[Football] Bad Boy Batty

Half-time information:
[Manchester City temporarily led 1-0 in the first half. There was a conflict between the two teams before the end of the first half. De Bruyne was shot innocently and received a yellow card.]
[Before leaving the field, De Bruyne tried to negotiate with the fourth official, but was blocked by D. Everyone heard De Bruyne hysterically yelling at D.: Let me talk!]

"You shouldn't be angry at David, Kevin," Batistuta said to De Bruyne after entering the player tunnel. "He was trying to persuade you with good intentions, and you yelled at him."

"I know, I was just pissed off." De Bruyne took the towel handed to him by the assistant coach and wiped his sweat, "It's not directed at him."

"Only David has a good temper. If it were me, I would beat you up." Batistuta snorted twice, followed De Bruyne into the locker room and sat down to rest.

Kompany came over to ask about the situation. As the captain, he had to resolve the quarrel that happened in front of the broadcast camera a few minutes ago. Kompany raised his hand to ruffle Batistuta's hair and called D's side to him.

"I know you all put the team first. Manchester City is a big family. It is inevitable that there will be conflicts in a family, but as long as you make it clear and don't hide it, there will be no problems. Don't you agree, everyone?"

Batistuta glanced at the Spanish midfielder and could clearly feel that the other side was not happy.

This is normal. D. Silva has been through a lot this season. His son's premature birth has kept him nervous, and traveling back and forth between Manchester and the hospital has exhausted him.

However, Silva has a gentle personality and is not the type to make a lot of noise. Batistuta is 8% sure that there will be no quarrel between him and De Bruyne.

"I just tried to make the situation clear to the fourth official, sorry David." De Bruyne said a little dryly. Normally he would not be the first to bow his head, but now Kompany and Batistuta are by his side, and they both think he should not do that.

"I didn't mean to yell at you," he added.

"Yeah, I know." D's originally tense mouth relaxed, "That yellow card was indeed incredible. If I were you, I wouldn't be able to hold it back either."

Batistuta and Kompany looked at each other, and it seemed that the alarm was over.

"Are we okay?" De Bruyne stretched out his hand to D.

Sean D patted his hand and shook it like a good brother.

"Yeah, I think it's alright."

"That's great, we're back and invincible!" Kompany put his hands on the shoulders of the two, looked at De Bruyne and then at D. "Continue in the second half, nothing can stop us from reaching the final!"

"Just reaching the finals?" Barty raised an eyebrow and interrupted. "I thought you would have bigger ambitions, Vincent, like sleeping with the Big Ear Cup in your arms."

"Of course!" Kompany was amused by Batistuta's words. He let go of De Bruyne and D. Silva, stretched out his hand and ruffled the boy's hair into a bird's nest. "That goal was beautiful, Batistuta. Keep it up. When the time comes, I will share half of the bed with you for the trophy."

Several people burst into laughter.

The matter was resolved amicably, and Amazon's cameras clearly recorded the entire process.

Soon Guardiola rushed into the locker room. It was obvious that he was not satisfied with the control of the team in the first half. Yes, 1-0 was not safe. Manchester United was in good form recently and could turn the tables at any time.

"Stay hungry! Everyone! We don't want just one goal lead! We have the ability to score five goals in 1 minutes, we can!" He spoke passionately, "When Lingard takes the ball and presses Vinny (Kompany) and Lucas, David is free at this time, no one is marking him, so steal the ball and attack - move to this side, two to one, never be at a disadvantage, guys!"

Guardiola left the locker room again, probably to find his assistant coach or his Spanish old friends to analyze the situation. Batistuta, thinking about something else, applauded with everyone. There were still a few minutes of rest time, so he took off his dirty jersey and threw it into the basket, then took a bottle of water and wet a towel to cool himself down.

"Be careful, they will definitely keep a closer eye on you in the second half," Batistuta spread his legs and squeezed De Bruyne next to him. "Mourinho is very cunning. He must be planning to target you at this moment. If you get a red card, it will be difficult for us to play."

"Yeah." De Bruyne reached out and took off the wet towel on Batistuta's head and replaced it with a dry one. "Believe me, I won't give them a chance."

