[Football] Bad Boy Batty

De Bruyne's injury did not seem to cause much trouble to Manchester City. In the first round of the League Cup, Guardiola rotated most of the main players and beat the Championship team Oxford United 4-0.

Neymar scored twice with his personal ability, and young player Phil Foden, who got a chance to start, also scored his first goal for Manchester City's first team.

Unfortunately, the player they most wanted to celebrate with did not travel with the team to the game.

Yes, Batistuta was not included in the match roster. On the day of the match, he stayed at the club for targeted additional training, especially in terms of physical fitness.

"——Stop. Very good, Batty, in the same environment and time, with the same exercise intensity, your heart rate is slowly decreasing."

In the hypoxic room, Alandes is taking care of Batistuta's training part-time. This job is not easy. He has to stay with Batistuta in a room with a temperature of 35° and an oxygen content of 15%, which is equivalent to an altitude of 3000 meters, until the end of the training.

Looking at the data on the monitor, he threw a towel over and said, "It's already showing initial results. If you continue like this for another 2-3 weeks according to the plan, your physical fitness will improve by leaps and bounds."

"Don't talk nonsense, Alan." Batty finished his exercise and sat on the bicycle with his head tilted back and panting, wiping his sweat while taking a break. "I know what the plan is. It's getting hotter here when you open your mouth."

The towel was quickly soaked with sweat, and when Batty threw the towel away and jumped out of the car, his hair had exploded into a hedgehog.

"You're just annoying me for nagging you. The heat brought by the human body is almost negligible in this room." Arandez clicked the ballpoint pen twice and teased.

"I know why you don't shut up." Batty rolled his eyes at him.

After taking off the detector tied to his chest and throwing it to the scientific officer, Batty pushed the door open and went out. The cool and dry feeling outside the hypoxic room instantly swept over his body, making him sigh out loud -

"It feels so good to go down the mountain. Thank you for your hard work, my lungs."

"Your hard work will pay off." Alandes followed closely after Batistuta, holding the training suit that Batistuta had taken off. "I promise that if there is an overtime match next time, you can last at least 115 minutes before your lungs start to feel uncomfortable."

That was the main purpose of his training.

Batistuta responded casually, lowered his head and took out his phone from his pocket to check the messages. Apart from some meaningless gossip and news about other teams in the league, the only thing left in the notification bar was a text message from De Bruyne.

The Belgian midfielder is having a relatively smooth time in Barcelona. Given that his ligaments are not completely ruptured, the doctors there are not prepared to perform external surgery on him. From the photos he sent, it can be seen that after fixing his injured leg, he is still able to move independently with the help of two crutches.

"Kevin seems to be recovering well." Alandes came over and glanced at the content on Batistuta's phone. He pinched the back of Batistuta's neck and said, "Don't worry, the team will be fine."

Batty turned around and raised an eyebrow: "How do you know I'm worried?"

"You have 'I'm worried' written all over you, anyone can see it," Alandez said. "And I heard that you scolded Zinchenko until he almost cried in the group training the day before yesterday, and Bernardo was also scolded by you. Mr. Estiart (the first team locker room manager) said you are particularly irritable."

"That's two different things." Batistuta shook his hair and said disdainfully, "Zinchenko used himself as a winger, lost his position seriously, and almost caused me to lose the competition. Bernardo was too sticky to the ball and kept dribbling sideways in front of Luki. Didn't I say that they were waiting for something to happen in the official game and they would lose the game?"

Arlandes hesitated: "I think that should be Pep's job."

"Yes, but this is what I have to do." Batistuta raised his chin and said firmly, "Fernandez has made many passing errors this season. Bernardo can't replace Kevin and take care of both ends at the same time. He must retreat to help. Once he goes back to the midfield and the frontcourt, the forward cannot be far away from the goal. I can help him once or twice, but I can't always clean up his mess."

It turned out to be the case.

Alandes was a little stunned. He thought that Batistuta's temper was just a reflection of his dissatisfaction with being forced to take on more responsibilities due to De Bruyne's absence. He didn't expect that there was a deeper meaning.

"Someone has to take care of the team. Before it was Kompany, then it was Kevin, and now it's my turn." Batistuta smiled and stretched, and said in a nonchalant but matter-of-fact tone: "Who told them to call me the King, right?"

Manchester City's scientific officer felt his heartbeat speeding up uncontrollably.

"Anyway..." Batistuta took out a Bluetooth headset from the box and put it on, then raised his lip towards Alandes: "Manchester City will still be the best team in the world this season, no doubt about it, let's wait and see!"

After saying that, he turned on the music, followed the drum beats, and left the training room with cheerful steps.

