[Football] Bad Boy Batty

It is not new for players to be detained in the Premier League, but it is the first time that everyone has seen someone like Batistuta being detained for "stealing a cat".
In the end, it was the club chairman who came forward to bail him out.

Of course, even if he is not granted bail, De Bruyne does not intend to continue the prosecution. He has already had enough fun, and if he continues, it will become a joke.

But Batty doesn't want to let it go.

Faced with the olive branch thrown by the Belgian midfielder, the King of Manchester City chose to continue fighting to the end with a sour face. Whether it was the ownership of Cat Jam or the cold war between them, it was not over.

"I won't give up!" Batty vowed to everyone on the training ground, "The jam was originally given to him from a neighbor. The little guy likes to stay with me, so I should fulfill my obligation to raise him."

"Raising! Obligation!"
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
"Everyone, listen to this!"

"Is there a problem?" Batty glared at Silva who was laughing the most fiercely.

"Yes." Aguero took over and replied, "You and Kevin fighting over the cat is really reminiscent of some divorced parents fighting over their children!"

"The father was unwilling to let the mother take custody of the child, so he climbed through the window at night and tried to kidnap the child!" Walker completed the story. "Tell me, Batty, is there a more vivid description than this?"

"If we follow the direction of the TV series, the next step will be that each of them will encounter difficulties." Aguero added, "Then they will recall the good things about each other in a very routine way, and then if there is another opportunity, they will reconcile hahaha!"

Batistuta had a long face and clenched his fist as if he was going to hit someone. At this time, De Bruyne returned to the training ground from the head coach's office, with Neymar next to him. Just now, the set-piece coach asked them to discuss tactics. Judging from Manchester United's recent situation, corner kick coordination is the key to their scoring.

"Look!" Seat B waved his hand fearlessly, "The single mother is here!"

De Bruyne:?
Neymar: ?

"What happened?" Neymar looked around and asked, "What single mother?"

"I don't know if there are single mothers." Batty narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. "I only know that Bernardo, your girlfriend is going to be a single parent soon... No, she is going to be a widower soon!"

B Silva screamed, laughed and ran away, Batistuta chased him, and soon, with the help of Ederson, Walker and others, the Portuguese midfielder was pinned to the ground, and Batistuta pounced on him and started a fight.

Bullying Bernardo was almost a daily compulsory course for Manchester City. Gradually, everyone gathered around, just like in WWE. They surrounded Batistuta and B Silva in the middle, and then jumped around and made a noise.

There was joy on the training ground.

However, until the end, De Bruyne and Neymar didn't understand what was going on.

……

Batistuta's cat-stealing behavior made him the laughing stock of his teammates and the public for a week. Then the heat died down and public opinion was occupied by another matter. On December 12, the first round of the Manchester derby of this season kicked off at the Etihad Stadium. The long-awaited match between Mars and the Earth, the new Messi and the new Ronaldo, was finally here.

Currently, Manchester United and Manchester City are ranked 2nd and 3rd in the Premier League respectively, with a difference of 5 points. If Manchester United wins this game, the gap will be widened to 8 points, and if Manchester City wins, the difference will be narrowed back to before they lost to Liverpool.

Manchester City's defense is stretched thin, with almost all of their central defenders injured and Lucas suspended due to accumulated red and yellow cards. Manchester United is not much better, with Pogba injured and not expected to return until February. Midfielders Mata and Pereira, defenders Rojo and Ashley Young are also out due to injuries.

Therefore, judging from the recent status and injury situation of the two teams, the winning rate is half and half.

"I think we have a better chance of winning. Although Lucas can't play, Zinchenko is fine and doesn't take up my space when I push forward. Fernandes can play as a central defender. Otamendi is very stable as long as he has a clear mind. Rodri is also very good and is getting more and more comfortable passing the ball."

In the locker room, Neymar was muttering to Batistuta while changing his jersey.

"But in order to limit Kylian and Saka (Wan-Bissaka), Pep asked me to participate in defense, and Kun was also asked to return to defense more. You have to pay attention when pressing in front." He said, "The opponent's midfield is short of people, but the one facing you is - Batistuta?"

Neymar stopped and noticed that while he was talking, Batistuta had been chatting on his phone. He didn't type much, but he sent a lot of pictures.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked as he sat down next to her.

"No one." Batistuta put away his phone naturally. "The new goalkeeper friend is quite interesting. He also learned a lot of little knowledge about goalkeeper saves."

"Really?" Neymar showed a skeptical expression, "Then show me."

"There's nothing to see." Barty turned down the request lightly. He muted his phone and stuffed it back into his bag. "If you want to watch it, I can give it to you, but the game is about to start. After it's over, you can watch it however you want."

Neymar believed it and did not pursue the matter any further.

"You told me the game was about to start, but you didn't listen to a word I just said."

"I heard it. Theo is my old rival. He has a different style from his brother, but they are both good." Batistuta winked at him. "Why worry? When Kun and I started to switch positions, you were still the prince in Barcelona."

Neymar wanted to say something, but was pushed by Batistuta to the player tunnel.

