[Football] Bad Boy Batty

Everyone said Roma was a Champions League gift package, but when we opened it up - it was a big salute.

The big gift package became Barcelona.

This season, Barcelona had another comeback battle that was worthy of being written into history, but they went from being the reversing party to being the reversed party.

Roma, located in the capital of Italy, has won the Serie A championship three times and is a veteran team in the Serie A. Because their team logo is a mother wolf nursing and the main color of their uniforms is the traditional red, fans affectionately call them the "Red Wolves".

In Manchester City's limited history in the Champions League, it has never played against Roma, but there are still several old friends of Manchester City in the Roma lineup, such as Kolarov, who was a Manchester City player last season, and Dzeko, the Bosnian striker who once made a name for himself in Manchester City.

Before the game, Manchester City's coaching staff focused on studying the video of Roma's two-round reversal of Barcelona, ​​hoping to make tactical arrangements based on their characteristics.

"Barcelona was eliminated not because the opponent was too strong, but because they were too weak." Looking at the Roma goal on the screen, Batistuta chuckled and waved his hands, leaning back in his seat in a nonchalant manner. "The two goals in the first half of the first leg were all scored by Roma themselves. If we count by the number of goals, it would be Roma 3-2 Barcelona."

"That just shows how strong Roma is." Guardiola looked over carefully. "Don't underestimate your opponent, Batistuta. Even the strongest people can make mistakes. I hope that beating Manchester United at home and winning the championship early has not made you proud and complacent. If that's the case, I would rather we lose to them."

Batistuta didn't care much about it, but he didn't confront Guardiola as he did before.

"I mean, Pep, you're too nervous." He pointed at the screen and said, "We are not Barcelona. We won't make the same mistakes as them. Don't worry, we will go to the final."

In Batistuta's opinion, Roma's advancement to the semi-finals is all thanks to their goalkeeper Alisson, just like Neuer in the 10-11 season, who single-handedly led Schalke 04 to the semi-finals, but that was all. From the semi-finals onwards, relying solely on goalkeeper defense will not work, as they will still be defeated when encountering a team with full firepower.

As a result, they had problems with Batti’s milk.

Going to Rome to play away, Manchester City, which had a luxurious forward line, was put into doubt about life by Alisson's defense. They bombarded the opponent relentlessly but failed to score a single goal in the first half.

Even the long-corner shot that Batistuta thought was sure to go in was blocked by him. The camera clearly recorded the whole process of Batistuta's expression changing from determination to disbelief.

At the end of the first half, both sides drew 0-0.

To make matters worse, in the injury time of the first half, Delph was shown a red card by the referee for a slightly bigger tackle.

"That's definitely not a red card! Why did you give him a card?" Guardiola angrily chased the referee to ask for an explanation. "Open your eyes and take a good look. Delph didn't hurt anyone!"

"Come on, it's a standard action of rushing at people instead of the ball. It's undoubtedly a red card!" Roma coach Di Francesco gave a thumbs up to the referee while arguing with Guardiola, "You always yell that the referee should protect the players. Are only your players considered players and my players not count?"

As the argument between the two head coaches became more and more intense, the atmosphere between the players became more and more tense. The tunnel was crowded with people, and the two sides were pushing and shoving as if they were about to fight at any moment.

"Calm down! Calm down!" Even during the halftime break, the referee was the one with the most power. He shouted to stop the impending conflict between the two teams, "Go back to your locker room, or I'll take action!"

One red card was bad enough, they couldn't afford another.

"Okay, everyone go in, everyone go in!" Guardiola immediately ended the argument with Di Francesco. He and the coaching staff drove the players into the locker room like ducks.

Summer is coming, but the temperature in Italy today is not high. In order to prevent the players from catching a cold in the midfield, everyone must wear a coat. Batistuta put one hand in his sleeve, and before he was fully dressed, he saw Dzeko's expression of extreme disdain, and he also made a "shut up" gesture to them.

"Who do you think you are! Without Alisson you are nothing!"

An angry Batistuta made an "umbrella" gesture towards Dzeko, which is equivalent to the Italian national curse. This is quite dangerous in a game and the referee is likely to warn him for it.

Fortunately, Batistuta's coat was not completely on, and the action he made did not look like the normal "opening an umbrella", so neither the referee nor the Roma players noticed it.

