[Football] Bad Boy Batty

In mid-June, while ensuring epidemic prevention requirements, all Premier League clubs fully resumed offline contact training. At this time, 6 days had passed since the Bundesliga resumed, and no problems had arisen. Therefore, other leagues that were originally on the sidelines have relaxed and are about to resume the schedule.

It is worth mentioning that at the end of May, a major event that attracted worldwide attention occurred.

In the U.S. state of Minnesota, a black man, Floyd died while being detained by the police. This incident acted as a fuse, igniting people's anger over the long-term unfair treatment of black people, triggering large-scale protests and riots in the United States, and quickly spreading to Europe.

Some Premier League players spoke out on social media, and the English Football Association responded quickly, saying that it would discuss ways to support the black movement at the upcoming conference.

"It's really hell. First they banned team celebrations after goals, then they banned swapping jerseys, and now they want to support the Black Lives Matter movement and kneel before the game. I really want to open their heads and see what's inside."

At Manchester City's training ground, Batistuta and Lucas were riding bicycles side by side to warm up, chatting about recent events.

Due to the confusing operations of the British government during the epidemic, Batistuta has no good feelings towards them, while Lucas is a Frenchman. Under the influence of culture and the team, he, like all French people, has no good impression of the British.

"The British are just into formalism. They don't really want to do anything, they just want to look like they're doing something," Lucas said. "All governments do that."

"Exactly!" Batistuta adjusted his wristband. "And I can't understand. They allow 90-minute games and physical contact during the game. If there are players carrying the virus, it would have spread long ago, and all they care about is hugging and changing jerseys."

"And the latest car policy, which only allows players to drive to training alone, is ridiculous."

"Right!" Batty got a little excited when talking about this. He blew his hair in anger. "Not only do they have to keep the car clean and disinfect it regularly, but they also don't allow people to ride in the same car. Last week, I was fined and had points deducted because of this shitty policy!"

His hair has been neglected for almost two months and is almost covering his eyes.

"——I was sitting in the passenger seat when you were handed the ticket." Lucas felt a little hurt. He snorted twice and looked over. "Don't you remember, Barty, that day I came to see you and helped you drink half a cup of Loach's special milkshake. It tasted terrible."

"Oh." Barty blinked, finally remembering what happened that day, but he didn't apologize. "I remember, Luki, I just didn't emphasize it."

Lucas stuck out his tongue.

He didn't believe it.

……

After chatting about gossip and teasing about Neymar's mother's relationship with her boyfriend who is 22 years younger than her, the warm-up time was soon over. Batistuta jumped off the bike and then walked with Lucas to various exercise equipment not far away. They were originally indoors, but due to prevention and control requirements, the staff had to move them outdoors and keep one person's distance between them.

Not only the bicycles and equipment, but even the equipment department was moved outdoors.

Just outside the door, the staff had neatly arranged several rows of chairs for the players to sit down and put on shoes or put on coats and hats, etc. Like the bicycles, there was a lot of space between these chairs.

"Bati, Luki!"

After hearing the greeting, Batistuta looked back and saw it was B Silva, who seemed to have just come in. He was supposed to have arrived at the same time as Batistuta, but because there was a problem with the nucleic acid test results, he had been delayed until now.

"Hey." Batty raised his chin to signal.

"Have you finished warming up?" Sean B asked loudly.

"Just finished," Lucas replied with a wave of his hand, "If you get ready quickly, we'll wait for you to run."

Seat B raised his hand and made an OK gesture.

Lucas was carrying a kettlebell and preparing to do a weighted lunge. Batty walked to the butterfly machine (a kind of equipment). At this time, Sam Eli ran into the training ground. He stopped in front of Batty, pulled his mask and gasped, and then said intermittently: "Training is suspended. You have to follow me."

"Huh?" Batty frowned at him. "What happened again?"

"The English Football Association is holding an emergency meeting and needs you to vote," Sam said. "Inside sources say the game has been confirmed to resume on the 20th, so now we have to go through the formalities."

Damn the FA.

Batty rolled his eyes. "If I had known the captain would have to do this, I wouldn't have agreed to Vini last year," he complained.

Eli shrugged, indicating that there was nothing he could do.

"Oh—" Lucas gave him a pitying look, "Go ahead, Bernardo and I will wait for you to run."

Buddy smacked his lips, cursed a few more times under his breath, and finally resigned himself to following Eli back to the building to attend the online meeting.

I hope this damn epidemic will end soon, he thought.

……

【——After confirming that the league will restart on June 6, the English Football Association has improved various details of the resumption of the game this week. Officials said that the number of substitutions per game will increase from 20 to 3, and the pre-match roster will increase from 5 to 18. All games will be played in empty stadiums, and fans and irrelevant personnel will not be allowed to enter (extra staff, security, and interview reporters). In addition, the English Football Association also requires players to take turns to enter the locker room and shower room in groups of two, and the use time shall not exceed 20 minutes. Whether receiving treatment or arranging tactics, this rule must be followed. 】

Listening to the voice of the Sky Sports anchor on TV, Batistuta walked out of the locker room with an expressionless face. Behind him, his teammates were preparing step by step. They did not have to take turns to use the locker room and the public facilities inside as required by the English Football Association.

