[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"Bati, are you sure everything is alright?" In the player tunnel at Anfield, B Silva pulled Batistuta and whispered, "You haven't spoken to Kevin for a long time. Pep must have looked for you. I saw him calling you again yesterday--"

"Don't worry about it. It'll be fine." Batty interrupted B's doubts. "Instead of worrying about us, you might as well think about what you're going to dress up as tonight. Don't forget that today is Halloween."

The Manchester City captain acted as if he didn't care at all and flicked off the dust on the armband very easily. He looked up at De Bruyne who was happily chatting with Salah and Klopp over there, and raised the corners of his mouth in a playful manner, but ultimately said nothing.

In the 12th round of the Premier League, the Blue Moon Army came to Anfield to challenge the Premier League leader Liverpool. If they can get these 3 points, the gap between them and Liverpool will be narrowed to 2 points. In the last round of the Red Derby, Manchester United and Liverpool drew 1-1. If Manchester City beat Liverpool and Manchester United beat Brighton this time, the gap between Manchester United and Liverpool will be narrowed to 1 point.

The top three in the Premier League are very close to each other, which shows how fierce the competition is.

"Don't worry, we will win." Batistuta fist-bumped with everyone (including Kevin, of course), and then led the team into the stadium. He smiled at Ederson behind him, "We will win, and then have a good holiday, and then win the Club World Cup, and put a perfect end to this year, I said."

Ederson expressed his support with practical actions.
He has always believed in Batistuta, before coming to Manchester City, after coming to Manchester City, and in the future as well, he is sure that this will never change.

……

Batistuta had good luck and guessed the Queen's Head image to get the right to kick off. The two sides were old rivals and neither of them had any strange formations, so they tacitly omitted testing each other and started off with a fast pace.

Anfield is the most difficult stadium in the entire Premier League.

All Manchester City players recognize this.

Batistuta glanced irritably at the fans in the stands who were singing songs that denigrated him, and moved his dreadlocks behind his head. These Scouse (a traditional Liverpool dish, a slang term for Liverpool) people were too noisy. What did it matter if they were at the top of the table? There was still more than half of the season left, and they would always get their place back.

But unfortunately, Liverpool took the lead.

In the 6th minute, Henderson intercepted the ball and launched a counterattack. Mane dribbled the ball and tried to shoot at a small angle on the left side of the penalty area while Manchester City's defense was not in place. Gundogan struggled to chase back and barely cleared the ball. There was chaos in Manchester City's penalty area. Stones poked the ball back to the midfield, which happened to be at Fabinho's feet. Fabinho stopped the ball and adjusted, and with no interference from any defensive players, he blasted open Manchester City's goal with a world wave.

Although Liverpool's prince Arnold was suspected of handball foul in the penalty area when Manchester City was defending, no matter how Manchester City players complained, the referee Oliver ignored it and had no intention of watching the VAR replay.

1-0! Liverpool leads at home!

Batty didn't see the whole thing, but he was willing to believe what his teammates said was true.

"Don't be discouraged! Run!" he shouted and raised his hands to fan the atmosphere. "They stole a goal, now we have to take it back!"

In the 13th minute, De Bruyne took a corner kick to the back post, Neymar's header was blocked by Alisson, Batistuta used his body to block Van Dijk to leave enough space for Aguero. The Argentine striker did not waste this opportunity and scored a goal.

1-1! Manchester City equalized the score.

Batistuta's action caused some controversy. Many Liverpool players believed that he was deliberately "screening" and should be counted as a foul. However, the referee still had no reaction. He believed in his own judgment and only verbally educated Batistuta, which was seen as "pardon" by the opponents.

In the following half hour, both sides played very excitingly, but no goal was scored until the 44th minute, near the half-time break. In a quick counterattack, Arnold made a diagonal pass, Robertson passed the ball from the left, Fernandinho failed to intercept in front of the goal, and Salah behind him headed the ball into the net effortlessly, and Ederson was powerless to stop it.

