[Football] Bad Boy Batty

Before the second wave of cold weather arrived, the battle between the two top teams in the Premier League broke out. Manchester welcomed the hottest local show, the 179th derby between Manchester United and Manchester City.

This is the first Manchester derby that can be considered evenly matched since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.

Although Manchester City's form has been up and down this season, the points have dropped compared to last season, and the midfielder has also suffered a recurrence of an old injury, but Neymar's arrival has strengthened the frontcourt attack. So far, after 13 rounds of league matches, Manchester City has scored 39 goals in the league and is still the most powerful team in the Premier League and even in Europe.

A strong offense can indeed cover up many problems, just like Barcelona in the 14-15 season. Despite facing problems such as a weak midfield and an aging defense, the European-leading MSN still brought them the fifth Champions League trophy in team history.

Therefore, even though Manchester City has conceded five goals since the start of the season, a significant decline compared to the same period last season when they conceded no goals, the fans (and even many members of Manchester City's coaching staff) are still very optimistic about the future.

With Augustus' strong support, Manchester United has reached its best state in the past seven years. According to insiders, after the team lost to the relegation team, the locker room was out of control, and the conflict between Mourinho and Pogba intensified to the point where they were almost incompatible. The world champion midfielder was pressed on the bench.

But in mid-October, Augustus had a three-hour conversation with Pogba as the team owner and leader. After that, Pogba apologized to Mourinho in public in the locker room and soon returned to the starting lineup. As a result, Manchester United won all nine games in the league, Champions League, and League Cup.

As of the day before the Manchester derby, Manchester United had scored a total of 28 goals and conceded 10 goals in the league, ranking fourth in the Premier League in terms of goals scored and third in terms of goals conceded.

[We believe in Jose and the Son of God. Together they can lead us back to glory. Manchester United is determined to win this derby. 2-0 or 2-1. Glory to Manchester United!] - from a fanatical Manchester United fan before the game.

Yes, because Augustus' name comes from Octavian, one of the great leaders of the Holy Roman Empire, many Manchester United fans now begin to call him the Son of God and no longer care about the negative news about Augustus during the World Cup.

Some extreme fans even said that it was an honor for Bati to be regarded as an opponent and love object by Augustus. They compared Bati to Antony (Octavian's opponent), saying that although he was stronger, he was destined to lose to the other.

As a result, the previously deserted 'Augustus/Bati' tag on Ao3 became lively, and the number of articles increased from the previous 2 or 3 pages to more than 10 pages now.

Batty did not make any comment on this.

He thought it was boring, and that his relationship with Augustus was even more outrageous than his relationship with Pep, and even after reading the fanfiction that was generally considered the best and least ooc that Jolene threw at him, he still had his opinion.

Batty: I don't make love with crazy people
Batty: It doesn't matter if he fucks me or I fuck him
Batty: I just want to tear his face apart
Qiaolin: Oh——
Qiaolin: Rough sex
Qiaolin: (That look)

Batty: ...
Batty: Some people are so dumbfounded by reading the same fiction

Qiaolin: What about Mbappe?
Qiaolin: I think he is not bad either.
Qiaolin: And the size looks great in the picture
Batty: (sneer)
Batty: Goodbye

Imagining the disgusted expression of Batty across from her with a mouth full of flies, Qiaolin, who loves to stir up trouble, laughed so hard that she rolled over on the bed while holding her phone.

one way or another--

The 179th derby kicked off in such a "joyful" atmosphere.

Ten minutes before the game, in the player tunnel of the Etihad Stadium, Neymar pulled Batistuta aside to chat. He didn't care about Augustus. What he cared about was that Batistuta did not go home all night after the premiere of the Manchester City documentary that day.

"How many times do you want me to tell you that we went to a party afterwards, a private party." Batty pulled up his socks, "Helo answered your video call, I didn't lie to you."

"Then why didn't you answer my call?" Neymar obviously didn't believe it.

"My phone is out of battery," Batty said easily, "and I never answer anyone's phone at a party."

"And Edmundo's?"

