[Football] Bad Boy Batty

In the 125th minute, Chelsea's substitute goalkeeper, Caballero, also Manchester City's former colleague of Batistuta and others, came to the sidelines waiting for the substitution, but Kepa refused to leave the field.

"I remember he couldn't hold on just now, and now he's - fine again?" Aguero said, scratching his hair.

Not long ago, he went to touch up the color of his hair roots, keeping the overall color milky white, very close to Batistuta's.

Batty also knew nothing about this. He shrugged and said, "I saw him receiving treatment just now. The team doctor didn't react much. It should be just cramps."

"But the substitution sign has been raised, is this okay?" Aguero's surprised expression looked like the little man in the mural.

"You ask me, do I look like I have learned the refereeing rules?" Batty raised his eyebrows and asked.

Aguero raised his hand and patted him on the back of the head: "You're killing the conversation, this is not good."

Batistuta blew his lips and acted as if he didn't care. The Argentine striker didn't say anything else. Batistuta looked at the sidelines. Chelsea's head coach was obviously anxious. He stood next to the fourth official and cursed and waved Kepa to go off. The assistant coach was also there. Looking at his anxious look, they certainly didn't expect this situation to happen.

"Whether it is allowed or not, at least in my career I have never seen anyone disobey the head coach's orders. Even if there are objections to the substitution, that is a problem that should be solved off the court." Seat B next to him suddenly spoke up.

Batty looked over.

"No, there have been (such players)," the Portuguese midfielder added, "but the final outcome is that they are hidden away. No head coach will give such a player a chance."

Yes, whether you have any opinions about the coach's arrangements or anything else, they should be resolved after the game. Refusing to leave the field is really unprofessional.

Generally speaking, a football match is like playing chess, the field is the board, the players are the chess pieces, and the head coach is the chess player.

Of course, sometimes the "chess pieces" can also have choices. After all, football games are more flexible. For example, whether to pass the ball or when to shoot are things that the "chess players" cannot fully control.

How rare.

Batty chuckled softly, crossed his arms and continued to watch the fun.

But thanks to Kepa, he is not nervous at all about the upcoming penalty. He is even looking forward to it, wanting to see how strong this arrogant goalkeeper who refuses to leave the field is.

"Don't look at them, we have to hurry up and determine the order." Arteta ran over, "Who will be first?" he asked.

"Me." Aguero waved his hand.

Arteta glanced at Batistuta casually: "Then the second one——"

"Of course it's me." Batty blew the hair that fell in front of his eyes and said, "No one should compete with me for the second place, Kevin?"

As he said this, he looked at De Bruyne who was walking over.

"Well, I won't compete with you." The Belgian midfielder stretched out his hand to touch Batistuta's hair, but Batistuta turned his head away.

"Stop trying to touch my hair, you're not much older than me," Batty complained.

De Bruyne didn't care and naturally withdrew his hand, "I'll be the third one," he said to Arteta.

"Then I'm the fourth one." Seat B stretched his shoulders. "No problem, come on over. I've been waiting for this day for a long time!"

Arteta nodded: "That's it, Akun first, followed by Batistuta, then Kevin, then Bernardo, and finally Neymar."

Neymar is always willing to come last in a penalty shootout.

But speaking of this.

"Where's Neymar?" Batistuta turned around and looked around. "I haven't seen him since the overtime. Where did he go?"

"His shoelaces are broken," De Bruyne said, pointing in the direction of the bench. "Brian (administrator) is helping, but changing shoelaces is too troublesome, so maybe just change to a new pair of shoes."

hiss--

The shoelaces broke before the penalty shootout?
This is not a good sign.

While the referee and Chelsea were still talking, Batistuta walked towards the bench. Neymar was faster than expected. Before Batistuta was halfway there, he had already changed his shoes and returned to the field.

"I heard your shoelaces broke?"

"Well, it's a small problem, it's solved." Neymar raised his foot to show his new shoes. He glanced at Kepa and obviously knew that the other party did not accept the substitution. "Are we going to face him again later? What does the referee say?"

"It should be him. Caballero has returned to the bench." Batistuta spoke quickly. "You will take the final penalty later. Don't let your shoelaces break your stride. You know what I mean."

"Hey! You're such a jinx!" Neymar looked over disapprovingly. "The game isn't over yet, don't say that!"

Barty shrugged and smiled wickedly to show that he was just saying that.

At this time, the referee blew the whistle and the penalty shootout was about to begin. Neymar and Batistuta joined the team, and everyone put their shoulders together in front of the goal.

De Bruyne and Neymar stood next to each other, and this time neither of them hesitated, and they stood together like good brothers.

Chelsea took the first penalty, Jorginho stepped up to the penalty spot and Ederson made a final deceptive move in front of the goal.

"I'm glad you came out of it, Batistuta," Neymar suddenly said. "It wasn't easy, but you did it."

The little king was stunned for a moment, then gave him an unbelievable look.

"What are you talking about Ney, it was a competition, I walked out that day, faster than you, faster than everyone else."

Neymar grinned and said nothing.

The topic ended and their attention returned to Ederson and Jorginho.

De Bruyne next to them tilted his head slightly to glance at them, then quickly looked away without saying anything.