Just 2 minutes before halftime, 2-1, Liverpool took the lead!
Anfield is boiling!
But at this moment they don’t know that today’s happiness is far more than that.

At the end of the first half, the two sides were evenly matched. Liverpool temporarily led 2-1, but they could not relax yet. The opponent was no longer the Manchester City that was powerless against the adverse goals a few seasons ago. With a luxurious frontcourt, plus the Red Army killer Aguero and the little king Batistuta who was keen on the final shot, it was not safe to lead by only 1 goal.

Everything changed in the 55th minute of the second half.

Manchester City's left-back Lucas raised his leg too high and kicked Salah in the jaw when trying to grab the ball. He was shown a direct red card by the referee and sent off. Salah was replaced after a brief treatment, and Manchester City will face the dilemma of playing with one less player.

This is the French defender's first red card since joining Manchester City.

"Porra!" Batty couldn't help but curse out loud.

Lucas was too irrational! He knew how important this game was, but he still rushed so recklessly. It was really hard to understand why he did it at this time? Did Otamendi infect him with the reckless gene?

But it's too late to say anything now.

Facing Liverpool at full firepower, the current defense line is obviously not good enough. In order to prevent the goal from being shot into a sieve, Guardiola can only urgently replace Aguero with Zinchenko and change the formation to a more defensive 442.

The situation was very unfavorable for Manchester City, and their goal was forced to change from winning to drawing.

To make matters worse, in the 71st minute, Stones fell to the ground and was unable to get up after being examined by the team doctor. The head coach had no choice but to replace him with Rodri, who was already bald, and then let Fernandinho retreat to play as a central defender.

The consequences can be imagined.

Liverpool eventually beat Manchester City 4-1 at home.

"I wouldn't say it was a 'complete victory'. If it weren't for Arnold's two handballs and Lucas not being sent off, the situation would definitely not be like this. We are fully capable of competing with Liverpool for these three points, but unfortunately we failed. We can't blame anyone, VAR? The referee? No, forget it, it's meaningless - I'm very sorry for Salah's injury, and I hope he recovers soon."

This is what Batty said in an interview with reporters after the game.

This is the result of him suppressing his anger. If he were to speak freely, I'm afraid tomorrow's headlines would be something like 'Manchester City captain blasts the referee and the FA decides to fine him'.

Of course, Barty's anger isn't just about the game.

His anger was still directed at——

"Bati." De Bruyne stood at the entrance of the player tunnel, apparently waiting for him, "I have something to say to you."

what!
Just in time!

"Go away Kevin." Batty's face turned completely cold. "I don't want to argue with you today."

De Bruyne was stunned.

"Why do you think I'm here to quarrel?" he asked, chasing after her.

No?
Batistuta suddenly stopped and turned around: "Your performance today is hard to satisfy people. I don't understand why you don't want to pass the ball to me, but I'm very tired now. Go and talk to Pep. I think he will talk to you."

So, it’s because of the competition.

De Bruyne frowned, he thought he did nothing wrong in the game. This might not be his best game, but no one could question his passing. As he once said, if he didn't pass the ball to anyone or the opponent didn't receive the ball, it must not be his problem.

"Don't let our affairs affect the team." Batty reached out and poked him in the chest, "Don't be so childish and selfish. Grow up Kevin!"

He said he was selfish.
And childish.

De Bruyne felt sad that he had tried to apologize and coax Batistuta into submission three minutes ago.

"Who are you to say this to me?" His face also turned cold.

Batty's eyes widened again.
He was not at all stage-frightened. He took a step forward, raised his head, and almost touched De Bruyne's nose.

"Your captain's identity," he said.

The Belgian midfielder sneered.

“Fine.”

After saying that, De Bruyne walked back to the locker room first.

There were still many reporters in the player tunnel, all of them watching quietly like pirates who had discovered a treasure map. Batty looked around and waved his hand impatiently: "What are you looking at? Have you ever seen the captain and vice-captain of a team quarrel? Go away, go back and make up stories!"