"——My godfather never called me while I was dancing." Batty hesitated for half a second, "Why do you keep holding on to this? You saw my condition during training that day. It's impossible that this would happen after making love all night."

Neymar made a few meaningless nasal sounds.

"Yes, but still suspicious," he said.

"Come on." Batistuta rolled his eyes at him and changed the subject very naturally. "Focus on the present, dear. We have less than 5 minutes left before the game. Do you want Pep to scold you?"

"Whose fault is that?" Neymar said.

"You stared at my butt and caused the ball to be intercepted." Batty raised an eyebrow. "Why, is it because my butt is too beautiful?"

"...I would rather you were uglier." Neymar muttered softly.

Batty rolled his eyes again, pinched his nose and shook it left and right: "Anyway, today's game can't afford to make any mistakes. If we win, everything will be fine. Maybe we can take advantage of the celebration party to run out and have some exciting fun, but if we don't win--"

Even if the second half of the sentence was not completed, Neymar was very clear.

They are professional players, and everything else is put aside when it comes to the game.

Referee Atkinson signaled that the time was almost up, and the players from both teams walked onto the field under his leadership. Looking at the light-colored back of the head in front of him, Neymar shrugged his nose.

He had used all those little tricks Batty used before, and he just hoped that the little bastard would remember that the cost of deceiving him was high and the consequences were serious, otherwise this kind of thing would happen again in the future.

As for the game, he will of course do his best to win. This is why he came to Manchester City, more victories, more championships, and more honors.

No one can question his professional integrity.

……

According to the starting lineups announced before the game, neither Manchester City nor Manchester United made major changes.

Guardiola still chose the 433 formation, with Ederson as goalkeeper; Kompany returned for one game but was injured again, and was replaced by Laporte, partnering with Stones, Walker on the right and Lucas on the left; the midfield was supported by David and Bernardo from the Silva family, with Fernandinho as the single defensive midfielder; the frontcourt was still the familiar Aguero, Neymar and Batistuta.

(Some fans called the combination of Neymar, Batistuta, and Aguero NBA, but it was too weird and caused netizens to complain, so the name was not used in the end.)
Mourinho also used a 433 formation, with De Gea as goalkeeper; Smalling and Maguire as central defenders in the back line, Theo Hernandez and Wan-Bissaka on both sides; Augustus and Pogba in the midfield, Fellaini behind; Martial on the left, Lingard on the right, Rashford at the front in the attack line. Last season's new signings Lukaku and Sanchez were temporarily placed on the bench due to poor performance.

However, even though both sides had personnel absences, the combined value of the two teams' players still hit a sky-high 19 billion pounds, making it the most expensive Manchester derby in history.

【——Good evening, audience friends, welcome to watch the live broadcast of the 18th round of the 19-14 Premier League season. In the first round of the Manchester derby this season, Manchester City will host Manchester United at home. The strongest spear meets the strongest shield, the most gorgeous offensive football meets the most stable defensive counterattack. Who will win? Let us wait and see! 】

Manchester City's attack was visibly sharp after the opening. Under Guardiola's coaching, B Silva improved rapidly. Although he was still a little thin, his intercepting and delivering abilities in the midfield made Batistuta go from being unable to stop scolding him to now unable to stop praising him.

In contrast, Manchester United seemed a little out of form. Facing Manchester City's strong bombardment and the crazy cheering of Etihad fans, Manchester United retreated across the board and was almost suffocated. In the first 10 minutes of the game, there were many panics in the penalty area. If it weren't for Maguire and De Gea's rescue, Manchester United's goal would have been breached several times.

A derby should be played like a derby.

In the 19th minute, players from both sides clashed for the first time.

Neymar retreated to the midfield sideline with the ball but was knocked down by Augustus from behind with two consecutive moves, not looking at the ball (the amplitude was not large, but it was still obvious in front of the camera). The nearby players immediately surrounded him.

"Foul! Sir, that's a foul!" Batty quickly went to the referee, "He kicked Neymar on purpose, you should have said something!"