"Compared to those, you haven't forgotten what I rehearsed with you, right?" Batty asked, leaning over his shoulder.

"No." Neymar winked confidently and smacked his lips. "Just a few moves, simple."

"I believe you." Batty smiled ostentatiously, turned to the entire locker room, raised his hands and clapped, "Hey! Everyone, look here! This is your chance to prove yourself. No matter if the other team has your friends and relatives, as long as there is this door, we are opponents! Either they lose or we win! Do you understand?"

"Understand!"

"Make peace! Now let's go out and show our strength!" Batistuta waved his arms and took the lead, "Show those Manchester United brats some color!"

…With 7 or 8 minutes left before the game started, the players stood on both sides of the tunnel.

Batistuta did not stand at the front of the team as usual, but at the end, as if he was performing some kind of ceremony, which attracted the attention of many Manchester United players.

"Are you ready?"
"All right."

"Then—come!"
"Come!"

The two looked at each other, then raised their hands at the same time in tacit understanding. Witnessed by the entire player tunnel, they performed a strange dance with the same movements. The movements were smooth and natural, and ended with touching ankles and toes of shoes.

After the match, Batistuta walked towards Aguero.
The funny greetings were performed again, but this time they were slightly different. There were no dance moves on the arms, but instead fancy movements between fists and fingers.

After Aguero finished, Batistuta continued forward and gave B Silva a similar greeting.

"What are they doing?" Rashford couldn't help but ask in a low voice.

"Have you seen the greeting gesture in the NBA? Many players there do this." Lingard replied, "There is a joke on the Internet, called 'The reason why I didn't go to the Cavaliers (NBA team) is that they have too many greeting gestures and I can't remember them at all.'"

Rashford nodded.

"But that's the NBA, it's basketball. What does Batty want to do by bringing their stuff here?" he asked again.

"Who knows?" Lingard shrugged. "That's Batistuta."

No one could guess what was going on in Batty's mind.
Sometimes even he can't do it.

A few days ago, he suddenly had the idea to design a unique greeting sign for everyone, except, of course, a cat-snatching bastard from Belgium.

Well, that sounds a bit like a private matter being handled in a public way.

But the special pre-match greeting can bring more motivation to the team, which is a good thing, and the one without exclusive actions——

Batty called it: training his big heart.

It sounds a bit like leading isolation and intra-team bullying.
In fact, this is indeed the case.

But De Bruyne thought it was cute and deliberately pointed out that he still cared, and he needed this to stick his heart together.

Batty passed by him but just gave him a simple hug. He didn't hold any grudge at all. All he could think of was 'Battie changed to a new fragrance today, it smells really good'.

Of course, at this time he knew nothing about the person Batty was chatting with online.
When he finds out, maybe he won’t think so anymore.

Batty: Samba-style bullying.jpg
……

[Good evening, audience friends, welcome to watch the live broadcast of the 2019th round of the 20-16 Premier League. The much-anticipated Manchester Derby is held at the Etihad Stadium, the home of Manchester City. Following the camera, we came to the beautiful Etihad Stadium. We can see that due to the influence of the domestic situation, some fans in the stands have put on masks. Let's take a look at the starting lineups of the two teams——]

【Manchester City lined up a familiar 433 formation. Goalkeeper Ederson was absent today, and Bravo started. On the defensive line, Zinchenko replaced Lucas. Fernandinho played as a central defender, partnering with Otamendi. Kyle Walker was still the right back. De Bruyne's partner in the midfield is currently relatively fixed, with the Portuguese B Silva. Gundogan played as the defensive midfielder today. On the forward line, the NB combination continued to start, with Aguero at the forefront. 】

【Manchester United used Mourinho's most skilled 4231 formation, with De Gea as goalkeeper; the back line from right to left were Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, and Theo Hernandez; the double defensive midfielders were Augustus and McTominay; in the midfield, Sterling was on the left, Mbappe was on the right, and Lin was in the middle; the single striker was Rashford.】

[The battle is about to begin. Will the King of Al-Ittihad be able to defend the team's reputation, or will the challenger conquer new territory (the stadium)? Let's wait and see! ]

Following the referee team, the players came onto the field.
After the handshake comes the choice of sides.

The referee flipped a coin and then held it on the back of his hand. He looked at Batistuta and then at Augustus. "Who's going to guess first?"

"Numbers," Batty said.

"I was just about to say that." Augustus smiled, "What can I do? I'll guess the number too."

"No." Batty refused to give in. "I said that first."

"Okay, then I want the portrait." Augustus shrugged.

The referee opened his hands and his head was facing upwards.

Manchester United got the kick-off right.

"Do you know what this means?" the Frenchman said to Batistuta in his ear during the hug. "This means that what I want (to win) cannot be taken away by anyone. Fate has chosen us."

"Ridiculous." Batty sneered, "It's just a guess. Who will have the last laugh depends on their strength."

After the photo session, the two returned to their respective seats.

Rashford and Lingard stood in the center circle.

[beep——]
Lingard kicks off.
The game officially begins.

(End of this chapter)