surrounded the Robert Diochon Stadium.
Modoso organized UB members, loudly singing Bastia support songs at the stadium entrance.
This time Rouen only gave Bastia eight hundred away tickets.
And for general admission tickets, they were prepared—only those with local identification could purchase them.
This killed Modoso's plan to "infiltrate" the stands.
However, eight hundred spots were enough for Ultras Bastia to organize sufficient momentum.
At the stadium entrance, they engaged in singing duels with Rouen's fan association.
7:30 PM.
French Cup broadcast had begun.
The commentator introduced both teams' advancement journeys, previewing the match possibilities.
And he emphasized Julien: "This is the only active French international on the field, and he'll definitely be the key player in this match. Bastia needs him for attack, while Quevilly-Rouen needs to stop him."
"Before the match, when Zidane was interviewed, he said this was just De Rocca's performance before the final. More people favor Bastia, favor De Rocca. Especially with recent rumors about De Rocca in the national team, his abilities are increasingly recognized."
"Bastia has shown excellent form this season in both Ligue 2 and the French Cup.
Quevilly-Rouen narrowly eliminated Marseille, but Bastia has consecutively eliminated three Ligue 1 teams—Valenciennes, Lille, and Rennes. It can be said that although Bastia is still in Ligue 2, no one considers them a simple Ligue 2 team."
Bastia locker room.
All players stood in the center of the room, forming a circle. Led by captain Rothen, they shouted:
"Forza Bastia!"
Leaving the locker room, Julien high-fived and hugged Hadzibegic, Châtaigner, Dominic one by one.
"Come on, win this match!"
BOOM! BOOM BOOM!!
When the players stood in the tunnel, the small Diochon Stadium was already erupting with fierce cheers.
As the players entered the field, the momentum reached its peak—Rouen fans set off red flares, the entire stadium waving red flags.
Everything in sight was red!
Only in the away section was there a small patch of blue mixed in.
Like a blue boat in a red ocean, teetering precariously.
No matter how the UB members shouted themselves hoarse, eight hundred people couldn't make any sound against over ten thousand.
This was Quevilly-Rouen's home ground!
WHISTLE!!
Amidst the red flares and smoke, the opening whistle blew.
Bastia kicked off.
Julien moved to the right wing. The smoke made it impossible to see distant teammates clearly.
But this is French football.
Players on the field couldn't see the situation clearly, and fans watching the broadcast could see even less. The broadcast cameras could only find close-ups, avoiding wide shots.
French fans were used to this broadcast experience.
Meanwhile in Turin, Marotta watched TV, complaining about "what shitty broadcast this is."
A match between lower-division teams was attracting attention from multiple top clubs across Spain, England, and Italy.
And Lyon too.
Head coach Remi Garde and his coaching staff were all watching this match. Although their French Cup semifinal would begin tomorrow night, they didn't think they'd suffer an upset.
This was advance scouting of their opponents.
Especially scouting De Rocca.
Garde watched De Rocca's figure with the ball on screen, and his expression was growing more and more grave.
Could they really stop him without fouling?
Quevilly-Rouen's coach Régis Brouard was very pragmatic—defend at home, but the defensive pressure on the right wing where Julien played was extreme!
On television, just thirteen minutes in, Bastia had already won multiple free kicks down the right wing, and Rouen's left-back had received a yellow card.
"De Rocca..."
Garde unconsciously muttered the name, his mind flashing through images of his team's defensive players one by one.
None left an impression deep enough to trap this young genius.
Garde shook his head. They really couldn't stop him without fouling.
WHISTLE!!
On TV, the whistle blew.
The referee's hand pointed firmly at the penalty spot. Julien lay in the penalty area, clutching his shin.
Penalty kick.
Garde sighed heavily.
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