[Football] Bad Boy Batty

On the last day of January, the Etihad Stadium ushered in the first strong confrontation of the new year. Manchester City, currently ranked first in the Premier League, will face Liverpool, ranked second, with only two points between them.

Liverpool has been in hot form recently, winning nine games in a row, including a 9-5 win over Arsenal. As for Manchester City, although Batistuta was not included in the game roster and Neymar has not fully recovered, the old captain Kompany has returned from injury, and Aguero, known as the Liverpool killer, has also returned to the team in time.

Before the game, Batty came to the player tunnel to cheer up his teammates.

"Good luck in the game!" he said, high-fiving everyone.

"If you are willing to change your colors and jump up and shout 'Come on' when we are in the lead, I think the effect will be better." Lucas said with a smile, and he pulled the person into his arms and gave him a big hug while high-fiving.

Batty came out from under his arm and raised his eyebrows: "I'm at the top. Even if I really jump up, you can't see anything on the court."

"So I asked you to change the color." Lucas pointed at his coat. Batty was wearing a black shiny down jacket today. If he changed it to blue or a more fluorescent color, it would definitely be eye-catching, although not immediately noticeable.

Batistuta rolled his eyes. "Stop talking nonsense. Have you memorized Pep's arrangements? If you make the same mistake as last time, you'll lose the ball."

"Of course, I know when to play." Lucas sounded confident. He crossed his arms and said, "In fact, I felt very good today. Maybe I can even score a goal."

"Ha!" Batistuta laughed without hiding the mockery in his voice, "It was Burton then, but it's Liverpool today. If you can score a goal and we win, I'll print your name on my butt!"

"Really?" Lucas' eyes lit up. "Then it's a deal! If I can score a goal, your pretty little butt will belong to me!"

Batty twitched his eyebrows at him: "It's a deal."

“Ewwww——”

B Silva, who was passing by, cast a look of disdain at them, and at that moment, he exchanged brain waves with John Stones, who was watching the whole game with a twitch of his mouth behind him.

"Too gay."

……

With just a few minutes left before the game started, Batistuta returned to the stands, wearing the scarf given to him by De Bruyne. It was not yet spring and the temperature in Manchester was still in the single digits.

"Why did you take so long? Come in, I've warmed up the blanket." Neymar lifted the wool blanket on his legs and asked Batistuta to sit down. He also came to the scene to watch the game today. "Luckily I wore a hat, this damn weather - where did you get your scarf?"

"Kevin gave it to me." Batty said as he crawled into the wool blanket. It was indeed colder today than he thought. The thick sweatpants were completely unable to block the cold wind. "It's really cold. We should go into the box."

"You were the one who said you wanted to be in the stands."

Yeah, stupid me, Batty thought sarcastically.

The pockets of his down jacket were also cold, so he simply put his hands into the blanket and tucked them between his legs to keep warm. Soon, another warm thing came in, Neymar's hand. He pinched Batistuta's thumb with complaint, obviously very dissatisfied with "Kevin's scarf".

Batty looked over.

'What are you dissatisfied with, after I agreed to sit with you? ' He said with his eyes.

"Don't accuse me, I didn't say anything." Neymar looked away to defend himself, "Give me your hand, so you can warm up faster."

Batty hesitated for a moment and then extended his hand.

After a few minutes of silence.

"Where's Ganso?" Batty asked casually.

"He went back to the game." Neymar held back his smile and tried to make himself look relaxed. "Maybe next time we should play together and call Loach. I promise you will like him."

Batistuta didn't say anything. He stared at the game that was about to begin on the field and answered Neymar with a few unclear interjections.

Neymar also looked at the court quietly. Under the blanket, he pinched Batistuta's fingertips one by one, then separated them and clasped them with his own.

Batty did not resist.

[beep——]
The referee blew the whistle and the game officially began.

……

Both Klopp and Guardiola knew each other very well, so at the beginning the two teams tacitly skipped the step of testing each other and started with a big move.

In the 21st minute of the game, Liverpool took advantage of a not-so-obvious loophole in Manchester City's defense, seized the opportunity, and Salah scored a goal.

At Manchester City's home ground, Liverpool led 1-0.

The camera found Batistuta and Neymar in the stands. They were whispering something with their heads touching. Judging from their expressions, they were just talking about the game on the field.

Just because of this almost fleeting shot, a bad trend started in the forum.

1
[Screenshot - Batty lowers his head and smiles]
The team is behind, how can you laugh?