In fact, Augustus was standing up for Lingard this time. Two minutes ago, Manchester United had the ball and Neymar counterattacked with a slightly aggressive move, and he kicked from behind Lingard. Although he didn't hit anyone, Lingard didn't expect to be tripped badly.

But a foul is a foul, who cares which side started it first?
In any case, kicking people is not allowed.

"Calm down, Batistuta." The referee raised his hand to Batistuta, signaling him not to get involved. "Go back to your position. I will make the decision."

As we all know, "The Condemner" Martin Atkinson is the most lenient referee in the Premier League. Batistuta rolled his eyes to the sky, waved his hands and said nothing more.

Just as he turned around and was about to go back, he happened to see from the gap between the players that Neymar stood up with the ball and gave up the confrontation with Augustus.

The Frenchman was aggressive, but Neymar didn't take him seriously. He looked him up and down, laughed a little heartlessly, turned around and pushed his teammates around him to indicate that everything was fine, and then walked into the field.

Oh shit.

Batty felt his heartbeat suddenly speed up at that moment.

Why does he look so good when he smiles?

……

Three minutes later, Neymar avenged himself. Fernandinho sent a through ball, Neymar and David Silva cooperated and dribbled into the penalty area, then he used a move that even the broadcast camera fooled to dribble past Maguire, and volleyed into the far corner while being surrounded.

1-0! Manchester City leads at home!
[The ball went in! The wisest choice Manchester City made this summer was to bring in Neymar. He adapted very well. It was a beautiful fake move. This was a goal that was scored entirely by his personal ability! ]

After scoring the goal, Neymar acted out of character and rejected Batistuta's invitation to dance. Then, in Batistuta's surprised look, he ran to the fan area and made three gestures, namely covering his ears, eyes and mouth, which represent "don't listen, don't look and don't speak".

After completing this puzzling celebration, Neymar hugged Aguero who was closest to him, completely ignoring Batistuta who was waiting next to him.

hiss--

Batty curled the corners of his mouth.

Oh my, are you starting to hold a grudge here too?

……

In the 35th minute, Manchester City extended the score to 2-0. Batistuta made a cross from the bottom line, Aguero scored in front of the goal and steadily broke through De Gea's defense.

Manchester United were really slow to get into the game, and it wasn't until they were two goals behind that they started to launch a decent attack and threaten Manchester City's goal.

Near the end of the first half, in the 44th minute, Manchester United tied the score to 2-1, and the second conflict broke out between the two sides.

The reason was this goal.

Fernandinho was intercepted by Augustus in the midfield, Manchester United launched a counterattack, Pogba passed the ball in the middle, Lingard and Rashford participated in the attack at the same time, and then used a pick-and-roll-like action to block Laporte's defense, and Rashford pushed the ball into the near corner.

"Foul! That's definitely a foul!" Stones complained, "You don't defend like that. Where do you think this is? A basketball court!"

But the linesman did not raise the flag to signal a foul.

"That's not a foul at all. You couldn't defend it yourself, who can you blame?" Pogba retorted, "Keep your eyes open and don't foul easily!"

Batty ran over with a frown on his face.

He wasn't concerned about the pick-and-roll.

In theory, this controversial action can be judged or not. In the 12-13 Champions League semi-final, when Bayern defeated Barcelona 3-0 in the second leg, Thomas Muller used a pick-and-roll to block Alba for Robben, and the referee on duty believed that it was not a foul.

Batty also thought it was okay.

The problem is that during Manchester United's attack, Rashford was obviously offside! At least from his perspective, the guy was almost half a body length offside!

"Sir! You have to enforce the law impartially!" Batty asked the referee, "Go talk to the linesman again, that guy has half his body over the line again! This is Al-Ittihad! You have to be fair!"

Yet Atkinson did not hesitate.

"There's nothing wrong with my decision." He separated the two players who were arguing and made a cross with both hands towards Batistuta. "Go back, or I'll show you a yellow card."

Batty took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and said nothing.

The little king ended the conflict with a sour face and called on his teammates to stop and return to their positions.

The first half is over.

Manchester City temporarily leads 2-1.

(End of this chapter)