[Football] Bad Boy Batty

Batistuta's party did not last long. The next afternoon, under the supervision of Guardiola and club staff, the party scene was cleaned up.

After all, now is a critical period in the fight for the Premier League championship. Liverpool is eyeing them from behind, and Manchester United next door is also chasing closely. These two clubs have not tasted the Premier League trophy for too long. If Manchester City makes a mistake, then who will win the Premier League this season? I'm afraid we will have to wait until the last round to find out.

In the 31st round of the league in the middle of the week, Manchester ushered in the second round of the red and blue battle. Manchester City will rush to Old Trafford to challenge the third-ranked Manchester United away.

The Red Devils' recent form has been a bit up and down, but their results are still relatively stable. They have been unbeaten in 11 consecutive games in all competitions, surpassing Mourinho's record in his first season in office.

Of course, this is inseparable from the extraordinary performance of defensive general Theo Hernandez.

Everyone in Manchester City is highly nervous, even Guardiola has become a lot more neurotic. Although he never says it, many people think that he cares more about the battle with Mourinho than he shows.

In short, if they want to defend their league title, they must overcome the huge obstacle of Manchester United.

"It's just a game against Manchester United, look how nervous you are." Batistuta commented rather contemptuously.

They had just finished outdoor circle training and were now heading back. Today was the day of the Champions League quarter-final draw, and after watching the draw they had a pre-match analysis meeting to hold.

"Manchester United has been playing well recently and recently beat Chelsea by a large margin," said Lucas.

Batistuta raised his eyebrows at him: "We all know what you want to say is that Theo has played well recently, but really, he can't represent Manchester United, we will still win the game."

"Of course, Theo is my brother, but in front of the derby, you are my family." Lucas said with a smile, he raised his elbow and pushed Aguero next to him, "What do you think, Kun?"

"Hmm?" Aguero was a little distracted. "Oh, I was just thinking--"

"He must be thinking about Messi." Batistuta dragged Lucas to the side with disdain, "Who else can he be thinking about? Ignore him."

"Hey! This is prejudice." Aguero cleared his throat. "I was thinking about my hair. Many fans left me messages asking me not to dye my hair back, so that I would be stronger and more handsome."

"You still say you're not thinking about Messi! I heard from Rafinha (the one from Barcelona) that he's planning to dye his hair because of what you've been saying about him recently." Batistuta snapped his fingers and laughed.

Aguero stretched out his clenched fist and pretended to protest to the little bastard, but Batistuta made a face to show his disdain.

"By the way, who still remembers our rainbow head plan at the beginning of the season?" Lucas interrupted, "Why don't we execute the plan after we beat Manchester United this time, what do you think?"

"Ha! That plan was ultimately ruined because someone dyed his hair white."

"Wait - how can you blame me for this? It's someone's fault for not being proactive!"

The three of them made a lot of noise all the way to the screening room. The door of the screening room was not closed and they could hear the voices of their teammates inside. Seat B leaned against the door with his arms folded.

"Why did you come just now? The drawing is already over," he said.

Batty waved his hand, "It doesn't matter who you kick."

"Well - what about Manchester United? What do you think?"

"Ewwww!" Batistuta made a disgusted sound. He pulled Lucas and Aguero to sit in the first row. "Come on, I don't want to be like last season. After playing against Manchester United, it's still Manchester United. I will vomit!"

"It's not Manchester United." Neymar kicked the back of his chair. "But it's also a Premier League team. Guess?"

"What's there to guess? There are a few Premier League teams, Liverpool?"

"No, it's another one."

Batistuta blinked and dug out another team from his memory. "Oh, Tottenham." He said calmly, "Not bad." Looking at the screen in front of him, Batistuta paused and asked again: "What about Manchester United?"

"Porto, Manchester United drew Porto." De Bruyne replied, "Liverpool drew Barcelona, ​​and the dark horse drew Juventus."

"Wow-oh!" Batistuta made a very fake exclamation. "UEFA knows what the fans want to see." He joked, "But seriously, Barcelona and Liverpool are evenly matched. I want to know if the dark horse can go all the way and eliminate Ronaldo's old club first, and then eliminate him himself. If we can meet in the final, oh-"

At this time, Guardiola finished his conversation with the coaching staff and walked to the door to close the door and turn off the lights.

Guardiola: "We'll talk about the Champions League later. Now please focus on Manchester United. This derby is about our position in the standings. None of you want to give up the trophy, right?"