……

When the players returned to the club, Stones' test results came out. Unfortunately, he had a muscle injury and would need at least 4-5 weeks to recover.

God really loves to play jokes. The England defender's condition had just improved a little, but the sudden injury brought everything back to square one.

Now Manchester City's central defenders are in complete trouble. Laporte and Stones are both lying in hospital beds, and Otamendi is the only genuine central defender left. No matter how strong the firepower in the frontcourt is, it can't save this team. As the saying goes, for every few goals scored by the forwards, the defense will concede one more.

This should have been a good opportunity for them to narrow the gap with the top of the table, but now the gap is getting bigger and bigger. In the 12th round of the league in early December, they will face Manchester United, the current second in the Premier League and also their derby rival.

I can't believe they have to face Mbappe with a defense like this.

Batistuta thought with some sarcasm that the guy would easily get past their defense and then treat the penalty area as his home and come and go as he pleases.

The players sat in the conference room, and no one was in the mood to care about Halloween night.

It's time to sound the alarm.

"If we can't score, we can't lose points, everyone, because football is very complicated. At this stage, we need a full 11 players on the field." Guardiola walked in the middle of the room and gave a speech. "If this is a final, we need to be complete. That's the most important thing-did they play better than us today? No, we had a chance. It's not just the red card, it's not the fault of one person. If everyone executed the tactics, then why did the red card appear?"

After a pause, Guardiola said silently: "Go now, take a rest, forget about this (loss), we still have many games, and in those games, I hope you don't make the same mistake again."

The room was quiet, as it always was after a loss.

According to the usual procedure, it was Batty's turn to say something, but he didn't want to say anything today. He was very tired and just wanted to go home quickly and lie down on the bed, maybe call his godfather to have a chat, and then have a comfortable sleep and forget all these bad things.

So Batty was the first to leave the room.

Maybe someone would talk about him behind his back, but he didn't care. The club was like a company, there were always people who talked behind his back. He——

Suddenly, all the lights in the corridor went out.

At the end, several floating pumpkin lanterns slowly flew towards this side, accompanied by the fake ghost sounds of "chi, chi, chi".

"Trick or treat!" said the ghost.

Come on, the team just lost the game.

Batty rolled his eyes. "Get out of the way. Who has time to celebrate Halloween with you?" He waved his hand to make the guy with the pumpkin lantern disappear from his sight. "Leave it until tomorrow. Maybe I'll cooperate with you then."

In the darkness, complaints from the crowd could be heard from behind.

"What happened?" Neymar asked with interest, and he sounded like he had squeezed to the front.

At this time, the ghost came to Batty.

"Ha, ha, very interesting." Batty said in a fake cooperation, crossing his arms and turning around, "Excuse me, can someone find the lamp on the wall? I really need to go home."

"Found it, the switch is here!" It was Seat B's voice.

light is on.

Batty turned his head back, and then he froze, unable to move.

Because the ghost isn't a ghost, he's a clown.

To be precise, it is a cute type, the most common plastic mask that looks like a fat white man with a red nose, a kind smile, and two rabbit teeth.

He was very close to Batty, almost face to face.

The clown raised his hand and slowly raised the pumpkin basket to Batty's nose.

"Trick or treat!"

……

Neymar was the first to notice something was wrong.

"Bati?" He walked over tentatively, but before his hand touched Batty's shoulder, Batty fell down in front of him, "Damn it, Batty!"

Batty, who used to be irritable, flamboyant, and whose first reaction when frightened was to use his fists to solve the problem, was actually frightened by the most ordinary and least lethal clown?

"Go away! Stay away from me!" Batty shrank against the wall and screamed in tears, "I don't want you, go away, go away!"

"Oh my God—" The Joker obviously didn't expect this. He took off his mask, revealing the face of Alandes behind him, "Hey, hey! Batty, it's me, Alan!"

At this moment, Batti's eyes were blurred.