But Guardiola saw through it, and this time he would not indulge the number one trouble maker in his team. He directly reached out and grabbed Batistuta by the back of the collar and dragged him back to the locker room.

"Hey!" Batty opened his hands to express his dissatisfaction.

Guardiola didn't look at him.

"Calm down, boys!" Arteta tried his best to maintain order. "This is exactly what they want - to make you lose control of your emotions!"

"Yeah, they certainly have the ability to make their opponents lose control of their emotions when the referee is standing behind them," Batty complained quietly.

Aguero was in a bad mood as well, but he didn't say anything. "Stop talking." He handed Batistuta a glass of water and asked him to sit down in front of the cabinet. He pointed to the side and said, "You can't be more sad than him."

Batty glanced at the frustrated Delph not far away and pursed his lips.

Yes, being sent off in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final would have meant he would have missed the Champions League final directly, if they had played the final.

Batistuta thought ironically that there were still 45 minutes left and they had one less player than the opponent, so it would be great if they could keep the ball. If the 0-0 score could be maintained until the end of the game, they would still have a chance when they return to the Etihad Stadium for the second leg.

De Bruyne saw his pessimism and reached out to ruffle his hair.

"It'll be alright," he said.

Guardiola's reprimand came almost at the same time.

"SIT DOWN NO BODY TALK!!" The angry head coach walked around the locker room and finally stopped in front of the tactics board. "Everyone, sit down! Drink some water, rest and relax!"

Delph went off and they had to make adjustments, strengthening the defense at the expense of offense. Sterling was replaced by Lucas.

Fortunately, Lucas did not get a red card in the starting lineup today, otherwise the consequences would be more serious.

But the question is, if Guardiola started Lucas today, would this red card still appear?
There will never be an answer to this question.

"Don't give me a bad face. You are indeed sad, but this is the fact. Accept it." Guardiola placed the red magnet representing the enemy on the tactical board. "I am not God. I am not good enough. I know this. We all just want to do our best, that's all."

"You can do this in a few years when you become head coaches, no problem, but now, before that, everyone, I'm the boss, I make the decisions! Don't be sour, now and in the future!" He continued, "Focus everyone, you all have chances to score, play well in the second half, we still have a chance, don't put all the pressure on the second leg, we have worked hard for half a season just for the final, don't fall here!"

……

At the beginning of the second half, Roma launched a crazy attack across the entire half of the court, and the situation was very unfavorable for Manchester City.

It is difficult for 10 people to do the work of 11 people, and it is even more difficult to balance defense and offense. In the 59th minute, Nainggolan took advantage of Walker's mistake and passed the ball directly into the penalty area. El Shaarawy fell to the ground and shot to break the deadlock. Roma took the lead at home, 1-0.

When faced with difficulties, the team needs someone to step up.

That person is——

Aguero, the Blue Moon Killer.

In the 70th minute, Roma's massive attack caused a gap in the front and back courts. Lucas intercepted the ball and made a long pass to De Bruyne. There were not enough people in the front court, so De Bruyne decided to lob the ball in front of the penalty area. Batistuta successfully headed the ball, and Aguero shot into the dead corner!
Manchester City scored one goal!
And this was not just a goal to equalize the score, it was also a valuable away goal that greatly reduced the pressure in the second leg.

"Come on! Stand in position! Don't give the opponent any chances!" Guardiola shouted on the sidelines, "Keep steady, don't mess up the formation! Be tense, control it!"

Once you have the first goal, you will want the second one, even if Manchester City only has 10 players. They want to win the championship, how can they lose here?

In the 83rd minute, Manchester City got a corner kick. Batistuta took the kick. He quickly observed the positions of the Roma defenders and Alisson, and intuitively hit a curve ball straight to the back goal.

Oops!

Alisson's view was blocked by his teammates, and when he turned around to block the header at the back post, he found that this goal did not give him any chance to make amends.

"Ding——"

The ball hit the goal post and bounced into the net, 1-2! Manchester City took the lead!

86 minutes! This is a decisive goal!

The winning goal that pulled Manchester City back from the brink!

[Incredible! Incredible! Incredible!] The commentator said it three times in the studio, [Bati's corner kick went straight into the goal, Manchester City has another chance!]

In the last five minutes, Roma became anxious and bombarded Manchester City's goal fiercely.