As he said this, he took out a laser pointer and the coaching staff's prediction for Manchester United's starting lineup appeared on the screen.

Guardiola: "Theo deserves our attention. Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham have all lost points from him. Press Batistuta, don't give them any chances, and reduce the number of times you run back, understand."

"clear."

……

On March 3, Manchester City's bus drove into Old Trafford. Manchester United fans on both sides were extremely excited and even set off red fireworks at the Blue Moon's car window. All Manchester police were dispatched to maintain order.

Before the game started, the tension was already evident. In the stands of the stadium, fans from both sides sang "unfriendly" lyrics to each other.

Batistuta changed his jersey and followed Aguero to the player tunnel.

Kompany was included in the starting lineup today, and the captain's armband naturally returned to his arm. Batistuta stood at the end of the team, trying to hear clearly what the fans in the stands outside were singing to irritate him.

"It's been a while, dear."

The voice behind him pulled Batty's thoughts back from the stands. He turned around and put on his standard fake smile: "I would enjoy this time more if you would just shut up, Augustus."

"Oh, it seems that my recent 'invisibility' has worked." The French midfielder's smile widened. He looked at Batistuta as if they were the only two in the entire player tunnel. "I like you calling my name, do it more often."

Batty curled the corners of his mouth downwards and didn't want to pay attention to him.

Augustus looked like he hadn't taken care of his hair in a while. The red color of the new hair mixed with the black at the ends of his hair, diluting his initial pretended elegance and also weakening the intuitive brutality that he had when they first met in the bar.

how to say.

Now he is becoming more and more real, and more and more like an ordinary person you can meet in daily life.

Batty didn't know whether this was good or bad. Based on his understanding of such people, it was difficult for them to change themselves, and everything they did was to achieve the ultimate goal.

What was Augustus' ultimate goal?
Is it still the original...?

"Why are you looking at me like that? Oh I see--"

Augustus opened his arms and hugged Batty. Batty was frightened and jumped up and quickly distanced himself from him.

"Hey! Stay away from me!"

"You were the one staring at me absentmindedly." Augustus said as if he had suffered a great injustice. He pointed at his face, "Your face just now clearly said 'Give me a hug, I really need it'." "Bullshit." Batty rolled his eyes, "Be a normal person, or I will complain to the referee about you."

"Okay, okay." Augustus pulled his hand back, "I'll keep this hug, and when we win, I'll give it back to you."

Won?

Batty laughed viciously.

"Okay." He said, "I'm just afraid you won't have the chance!"

……

【Welcome to watch the live broadcast of the 18st round of the 19-31 English Premier League brought to you by RR Sports. Players from both sides have already stepped onto the field. Now is the critical period of the Premier League's "Top Three Competition". As the most popular derby in the UK, the total value of the two sides is nearly 20 billion pounds. This game is worth staying up late to watch! 】

Accompanied by the commentator's voice, the two sides carried out the final handshake ceremony before the game. When it was Batistuta and Augustus' turn, the camera was very tactful and gave a few seconds of close-up. The two did not disappoint the director's expectations. When their eyes met, it seemed as if sparks were flying in the air.

[The Theatre of Dreams was packed with local Manchester United fans who were looking forward to this match. Sir Alex Ferguson came to the scene. I wonder if Mourinho, who is called his successor, can bring a victory to Manchester United today. Let's take a look at the starting lineup first——]

Neither side fielded any surprising lineups.

【For Manchester City, goalkeeper Ederson and Kompany returned from injury, Laporte missed the game due to injury, Stones was not in good condition and sat on the bench, Lucas was the starting left center back, and young player Zinchenko appeared at the left back position, and Kyle Walker was still on the right; the midfield continued to use the combination of De Bruyne, David Silva, and Fernandinho from last season; the left and right of the forward line were Neymar and Batistuta, who were called the NB combination by fans, and Aguero was the forward.】

【For Manchester United, there are three changes in the players. Theo, Lingard, and Pogba, who were rested on the field, returned to the starting lineup. De Gea is the goalkeeper; from right to left on the back line, there are Ashley Young, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, and Lucas's brother, Theo; in the midfield, Luke Shaw, Pogba, and Augustus, Augustus came to the right position today, it seems that Mourinho still wants to use him to limit Neymar; on the front line, there is Lingard on the left, Sanchez on the right, and Rashford is at the front. 】

With the referee's whistle, the game officially began.

……

There was no hesitation, and both sides started fighting at a very fast speed.