2
He's not playing on the field, not even on the bench, so what do you want to do? Just look at him with a sad face?

3
BBB was not like this before. Chunchun was led astray. Since Neymar came, they have never stopped fighting. At the beginning of the season, I said that buying Neymar was a mistake.
4
Can Ma be a bad example for Batistuta? Batistuta is more like a bad example for Ma. But among the Brazilian players of your generation, which one can be more self-disciplined than Ma?
5
Save yourself now. Going to bars, playing games, dating girls, taking advertisements and doing marketing every day. Do you call this self-discipline? If this is considered self-discipline, then BBB is a monk.

6
Brazilians love to play, and everyone knows and accepts this. The problem is that I haven't seen Neymar play a game worthy of his price since he was bought. Every time he didn't win, BBB led the team? Now he's injured, and it's only been less than half a season. He's too fragile.

7
It made me laugh. If you don't want your eyes, you can donate them to those in need. BBB is a great player? The fans should be thankful that this kid can control himself and not mess with him. He is a great player. Since Ma came to Manchester City, he has never played badly. Even if he is injured, he is now at the top of the Premier League Golden Boot. If he is rubbish, then others should not play.

8
Don't blame me! Neymar is not good, BBB played so well before he came! If Manchester City doesn't sell him quickly, they will get nothing this season!
9
What's your character? Cross-dressing? Why do I feel like you've criticized Manchester City, Maradona, and BBB?

10
You guys made a fortune buying horses, okay? If it wasn't for him, who would watch Manchester City games? If it wasn't for Batistuta begging him to go, he would be the king in Paris now.

11
Someone is provoking a fight @Admin

Before the administrator stepped in to delete the posts and ban the accounts, fans of Batistuta and Neymar engaged in a fierce war of words. The forum homepage was filled with chaos and those who didn't know would have thought they were enemies.

The online quarrel between two groups of fans has reached a fever pitch, but who are their real opponents in reality?

Oh, they are holding hands under the blanket.

……

[Mahrez made up for the missed penalty, Aguero scored the winning goal in the last seconds, Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool]

After the game, Batistuta posted a message to celebrate the victory and also responded to some recent controversies about him in the comment section, such as the conflict with Neymar.

Bati9: We have no conflicts at all, don't make wild guesses, Manchester City players are very united, and I never let people I hate sit next to me
He also attached a picture, which was a selfie of him and Neymar celebrating the victory in the stands after the game. The entire Manchester City team liked it.

Lucas commented below: (sticking out tongue) (sticking out tongue) Don’t be happy too soon, I will definitely score a goal next time!
Batty replied: It won’t count next time (smirk)

……

Ignoring a few discordant voices, Manchester City has returned to calm both in the forum and in the club. Neymar has returned from injury, and under the gaze of Guardiola, there is peace on the training ground.

In February, just the day before Valentine's Day, Manchester City traveled to the Ruhr area of ​​Germany for the first leg of the Champions League round of 2.

Long before Batistuta won the Ballon d'Or, UEFA announced the results of the Champions League knockout draw. Manchester United drew Paris, Barcelona drew Lyon, Bayern drew Liverpool, and Real Madrid drew the big gift package Ajax.

Manchester City's opponent is the Bundesliga powerhouse Schalke 04. Of course, since they can't draw Real Madrid and Bayern, it doesn't matter who the opponent is to Batistuta.

However, this team, which was also called a big gift package by fans like Ajax, did not make it easy for Manchester City. At the Veltins Arena, the Blue Moon almost overturned.

Because Stones strained his thigh during training, Guardiola used the central defender combination of Otamendi and Laporte in this game. The two full-backs were still Lucas and Walker. The midfield duo of David Silva and De Bruyne were on the left and right respectively, Fernandinho played as the defensive midfielder, Neymar was on the left, Batistuta was on the right, and Aguero was at the front.

This is considered to be Manchester City's most stable lineup this season, but the bad thing is Otamendi.

In the 38th minute of the first half, Manchester City had just taken a 1-0 lead thanks to Batistuta's goal from a small angle. Schalke launched an attack from the backcourt. Otamendi made an improper defense in the penalty area and committed a handball foul. The referee gave him a yellow card + penalty package after listening to the results of VAR.

Schalke striker Bentaleb scored the penalty, 1-1, the mine field equalized the score.

In the 60th minute of the second half, Schalke goalkeeper brilliantly blocked Neymar's shot, then kicked the ball to launch a counterattack. Just after crossing the center line, Otamendi, perhaps with a short circuit in his brain or angered by his opponent's trash talk, actually kicked the ball down Schalke midfielder Bugs.