Guardiola was extremely anxious.

"Go back! Pass it, don't lose the ball!"

2-1 gives them absolute say, but 2-2 isn't so good.

Manchester City's defense was a little panicked, but fortunately they managed to hold on to the goal in the end.

The referee blew the whistle to end the game, and 10-man Manchester City reversed the situation and defeated Roma 2-1.

With two away goals, Manchester City successfully regained the initiative in the second leg!

……

After the game, Batistuta was named the best player of the game with one assist and one goal, but when he returned to the locker room with the trophy, no one congratulated him. Everyone gathered around the TV and looked at the screen in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Batty patted the back of the outer B seat, "What are you looking at?"

"The match next door, between Real Madrid and Liverpool, which was going on at the same time, has also ended," said B Silva.

"Who's winning?"

"Real Madrid." B Silva pushed Stones and Walker in front of him and pushed Batistuta in, then raised his chin to signal him to look. "It's bizarre. It's not that Real Madrid shouldn't win or anything, but the mistake made by the Liverpool goalkeeper was too outrageous. If it was Ederson, I think you might - in your words, 'kill him!'"

I have to say that B Silva has some acting talent. He imitated Batistuta's tone and scolded Liverpool's goalkeeper. Many people were amused, and even Batistuta himself almost couldn't help laughing.

Batistuta coughed twice to stop laughing, then took the remote control and rewound it: "Let me see how outrageous this mistake is. Wait, who is Liverpool's goalkeeper, Mignolet?"

"No, it's the new guy, the German, named Karius." De Bruyne crossed his arms and explained to Batistuta, "When we lost to Liverpool in the league before, he had just become a regular starter."

"Yes, Klopp wanted him and Mignolet to start once a week, but Mignolet refused. Fortunately, he performed well and was promoted to the regular position," Sterling added.

Batistuta nodded and watched the replay of Real Madrid's goal on the screen intently.

He was shocked.

When Karius threw the ball to his teammates, Real Madrid striker Benzema blocked it with his legs, and the ball bounced directly into the goal behind him.

"What?" Batty looked around with eyes wide open. Everyone, including the coaching staff and the team doctor, were looking at him with a smile, as if they knew he would react like this. "Did you see him just now - that ball, how could it, go in?!"

They nodded to him with a heavy and regretful feeling.

"Yeah, it went in." The locker room manager shrugged. "Congratulations to Batistuta. You helped us achieve an interesting achievement, that is, everyone had the same shocked expression after seeing Karius's outrageous mistake. It seems that our documentary will sell well, don't you think?"

The locker room erupted in laughter.

"Only an idiot would make such a low-level mistake, especially in the Champions League semi-final." Batistuta's eyes fell on Ederson, and he bared his sharp canine teeth at his own goalkeeper threateningly. "Bernardo is right. If you make such a mistake, I will make sure you are carried out of the locker room."

Ederson smiled, raised his hand and made a downward gesture to signal Batty to calm down.

"I certainly wouldn't make that kind of stupid mistake," he said, "but dear, keep watching, it's not over yet."

Batty: ?
"Not over yet means—"

Then, he watched on the screen that Real Madrid striker Bale kicked a non-threatening long shot. There was a problem with Karius's hand shape, and the ball touched his glove and crossed the goal line. It looked like a mistake that only an amateur goalkeeper would make.

"What is he doing..." Batistuta was so shocked that he was speechless. Is this still the Liverpool goalkeeper with a good history? "Who cast a spell on him? Why did he make two mistakes in a row?"

Aguero shook his head. "It's a mentality problem." He said, "Before the first mistake, Mane was injured and had to go off the field for treatment. The whole Liverpool team was a little anxious. Karius should have wanted to pass the ball quickly to his teammates, but it led to a tragedy."

Gee tut.

Barty never thought she would see such a mistake at the highest level in her career.

Real Madrid eventually beat Liverpool 3-1 at the Bernabeu.

When leaving, the broadcast camera captured Liverpool coach Klopp's face as black as the bottom of a pot, while Karius, who made a mistake, broke down and cried as he left the stadium.

"Okay, it looks like our opponent will be Real Madrid again." Batistuta stretched, casually stuffed the best player trophy into his backpack, then jumped up and cheered, "Get ready in advance, friends! We're going to get revenge in the final!"

(End of this chapter)