Vaguely, he seemed to be back in Rio. It was a terrible night, in a shabby room full of bullet holes, with no lights and guns everywhere. He was pressed to his knees on the ground, and something was put into his mouth, cold and disgusting.

Soon the picture disappeared, like oil paint, blurring into a black mass, leaving only a clown mask.

Disgusting.

"What's wrong with him?" Lucas rushed over as fast as he could. He knelt on the ground and forcefully snatched Batistuta from Neymar and held him in his arms. "Bati, are you still awake? Batistuta - what on earth is happening to Alan -"

“A panic attack,” Arandez said. “A stress response.”

Lucas looked at Batty, who was still shrinking back with panic in his eyes, and felt his entire chest dropping. "What triggered his stress response?"

"I think it should be this." Neymar picked up the clown mask thrown on the ground.

What caused it is not important now, what is important is to let him recover.

Alandes reached out and held Batty's head: "Battie, calm down and tell me, where are you?"

"I'm in... I don't know."

"You are at the club, in Manchester, at the Etihad base," Alandes said. "It's safe here, I swear, nothing here can hurt you."

After the science officer's repeated repetition, Batty got better.

Guardiola was watching worriedly from the side. Two minutes ago, he had asked his assistant to go find Loach.
Who could have thought of this? He pinched his brows. Guns and bullets didn't scare Batty, but a clown did.

"Bati!"

Loach arrived quickly and almost slid to his knees in front of Batty.

"Caralho!" he cursed. "I told you not to do that. Why didn't you listen?"

The tall black youth looked nervous, but he was not unfamiliar with this situation.

Neymar: "Do you have a way to calm him down?"

Loach didn't answer.
He grabbed Batty's right hand, then pulled open his collar and pressed his hand to the scar below his collarbone.

"This is the truth," he whispered. "Bati, remember, you got a tattoo after you were shot? That happened a long time ago."

that matter?
Loach's words caught Neymar's attention.

"What was that thing?" Lucas asked before him.

"I don't know." Loach didn't look up and simply answered them, "Battie didn't tell me. He only told me what to do if I encountered this fucked up situation."

Soon, the method worked.

Batty regained consciousness.

"I'm sorry to make you laugh." He gave a pale smile, waved away all the support, stood up, and waved to almost the entire first-line team behind him.

"I should be the one to apologize, I'm sorry Batty." Arandez felt guilty and hid the clown mask behind his back. "I didn't mean to target you. Kevin said you hate clowns. I just wanted to play a prank to make everyone feel better."

Kevin said?

Batistuta turned around and found De Bruyne, who was hiding behind the crowd with obvious worry and remorse on his face. He asked, "Was this your idea?"

De Bruyne lowered his head and chose to accept.

Things weren't supposed to be like this, as he had thought, they would beat Liverpool and then have a little carnival before the party. Batistuta didn't like clowns, and he would definitely go crazy if he saw Alandes like this, but everyone was in high spirits, and maybe Batistuta would complain about him a few words, or at most be a little rude to him, which was more like some special flirtation that belonged to them.

Then he would invite Batty to his house, they would spend a wonderful night together, and everything would be fine after that.

But who would have thought it would turn out like this.

Batistuta slowed down and walked towards De Bruyne step by step, with some difficulty. The crowd parted like Moses parting the sea, revealing the Belgian midfielder at the end. Batistuta grabbed his collar, and De Bruyne could feel his fingers trembling unconsciously.

Go ahead and fight, if it makes you feel better, De Bruyne thought.

In the tense atmosphere, Batistuta did not punch him in the face in the end. He just patted De Bruyne on the cheek, smiled, and then turned and left resolutely.

“We’re done!”

……

Neymar and Lucas chased after him, and soon the South American gang in the team also chose to follow. The rest surrounded De Bruyne, most of them were comforting him, and some also gave him advice on how to win back Batistuta, but he didn't listen to a word they said.

Oh, things are kind of bad.

(End of this chapter)