……

In the second half, Mourinho indeed arranged his players to target De Bruyne, and Batistuta retreated to help. He still remembered Pep's request to him, to limit Augustus or something, but he was rejected by his own backcourt before he took a few steps back.

"Go back, go back. You'll be more threatening if you go forward." De Bruyne calmly passed the ball to D-Seat, signaling that he didn't need to worry about Batistuta. "Now is not the time for you to assist in defense. Kyle and David are here. We will get the ball away."

Batty thought about it and hesitated.

"I have to keep an eye on Augustus," he said. "That's what Pep wants."

"That was in the first half. Now they are shifting their focus. I can just contain them." De Bruyne looked back at the positions of Augustus and Pogba. "Remember what Pep said in midfield?"

Batty was stunned.

What Pep said -

Intercept the ball and transfer it?

His eyebrows jumped as he noticed that De Bruyne quietly gestured to him to press forward to the middle. Batistuta understood and he exchanged glances with De Bruyne.

At this time, Ashley Young was not in the full-back position. Manchester City's offensive focus was on the left. D. Silva gave the ball to Sane. Pogba and Augustus gathered to the left in the midfield, so he had to stand in position with Bailly and keep a close eye on Jesus in the middle and Fernandinho who might come in from behind at any time.

Obviously, because of Batistuta's retreat, he relaxed his marking on Batistuta, who was a greater threat on Manchester City's right.

Sane tried to dribble past the opponent on the left, but the chance was not very good. Lucas assisted and Sane passed the ball back to Lucas. Pogba and Lingard came forward to press.

"Luki here!"

Lucas quickly glanced at the situation on the field and made a long pass to accurately find Batistuta who ran into the open space on the right.

"Not good!" Ashley Young was shocked and turned around to defend immediately, but it was too late. If he was unable to defend on such a large flat ground, Batistuta might choose to retire on the spot.

[Good opportunity! Manchester City made a large-scale transfer, the space on the right is ridiculously large, Batistuta got the ball, this is a good position, let's see if he will choose to shoot himself——]

To be honest, Batistuta hadn't really decided whether to shoot or pass the ball.

De Gea looked nervous and prepared to save the shot. He was in a good position and blocked the possible route of Batistuta's near-corner shot. Rojo was guarding the goal at the back post. In this situation, it seemed that any shot would be risky.

But Batistuta didn't have much time to think it through and come to a conclusion. Once he entered the penalty area, the opportunity was gone in a flash.

Forget it, I don't want to.

The more you think, the more likely something is to go wrong.

Batistuta gritted his teeth and saw Jesus and Smalling at the back post half a meter apart. An idea suddenly occurred to him -

Try to hang it in! [The ball went in! Smooth cooperation, Manchester United's strategy against De Bruyne did not work, Manchester City's midfield had too many outlets, D Silva, who had quarreled with him in the first half, took the responsibility, De Bruyne only needed to attract firepower, Manchester United could not do anything to them! ] The commentator praised Manchester City's attack, [Bati! He is only 19 years old this year, and his eccentric personality may always cause controversy, but we have to admit that he is already a world-class star! ]

In the 63rd minute of the second half, Batistuta made a pass-like shot into the penalty area, and Jesus made a high-speed run from the back post and shot with his right foot to score!

Manchester City changed the score, 2-0!

……

Goals are always the best catalyst for atmosphere.

In the 85th minute, Manchester City extended the lead to a point where their opponents could not catch up.

De Bruyne passed the ball in the middle of the frontcourt, and Sterling, who came on as a substitute, dribbled into the penalty area from the left and swept across the middle. Jesus followed up in the middle, attracted the attention of three defenders and easily slipped the ball. He rushed out from behind Batistuta on the right, jumped up and volleyed the ball into the net to score his second goal!

Manchester City scores another goal, 3-0!

"Beautiful Batistuta!" Aguero, wearing a substitute vest, ran to the sidelines first to hug Batistuta, "You are going to become a Red Devil killer! 3-0! Wow-oh!!"

Lucas pushed everyone to jump on it, shouting excitedly: "Let's lift him up!"

"Ohhhhh!"