It took a long time for Alandos' heart rate to return to normal levels after watching Batistuta's happy departure.

……

At 10:2 on the afternoon of October 18, in the second round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester City traveled to Germany to play against Hoffenheim, the third place in the Bundesliga last season.

This is the first time the two teams have met in European competition.

In the first round of the Champions League group stage, Manchester City beat Lyon 2-0 at home and have won all of their last 10 Champions League games, while Hoffenheim drew with Shakhtar Donetsk. If they can get at least one point from Manchester City in this round, they will be relatively relaxed in the next round and will be able to secure a place in the Europa League while competing for qualification in the Champions League group stage.

In this game, Guardiola still lined up a 433 formation, with Ederson as goalkeeper; Kyle Walker and Lucas played as two full-backs in defense, Stones and Laporte played as central defenders; in the midfield, B Silva replaced De Bruyne's position, and Fernandinho was in the middle; on the front line was the newly formed trident this season, with Neymar on the left, Batistuta on the right, and Aguero at the front.

Although Manchester City and Hoffenheim have never played against each other, Guardiola is no stranger to this German team. When he was the head coach of Bayern, he had played against Hoffenheim 6 times and achieved an unbeaten record of 5 wins and 1 draw.

However, Hoffenheim is no longer the team that Guardiola managed when Bayern was in charge. Since Nagelsmann took over in February 2016, Hoffenheim's performance has improved by leaps and bounds. Last season, they achieved an unprecedented third place in the league and qualified for the Champions League group stage.

"Don't underestimate the opponent." Guardiola said loudly to the players in the locker room before the game, "We are facing a 'Liverpool'-style team. Control the ball at your feet and don't let them counterattack!"

The head coach's concerns were not unfounded. The game had just begun and Hoffenheim gave Manchester City a warning.

In the 45th second of the game, Hoffenheim took advantage of Manchester City's mistake in the backcourt to steal the ball and launched a quick counterattack. Forward Belfodil successfully made an offside and calmly shot into the goal in the face of Ederson. Hoffenheim took the lead 1-0!

[Oh my god! I can't believe it. Manchester City's players seemed to be asleep. Such a low-level mistake simply gave the opponent a goal! ] The commentator exclaimed, [Who could have imagined that the team that was scored against was the Champions League champion last season, and the team that scored the goal even finished last in the Europa League group and was eliminated last season! This is football! You never know what will happen next! ]

The audience was stunned, and so were the players.

God!
How dare they claim to be the champions of last season with such a low-level mistake? What are these guys thinking? If there are no difficulties, they will create difficulties for themselves, right?
"You guys--" Batistuta spread his hands towards the backcourt and was about to complain when he saw Stones stomping on the grass in annoyance amid Hoffenheim's celebration. David Silva waved his hand to try to comfort him.

What would Kompany do if he was on the pitch?
So the complaint went around in his mouth and was swallowed back.

Batty: "Come on, John! That was a stupid mistake, don't dwell on it! Look further ahead, look further ahead! Got it!"

Stones was stunned for half a second, then gave him a thumbs up and attached a smile that was a bit forced but acceptable.

"Come on!" Batistuta clapped his hands and called his teammates back to their positions. "It's just one goal, no big deal. We still have the whole game against them! Come on!"

Aguero and Neymar looked at each other, as they were planning to find him and say something to calm him down.

Not only did Batistuta, this little explosive barrel, not explode, he also encouraged his teammates to look forward. How rare!
In the end, no one got the answer they wanted, so they just shrugged and got back into the game. If they had any questions, they could still ask them after the game.

Guardiola on the sidelines also felt strange. He put down his hands that were folded in front of his chest, touched the stubble on his chin, turned around and sat back in his seat.

The camera was pointed at him. The expression on his face was so obscure that it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.

……

In the 5th minute, David Silva sent a surgical ball from behind, Neymar successfully made an offside, dribbled nimbly to shake off the defense of Hoffenheim's defender and shot directly. The goalkeeper missed the shot, and Aguero made a follow-up shot at the back post!
1-1! Manchester City quickly equalized the score!

【With Neymar joining, Manchester City's forward line has more firepower and they don't have to worry about scoring goals. But now Kompany is not on the field, the defense lacks a stabilizer, and midfielder De Bruyne is also absent due to injury. The connection and defense in the midfield and backcourt still need to be vigilant. In any case, the team cannot lose the ball again. 】

But no matter what, the tense hearts of Manchester City players can finally relax a little.