Just like that, the Argentine defender was sent off after receiving two yellow cards, and Manchester City had to continue fighting with one less player.

"What the hell! What is he doing!" Batistuta couldn't help but wave his hands and complain, "He made a tackle even though he knew he had a yellow card. Did he think our game was too easy and deliberately made it more difficult?"

To be honest, Otamendi's foul was indeed too reckless and he could have easily avoided the second yellow card.

Firstly, the ball was not in the most threatening area, and De Bruyne and Fernandinho in the frontcourt had already started to chase back; secondly, Walker had also stood in the defensive position behind him. Even if the ball was passed, there was no one in Schalke's frontcourt to receive it.

"Too stupid, hopelessly stupid!" Batty continued to complain, "No matter how strong the team is, 10 vs. 11 will be exhausted. Is he crazy?"

Aguero went over and patted him on the back as a consolation: "This is terrible, I know, I'll talk to you about him when we get back."

Batty blew his hair on his forehead, nodded, and continued to concentrate on the game.

In the 70th minute, Manchester City got a good chance. Lucas was brought down after making an assist. The referee gave them a free kick on the edge of the penalty area on the left.

The French defender made a fist gesture to the two people standing on the penalty spot: "I earned it with great difficulty, come on."

Neymar gave him a thumbs up in return.

"Don't worry." Batty also said, "I will make the best use of it."

Lucas stood in front of the goal and Neymar lowered his head to adjust his socks.

"Do you want to come?" he asked, taking the opportunity.

"You come on." Batistuta glanced at Schalke's wall, "I'll stand on the sidelines as a shield, you shoot directly, kick to the left."

"Row."

"The opponents are Germans, remember to hit high."

"it is good."

The referee blew the whistle, Batistuta took two steps back, Neymar took a run-up and shot!
[The ball goes in! Neymar scores a goal from a free kick, and Manchester City, who are playing with 10 men, overtakes the score! There are still 20 minutes left, can they hold on to the score? ]

It turns out they can.

You can always trust Aguero in adversity.

In the 78th minute, Schalke made a mistake in passing the ball back from the backcourt. Batistuta intercepted the ball from the outside and passed it to the penalty area under the double-team of four defensive players. Aguero followed up and shot into the net, 4-3!

At the end of the game, Guardiola replaced Neymar, De Bruyne, and Aguero with Zinchenko, B Silva, and Kompany for safety reasons, leaving only Batistuta to maintain pressure in the frontcourt.

In the final seconds of the game, the young King received a long pass from Ederson in the backcourt and scored a goal with his personal ability by beating the defender. Unfortunately, the linesman raised the flag and the goal was invalid due to offside.

However, for Manchester City, who was one man down, a 3-1 result was already quite good. Returning to the Etihad Stadium for the second leg, the pressure to advance was relatively much smaller.

In an interview after the game, Barty did not restrain himself.

"I don't understand why he (Otamendi) had to get the second yellow card. It was irrational and unwise. We all know how dangerous it is to play with 10 players in a game like the Champions League," he told reporters. "But fortunately, we managed to hold off the opponent's attack and turn the game around. That was due to the players' strong willpower and the spirit of never giving up. This is the most important thing."

Guardiola did not criticize him because at the post-match press conference, he himself publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Otamendi's low-level mistakes.

This led to a somewhat awkward atmosphere on the return flight.

Of course Batty doesn't care about this. In his opinion, if you make a mistake, you have to accept criticism, and everyone is the same.

He had to face another troublesome matter——

The question is who to sit with.

"Come here, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, you have to show some appreciation." Lucas waved two NS game consoles and beckoned Batty to sit next to him, "You promised to play Zelda with me!"

Batty stuffed his backpack into the luggage rack, clapped his hands and raised his eyebrows at him: "Why, you want me to spend Valentine's Day with you?"

"No, Valentine's Day is secondary. What's important is that it's my birthday tomorrow!" Lucas glared and said, "Have you forgotten that my birthday and Valentine's Day are on the same day?"

"I didn't forget." Batty gave him a fake smile. "No, I should say I never remembered. I just found out your birthday is on Valentine's Day 2 seconds ago."

"Ahhh, I'm sad! You bad guy!"

In order to "compensate" for Lucas, whose birthday was coming up soon, Batty finally sat down with him and played "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" all the way despite the resentful looks from different directions behind him.

(End of this chapter)