Kompany controlled the ball in the backcourt and intentionally asked his teammates to slow down the pace. De Bruyne came to the right and Walker was also near the center circle. Kompany made a gesture and made a long pass to De Bruyne on the wing.

Theo predicted the route of the ball and called on Luke Shaw to help defend and try to get a throw-in. Although their style of play does not require too much ball possession, it is good for mastering the rhythm, pulling Manchester City's defense, and finding weak points.

Batistuta noticed this, he retreated to help, stretched out his foot and hooked the ball, which hit Luke Shaw's calf and bounced out of bounds. The linesman raised the flag and the ball was still on Manchester City's side.

De Bruyne got the ball and Walker came up.

"Kevin!"

Batistuta signaled to Walker to kick the ball out of bounds. De Bruyne didn't think much and gave the ball to Walker. Walker threw the ball back to Kompany, who quickly made a transfer and attacked to the left.

Unfortunately, due to the interference of Augustus, Neymar failed to stop the ball, and the ball went out of bounds and the ball came to Manchester United.

Come on!

Batty spread his hands in complaint.

It would be better to go this way, at least the ball won’t be lost, he thought.

But it was not a big problem. The game had just started, so it was understandable that the players were a little nervous. There was no need to create a tense atmosphere at this time. Batty bit his lip hard to calm himself down.

In the 13th minute of the first half, Manchester City got a good chance.

Fernandinho successfully intercepted the ball in the backcourt, and while Manchester United's midfield defense was not yet in place, he made a high pass to Batistuta on the right. Batistuta quickly started with the ball and went straight into the penalty area through the inside line.

"Here! Stand there! Block!" De Gea shouted and directed the defense.

Theo sped up and chased back, letting Batistuta pass through the flank was tantamount to giving the point directly to the opponent. He took half a second to look in front of the goal. Maguire and Ashley Young were keeping a close eye on Aguero, Augustus was also closely guarding Neymar at the back post, and Pogba and Lingard were guarding De Bruyne, a possible passing point, in the middle.

So between predicting in advance to disrupt the passing route and committing a tactical foul, Theo chose the latter.

If a tactical foul is clean and not directed at the opponent's body, and occurs shortly after the start of the game, the referee will usually not directly issue a card warning. At most, he will verbally warn the defensive player that the action was too dramatic.

But just then, an accident happened.

Theo wanted to use his physical advantage to knock Batistuta out, but Batistuta predicted his foul, slowed down in the first two seconds, and then braked and changed direction. Theo missed the ball, and instinctively didn't want Batistuta to start accelerating again, so he subconsciously reached out and grabbed Batistuta's jersey when he fell to the ground.

‘Stab it——’

[Wow! Those who stayed up late to watch the game are in for a treat! But Manchester City really needs to improve the quality of their jerseys. Is this the nth time Batistuta has been forced to show his skin on the pitch? ]

Theo fell to the ground, still holding half a piece of blue cloth in his hand.

As for Batistuta, he thought he had gotten rid of Theo and was about to speed up, but he was ambushed. Under the force, he staggered forward and rolled twice before stopping.

"Are you okay Battie?" Aguero asked with concern not far away.

Batistuta moved his shoulders and when he stood up, he felt a chill on his back. At the same time, he heard a lot of whistles and jeers from the direction behind him, which happened to be the Manchester United fan area.

What happened?
He grabbed his collar and looked back, and his originally good jersey had turned into some weird backless dress.

"Oh my God, why does this always happen to you?" De Bruyne tried to use himself to block the camera, but how could there be only one camera in the Premier League? Half a minute after the incident happened, the clear process was shared online by the photographer on the sidelines.

"Stop complaining, hey! He needs a new jersey!" Because it was an accident involving Theo and Batistuta, Lucas ran all the way across the stadium. After pulling his brother up, he glanced at Batistuta's back.

"Oh, damn it!" Lucas cursed inwardly, "Team doctor! Team doctor, come up quickly! He still needs to disinfect!"

Ok?
Batistuta frowned and raised his hand to look back, only to find that not only was his jersey torn, but there were also three clear bloodstains on the area where his back and waist met.

The referee came over, followed by more teammates.

"Referee! Can this be considered intentional injury?"
“It looks painful.”

The noise around him gave Batistuta a headache, and he finally couldn't help but curse out loud in his angry Rio accent.

"Filho da puta! Did you bring a pair of fucking Wolverine claws up here!"

Theo scratched his hair and smiled embarrassedly.

(End of this chapter)