After scoring the goal, Aguero excitedly ran towards the corner flagpole to celebrate. This was his first goal in the Champions League this season. Batistuta followed closely behind him, but he didn't expect that when he was halfway through his run, Neymar, who had assisted him, grabbed his arm and hugged him to celebrate.

"I originally gave that ball to you," he said in Batistuta's ear.

"What do you mean 'for me'?" Batty asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wanted to pass the ball so that you could shoot from my position at a comfortable angle," Neymar said quickly, "but you were not there, so I had to shoot."

profound--
Just now Fernandinho went to the left and B Silva filled his position. To ensure that no one was left out on the offensive line, Batistuta could only retreat to a possible position for the second penalty kick.

"If you had stepped forward one more time, the goal would have definitely been yours." Neymar squeezed his hand. "How long has it been since we last danced together to celebrate?"

"Who cares? It's still a goal!" Batistuta hooked Neymar's neck and kissed him on the cheek, "Come on! Score a few more goals, and then we can perform the dance we rehearsed!"

……

After equalizing the score, Manchester City's morale boosted, and Hoffenheim was once unable to get past the half court. However, Hoffenheim's dense defense was very effective and they managed to withstand Manchester City's fierce bombardment.

After more than ten minutes of intense competition at the beginning, the situation gradually stabilized.

In the 25th minute, Manchester City counterattacked again. David Silva made another high-quality pass. Neymar shook off the defender and had a one-on-one chance. Unfortunately, he did not grasp the final shooting angle well and the shot was blocked by Hoffenheim goalkeeper Baumann with his foot and went out of the baseline.

Neymar took a corner kick for Manchester City, but perhaps he was a little unlucky, as Batistuta's header in front of the goal was blocked by the goalkeeper.

Three minutes later, Manchester City's midfielder intercepted the ball and launched an attack on the right. Batistuta made a back pass and David Silva got a chance to shoot at the front of the penalty area. Unfortunately, his shot was too straight and lacked power, and was blocked by the defender's legs.

In the 35th minute, Lucas came up to the wing and made a two-on-three combination with Neymar before sending a cross. Aguero shot in the penalty area without stopping, but the goalkeeper flew to save it.

As the first half was coming to an end, Manchester City had a good opportunity to overtake the score.

"Bati!"

Lucas dribbled the ball slowly forward on the left, and after observing the situation on the field, he made a high pass and the ball came to the weak defense side of Hoffenheim. Walker, who came up to the side, helped attract the attention of the wing defense, and Batistuta faced the opponent's midfielder directly.

[Hoffenheim should be careful! Batistuta's dribbling success rate in all Champions League games last season was as high as 82.7%! He won't be able to take advantage in a one-on-one encounter. ]

The Hoffenheim midfielder focused on the possible routes of the opponent in front of him. He would think of his fake action judgment in the training class and his analysis of Batistuta's habits.

right!

He predicted the direction and kicked to intercept.

wrong.

Batistuta curled the corners of his mouth and swung his ankle to flexibly transfer the ball to the other side. The defensive player missed his shot and when he tried to catch up, he was already a body length away.

[It’s over! Batistuta! Into the penalty area! He can still pass——We can shoot now!]

There was chaos in Hoffenheim's penalty area.

"Ding!"

The ball hits the intersection of the goal posts and the gauge.

Unfortunately, B. Silva's position conflicted with Batistuta's running route, slightly blocking his steps, otherwise Batistuta's shot would have been of higher quality.

Oops!
The moment the ball hit the goal frame, B Silva felt dizzy and he didn't even dare to look at Batistuta.

That was a sure goal! And a brilliant sure goal! If he hadn't been blocking it, it would have been the best goal of the second round of the Champions League!

And most importantly, it was a sure goal for the bad-tempered guy in Manchester City.

The Portuguese midfielder could only pray in his heart that the little bastard would be kind enough to scold him less.

[beep——]
The referee blew the whistle and the first half of the game ended.

On the way back to the locker room, B Silva went to find Batistuta: "Sorry, I..."

The expected overwhelming complaints and ridicule did not occur. B Silva looked over in confusion, only to see Barty glaring at him with a sour face, and then hitting him hard on the head as if he were someone who failed to steal the circle.

Just, like this?
"Tsk, you look so sad. I know you were consciously trying to make up for the position." Batty pulled him towards the locker room. "Pay attention in the second half! I told you to remember this during the last training session. Cheer up! You still have to make up for your mistakes!"

Is this still Batty?

B Silva was dragged into the locker room by Batistuta in a daze. The camera followed them all the time, presenting the whole process on TV. De Bruyne, who was recuperating in Barcelona, ​​saw everything.

At the end of the first half, the two teams were tied 1-1.

(End of this chapter)