……

[Run-up! The ball goes in! Aguero shot to the right, he made a low shot, Kepa jumped in the right direction and even jumped on the ball, but still couldn't stop the ball from going into the net! The first round of the Carabao Cup final penalty shootout ended, Jorginho missed the penalty, Manchester City led 1-0. ]

Batistuta looked at the goal and the penalty spot with no expression on his face. Time seemed to flow irregularly, running fast in the second round of the penalty shootout. Chelsea defender Azpilicueta scored a penalty kick, and it was Manchester City's turn.

"come on!"
"Come on! Batty! Show them some color!"
"you can!"

After taking the football from the referee, Batistuta slowly walked to the penalty spot. He looked calm. He wiped the surface with his jersey and then gently kissed the ball.

God help this ball, he thought, what kind of penalty should it be?

Batty's mind was racing.

A classic spoon penalty?
No, if you don't handle it well, it will be too easy to be seen through.

Then - a stronger one?
Forget it, there really isn't any challenge that way.

Or use small steps and pauses to confuse him?
But he had hardly ever practiced that method and didn't like it.

With the final deadline approaching, Batistuta finally made a decision. He planned to take a penalty kick that was not easy to see through, difficult to shoot, and one that he liked very much, the kind with a slight arc that went straight into the blind spot. One centimeter more could ruin the beauty or even make the goal go in.

The referee blows the whistle.

Facing the Chelsea fans who kept booing him, Batistuta curled the corners of his mouth, took two steps back, took a run-up, and shot!
right!

Almost at the same time, Kepa pounced like a cheetah.

wrong!

Even higher!

The goalkeeper's reaction was much faster than that of an ordinary person. When his body was in mid-air, Kepa had already predicted the result. His pupils shrank instantly, and at the moment of falling, he felt the wind blade brought by the football passing over his head.

'Boom! '

Kepa landed and the ball went into the net!

[Oh my god! Batistuta's control of the ball is fucking unbelievable!] The commentator couldn't help but use a curse word. Although he would be fined, he didn't care at all now. [Did you see it, my friends? It went in at a right angle to the goal! I swear if it was one centimeter more, something would have happened!]

At the end of the second round of penalties, Azpilicueta and Batistuta both scored, and Manchester City led 2-1.

Batty calmly returned to the team.

But that's just the appearance.

Deep down, he gave himself a big kiss.

What a beautiful penalty! He thought it would definitely rank among the top 10 in his career!
In the following penalty kicks, no one played a penalty as brilliantly as Batistuta's, but no one missed it either. Soon it was the last round, and Hazard kicked the ball to the middle and used a half-spoon penalty to break through the goal guarded by Ederson.

4-4, now it's Neymar's turn.

If Neymar scores the penalty, the game ends and Manchester City wins the championship; if Neymar misses the penalty, the penalty shootout will continue to the next round.

"Go ahead." Batty pushed him gently before leaving, "Go and bring the trophy to us."

Neymar stepped majestically to the penalty spot.

Batistuta watched the whole process intently, while De Bruyne pinched his shoulder.

"You forgot to breathe," he said jokingly in a calm tone. "Relax, Batty, he's going to make the free throw."

Neymar put the ball in place, waited a few seconds, took a run-up, and shot!

[The ball went in! The game is over! A typical Neymar-style penalty!] The commentator said, [The game is over, Manchester City beat Chelsea 5-4 on penalties, 6-5 on aggregate, a successful revenge, winning the Carabao Cup twice in three years, let us congratulate the Blue Moon Army!]

……

The Chelsea fans' stands were silent, while in the opposite side were the Manchester City fans' stands, where light blue flags were waving wildly. Below were the players celebrating their victory and playing human towers on the sidelines.

Neymar was particularly excited. This was his first championship with Manchester City, and he scored the final penalty kick. Although it was just a cup competition sponsored by the Carabao Group, it meant a lot to him and the team entering the second half of the season!

In comparison, Batistuta's performance was rather mediocre. He was nervous about the penalty shootout, not the final itself. When Neymar scored the final penalty, he was completely relaxed. If De Bruyne hadn't pulled him back, he might have performed a standard "falling to the ground" move before running towards Neymar.

Soon, reporters came in and stopped Neymar, who was very excited.

[Congratulations, this is your first championship since joining Manchester City. How do you feel as the goal scorer? ]

Neymar: "It feels great! England is a completely strange country for me and it took me a lot of courage to come here, but look, I made it through!"
Neymar: "This game was more difficult than we thought. Chelsea played very well and their defense was solid. It was difficult to break through their defense, but we stayed focused and everyone did what they had to do."
Neymar: "Now we have won one championship, all we need to do is continue and win the others!"

As he spoke, he looked around for Batistuta, and before the reporters could ask more questions, the little king came skipping to the interview site wearing two coats.

"It feels good to get the trophy here, right?" Batty tapped his shoulder and handed him his coat.

"Excellent!"

"Look, who dares to say that the Premier League is unfriendly to South American players in the future?" Batistuta showed a happiness far below his actual age. He hooked Neymar's shoulders and winked at the camera. "If you don't mind, excuse me. There is a cup waiting for us to get it!"

……

Led by Kompany, Manchester City players walked through the tunnel and came to the stands to receive the trophy.

"You know, Batistuta, this is the second time we've won the championship together." Neymar leaned over to Batistuta's ear and said, "I have to say, this feels really, really, really good!"

The overhead lights made the trophy shine brightly, but the smile on Batty's face was even brighter than it.

"We're just getting started," he said briskly as he took the trophy from Kompany and gave Neymar a meaningful look. "There are still many more trophies we will win together in the future!"

(End of this chapter)