[Football] Bad Boy Batty

The next afternoon, Manchester City players rushed to the Etihad training base to participate in the game review. Because it was Valentine's Day, Guardiola generously allowed his players to end the training an hour early.

"What can you do in an hour?" someone expressed his dissatisfaction, "That's too little, Pep, too little!"

Guardiola stood in the middle of the hall with his arms folded: "Do you think we are at the end of the season at a leisurely pace? No, one hour is long enough for you to do a lot of things. Take your wife out shopping, have a romantic candlelight dinner, or even - oh, if you are the type of person who needs 40 minutes of foreplay, one hour is really not enough."

The coach's driving behavior caused a burst of laughter from the players. The guy who had just spoken was overwhelmed by the teasing eyes. He scratched his hair a little embarrassedly and looked away. He no longer had any opinion on Guardiola's idea.

"Okay, gentlemen, it's getting late. Those who need to go for physical therapy should go for physical therapy, those who need to go for checkups should go for checkups, and gather in the screening room at 3:30. We will explain a few details about yesterday's game." Guardiola tapped the dial on his wrist and said, "Don't be late. At 3:30, those who are late will buy everyone coffee!"

"Remember, 3:30, especially some people—" The head coach looked at the players, "The one who yawned, did he stay up late playing games again yesterday?"

Batistuta paused in his yawning. "It's a physiological behavior. I can't control it, but it doesn't mean I'm sleepy." He raised his lips and said, "You know me, Pep. I'm always on time and never late."

"Then let's see who will buy everyone coffee today." Guardiola clapped his hands. "Okay, that's it, disband."

……

Neymar and De Bruyne were called away by the corner coach. Batistuta and Alandes made an appointment to do physiotherapy. Aguero, Walker and Lucas had the same destination as him, and they all went to the physiotherapy room together.

"Seriously, Luki, isn't it convenient that your birthday is on Valentine's Day?" Walker teased. "Tell us how many girls have you tricked into celebrating the holiday with you over the years by using your birthday as an excuse?"

"Not many, not many, only about 3 or 500--" Lucas joked along with Walker. After everyone laughed, he returned to his seriousness: "Okay, I'll be honest, it's tragic to have a birthday on the same day as Valentine's Day."

"how come?"

"Whenever I invite people to my birthday party, they always think I'm using my birthday as an excuse to do something intimate," Lucas shrugged. "But usually, I just want to celebrate my birthday."

Barty scoffed loudly.

"It was a complete waste of opportunity," he said.

Aguero looked over and said: "If it were you, Batistuta, how would you arrange it?"

"I would split them into two or three holidays," Barty said. "Invite the other person to celebrate Valentine's Day, and make another appointment on the second day for the birthday. If things go well or you like the other person very much, on the third day you can say: I'm sorry, I really want to spend this important day with you, but I'm inexperienced and messed up. I don't know if you are willing to give me another chance... Believe me, most people will agree."

"profound--"

The three of them simultaneously made mocking noises of sudden enlightenment.

Barty rolled his eyes.

"Hahahaha! As expected of you, Batistuta." Aguero gave a thumbs up and joked, "Thank you, I learned something."

"I think this method can only work because of him." Walker put his arm around Lucas' shoulders and said with a hint of disdain, "With a face like that, even if you make up a random excuse, it will work. If it were someone else, they would probably chase him out with a broom!"

"Tsk, don't bring them, you'll be the only one who'll be kicked out," Batty said sneerly. But Walker was a little right, he did succeed with a made-up excuse.

Several people laughed together, and the journey that originally took several minutes was stretched to twice as long.

When they pushed open the door of the therapy room, a long voice came from inside -

【Goooooooooal! The ball goes in! Mbappe! He speeds past Theo and Maguire who is replaying the ball, and easily sends the ball into the opponent's goal, 2-0! De Gea can only sigh and watch the ball go in! 】

Are you watching a game?

Batistuta looked towards the source of the sound. The wall-mounted TV in the physiotherapy room was playing a live Champions League match, with Manchester United challenging Paris away.

Loach was also there, holding a small notebook and seemingly recording something. When he saw Batty and the others come in, the dark-skinned boy waved excitedly.

"Here! Come on, Batty, I've got a good spot for you!"

Batistuta went over and sat on the therapy bed. "What's going on now? Is Manchester United going to lose?" he asked.

"Almost." Loach put the equipment in order and called Alandes over. "Manchester United has no chance now that we are 0-2 behind."

"As long as the referee doesn't blow the whistle, no one can be sure of the result." Walker suddenly interrupted, "Maybe we can get one back. Away goals are very important in the Champions League."

"I don't think it's going to happen." Niu Qiu shook his head. "Manchester United were in a very bad state today. They made a lot of mistakes and there was a serious disconnect between the midfield and backcourt."

"Even if we lose, there is still the second round." Aguero also said, "The fans are looking forward to us meeting Manchester United in the Champions League. To be honest, I am looking forward to it too."

Batty did not join the discussion, he watched the game quietly.

Arandez placed the square patches on his legs and turned on the machine, which allows leg muscles to quickly recover after fatigue.

[In the 85th minute of the game, Paris led 2-0. Manchester United players were a little anxious and tried to shoot from the midfield several times. Unfortunately, the goalkeeper on the opposite side was Buffon instead of Joe Hart.]

Due to Pogba's injury, Mourinho arranged Augustus to partner with Fellaini as a double defensive midfielder today. Judging from the situation on the field, Augustus' main task is to limit Verratti.

It turned out that Mourinho's tactics worked. Verratti was indeed well restricted, but Manchester United's offensive rhythm was also slowed down. In addition, they were indeed a little out of form, so the score of 0-2 was reasonable.

The camera turned to Manchester United's midfield, and Augustus looked serious.