"Come on! Get our mascot up so we can still get in!"

Batistuta was lifted up by his teammates and thrown into the air. Everything around him was red and Manchester United fans were cursing at them.

"This year! The trophy and the Golden Boot are mine!"

……

At the end of the game, Manchester City defeated their opponent 3-0 away and took the absolute initiative to advance to the semi-finals!

In a good mood after winning the game, Batty came to the mixed interview area humming a song to be interviewed. Today's questions were relatively normal.

[Congratulations on ending Manchester United's 5-game winning streak. You scored 3 away goals and almost secured a place in the semi-finals. You are even more powerful than last season.] The reporter said, [You made it to the final last season, but unfortunately lost to Real Madrid. Do you think you can surpass last season this season?]

"Take away the word 'almost', darling." Barty smiled his usual flamboyant smile. "We will definitely make it to the semi-finals. That's not a question at all."

The reporter looked at the boy who was full of pride, smiled kindly, and then corrected himself. [Sorry, the place in the semi-finals has been secured.]

"Thank you. As for the final, we will certainly do better than last season." Batistuta stroked his wet hair. "I don't think the reason we lost to Real Madrid last season was because of our strength. It was luck. We lacked a bit of luck, and experience. Look at the players of Real Madrid last time and our players. Last year's final was my first time, and everyone knows that the first time will not be a good experience. So, this time, we will not give up the trophy, no matter who is on the other side."

……

About half an hour later, Manchester City's bus left Old Trafford.

Batistuta and De Bruyne were squeezed into one seat. De Bruyne was staring out the window in a daze, while Batistuta was lazily browsing his phone. Soon Lucas came over from behind. Batistuta pulled the French defender to his side despite De Bruyne's disapproving look.

"That was a nice pass, Luki." He pinched the side of Lucas' face, "but I felt like you wanted to score a goal yourself more."

Lucas smiled, "Fortunately, I am not obsessed with scoring goals." He shrugged, then leaned his head on Batistuta's neck shyly, "Assisting you makes me happier."

"Oh - you are so thoughtful." Batty rubbed the big dog's hair with his chin, "Don't worry, I will help you get the first goal, and then we will celebrate together."

De Bruyne flew over and glared at him.

"This is room for two," he said. "Don't you—"

Before De Bruyne could finish his words, Kyle Walker leaned over the back of his chair in the front row and looked over. "Good job Batistuta! He's only been here for less than half a season and you're already clamoring to help him score a goal! What about me? I haven't scored a goal yet!!"

"Go away." Batty half-closed his eyes and stretched out his hand to push Walker's big face away. "If you want to score a goal, just do it yourself. More than half of the whole wing was given to you. Who can you blame if you can't score?"

"No!! I don't believe it! You're making excuses!" Walker held his chest, looking heartbroken, "You don't love me anymore!"

"I never loved."

"Ahhhh Barty you broke my heart!"

Walker pounced on Batistuta and started to quarrel with him. Batistuta refused to be outdone and Lucas also helped. Poor De Bruyne next to him was almost squeezed against the glass.

De Bruyne: …

How did things come to be like this?
"Hey, stop messing around, check the group!"

Jesus' voice in front interrupted the noisy people. Batistuta continued to pull Walker's ear and took out his mobile phone from his pocket, unlocked it with a strong facial expression, and directly clicked into Walker's account.

Walker opened his eyes wide, "Hey! Don't peek at my chat history!"

"Who has the time to read your boring chat history?" Batistuta stopped writing and glanced at him, then waved the group chat interface in front of him, "Jesus posted news to the group, don't you want to read it?"

"What news?" Lucas, who was completely unable to move, asked, "Did any famous player speak out again?"

"No, it's the result of the Champions League match next door." Batty quickly scanned the content on the screen. "It's okay, not too surprising."

"Who won?" Walker also asked.

"Real Madrid, Barcelona and Munich all won," Batistuta replied. "Barcelona 4-1 Roma, Bayern 2-1 Liverpool, Real Madrid 3-0 Juventus. It seems that our future opponents will emerge from here."

……

Obviously, no one on the bus at this moment expected that the future would turn out like that.

(End of this chapter)