Barty smacked his lips.

It's hard to believe that this guy really loves the sport of football, but he hasn't sent him any harassing messages since the last derby, and his performance has become more and more like that of a normal player.

Even if those were all illusions created by Augustus, Manchester United's results are indeed much better than last season. This is real and cannot be faked.

[beep——]
Just as I was thinking about it, Augustus on the screen was shown a yellow card for tackling Cavani late on. That was crucial. If he hadn't committed a tactical foul, Cavani would have been a huge threat whether passing or shooting.

"Ha! Good one!" Loach almost jumped up and applauded, because Batty, he particularly hated Augustus, "Give me another one, it would be best if he couldn't get on the court!"

Batty smoothed his hair and put all the nonsense in his mind aside.

It doesn't matter. It has no effect on him anyway.

……

On the other side, Guardiola was talking with his assistant Arteta, his good friend Lorenzo, and the team chairman Mubarak. The second half of this season will be more challenging for them.

"We should have been more determined to buy a defender during the winter transfer window, so that we wouldn't be as passive as we are now," Lorenzo said. "I talked to Aymeric (Laporte), he was a little frustrated about his injury, but John (Stones) was very optimistic." "I remember Vincent (Kompany) can come back," said the chairman.

"Yes, but we all know his physical condition, which is not safe." Lorenzo replied, "Lucas can play as a central defender, with Delph and Zinchenko on the left, but we will face four fronts next, so-"

"Very tight," Guardiola summed up.

"Okay, I'll go talk about strengthening the defense in the summer window." The chairman thought for a while and said, "There's one more thing. Vincent is leaving this summer. What about the captaincy? Should we really give it to Batistuta?"

Lorenzo shrugged. "I think so," he said. "No matter how he does, the people want the little king to be on the throne."

"Speaking of Batistuta..." Arteta, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up. He looked at Guardiola, "Pep, you have to give up the idea of ​​letting him move closer to the midfield."

"You mean number 10?"

"Correct."

“He learns quickly and does well.”

"But he is a winger, you can't always keep him away from the goal." Arteta showed the data, "At this time last season he had 22 goals, now he only has 16. Neymar's joining is partly due to this, but more importantly, you let him move closer to the midfield."

Guardiola was silent. Lorenzo looked at Arteta, then at his friend, and shrugged his shoulders in agreement: "Bati will be 20 years old in another month. It is still a long time before he can make the transition. Let him score more goals while he can still sprint on the wing. This is what everyone expects."

Guardiola scratched his bald head, looking a little agitated. "This kid is very special," he said. "I don't know how to put it, but it's just - very special. I hope he's well, really hope so."

"I know," Arteta said.

"I know that too," the chairman followed.

"Yes, yes, we all know that the kid is special and we all know that you love him." Lorenzo patted Guardiola on the shoulder, "but the question is how much personal factor is involved in the decisions you make for him."

Guardiola swore.

"I understand. I will adjust myself and then have a good talk with Batty."

……

Around 3:30, Batistuta finished his physical therapy and came to the screening room with his teammates. Unlike usual, he chose a seat in the third row today, with Lucas sitting next to him on the right.

The last to come in were Neymar and De Bruyne, but they were 2 minutes early, so in the end no one was late.

"Here, I've asked a nutritionist and it's okay to eat." De Bruyne threw a bag of M&M beans to Batistuta and sat on his left.

Neymar failed to get a seat, hesitated for a few seconds, and then sat at the back.

"Oh, that's so sweet." Batty blew a kiss to De Bruyne exaggeratedly, and then deliberately teased him, "You are so nice to me, your date tonight won't be unhappy."

De Bruyne flicked him on the head and laughter broke out in the cinema.

"By the way, Batty." Seat B called him over there, "What are your plans tonight?"

Batty raised his eyebrows and looked over: "Why, you want to date me?"

The laughter grew louder.

"Go, go!" Seat B blushed a little, and waved away everyone's teasing hands, "I just asked, if you don't want to say it, forget it."

"It doesn't matter." Barty winked and replied sweetly, "I don't make any special arrangements, dear. As long as we are together, every day can be Valentine's Day."

"Ohhhhhh!"

The atmosphere in the screening room reached its peak.

"My God! I've never heard anything funnier than that!"
"Oh men, I have to write this down and tell my girlfriend about it. She's going to love me!"
"That's so Batty, that's so Batty!"

At this time, Batistuta's mobile phone rang with a notification sound, and someone @ed him on Twitter.

He opened it and looked.

It was Augustus, the guy who retweeted the video of himself being interviewed by the media after the game and @Bati at the end.

"This is not the best Manchester United, we didn't play to our full level." The French midfielder said in the video, "The second leg will be held at Old Trafford, we will win the game and qualify. There is no doubt that Manchester City is still the biggest favorite to win the championship this year, and their opponent will be Manchester United."

What an inexplicable confidence.

Batty watched the video with 12 points of sarcasm.

He then clicked on the comment section, and as expected, it was flooded with Manchester City fans and Paris fans, with the screen full of all kinds of taunts.

Paris fans said: You still want Mbappe for this?
Augustus did not respond to such remarks. Instead, he replied to a netizen with the ID Fovever KingBati, who commented to him: Stay away from our king, you pervert!
"Thanks for the compliment, and no, Barty's opponent can only be me," he wrote.

Batty: ...

Go to sleep, there is everything in your dreams.

"Everyone is here, right? Let's start now - there are a few points that require your special attention." Guardiola turned off the lights and walked in.

Batty turned off his phone and turned on the mute button.

The Catalan pointed to the screenshot of the game on the big screen: "The League Cup final will be held at the end of February. We lost to Chelsea last time, so we can't afford to lose this revenge battle!"

(End of this chapter)