It's hard to say they deliberately disobeyed the FA's orders because all teams did that.

Whether it is a home game or an away game, as long as you enter a stadium, the locker room is like the players' base. All their matters need to be resolved there until the game is over and they leave the stadium, so it is not realistic to let them use it in groups.

Do people at the FA know about this?

Batty is inclined to believe that they know that those who make the rules are certainly aware that this is impossible to achieve completely, but in order to show the public their seriousness and responsibility for the game, they are willing to do so.

As Lucas said, they would rather have the public think they are doing something than actually doing it.

"Please come over here." A staff member wearing a mask came to guide Batty, "Follow the white line under your feet, please keep your distance before the game."

Batistuta stood up as required, and the staff left quickly. Not long after, other players also entered the player tunnel one after another. Today is June 6, the second day of the Premier League's resumption after a three-month suspension due to the epidemic. In the 21th round of the league, Manchester City challenged Chelsea away.

Due to the regulations of playing in empty stadiums, there were fewer people in the passage. There were no security guards to maintain order, and no caddies. Apart from the coaches of both teams and some regular staff, there were only two people carrying cameras.

How quiet, Buddy thought.

Before the pandemic, fans from both teams would have been singing a duet before the game, followed by shouting the names of the players in unison. If it was Manchester City's home ground, fans would have shouted Pep Guardiola's name several times.

It was so strange. Without fans in the stadium, the game seemed to have lost its soul.

At this time, the referee passed by with his assistants, and Batistuta could hear clearly what they said, which would have been impossible in the past.

Look, the Stamford Bridge that is always ridiculed has really become a library now, Batistuta sneered and ridiculed it in his heart.

"It feels strange, doesn't it? It's so quiet without fans in the stadium." Neymar came behind Batistuta and stretched out his hand to help him tidy up his hair. "I remember that there were many spectators in the children's league when I was a child. I have never seen empty-seat games like this except for training."

"Yeah, I haven't seen it either. It feels like participating in a team group match." Batistuta grabbed Neymar's hand and turned around and said, "Thanks to the epidemic, I have seen a lot of things that I have never seen before."

"2020 is really magical." Neymar shrugged and pinched Batistuta's fingers with his backhand. "Thank God we didn't get infected with the new coronavirus. I heard from Loach that it felt terrible. How is he today?"

"The guy tested negative but still has no sense of taste and still coughs from time to time. Ney, guess what, I guarantee it's God's punishment for him," said Batty.

"Don't say that, he didn't mean it."

Batistuta was still indignant when it came to this. "No one wants to test positive. He chose to sneak out and date that woman. Don't speak for him. He asked for it." Batistuta said. Before Neymar could continue to defend Loach, he reached out and poked him in the chest. "You are too kind, Ney. This is not okay. Just like the guy who stole your identity to get the subsidy a few days ago, you actually let him go."

"He's just an ordinary person. He may really need the money. Anyway, it has no impact on me. Why should I pursue it?" Neymar said.

"Every poor person trapped needs money. We all have the same difficulties." Batistuta blew Neymar's eyelashes hard. "This is why everyone thinks you are easy to bully, both on and off the court."

He knew very well that Neymar had this kind of personality and he would not change no matter how many times he was told, just like he knew that his friends sometimes stole his things to exchange for money or to show off, but he never cared about it.

"Idiot, idiot." Batty cursed in a low voice.

"Hey!" Neymar looked up at him, "This is a personal attack!"

"I'm telling the truth." Batty raised his chin. "If you're a little more aggressive and fierce with the people around you, I swear no one will think you're easy to bully anymore."

"Are you talking about me? Why do I sound like you're talking about Bernardo?"

"It's you. You're a little better than Bernardo, but only a little. You're better at swearing than him. Other than that, you're almost the same. You can be easily violated and knocked down on the court."

"You are also easy to be fouled. In the first half of this season, you were on the list of the most fouled people in the Premier League."

"I'm different. I'm stronger and more capable of fighting."

"Yeah, that's why you have more red cards in one season than I have in my entire career."

"Hey! That's a personal attack!"

"I'm telling the truth." Neymar successfully regained his dignity. He raised his head with some pride and hit Batistuta on the forehead.

As a result, I wasn't paying attention and my hand was too heavy, and the skin instantly turned red.

Batty was stunned.

"How dare you hit the captain!" He covered his forehead and widened his eyes, "You're finished!" As he said that, he rushed towards Neymar, completely forgetting the rules of the game and the players' passageway regarding standing according to the marked lines.

Before Batistuta could jump on Neymar, the referee stopped him.

"Please be quiet and keep your distance," the referee said. "This is the first reminder. If you violate the requirements again, I will show you a yellow card, gentlemen."

The two ended this somewhat excessive fight, returned to their positions, stood along the white lines, and then gave the referee a friendly smile at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I won't do it next time."

……

This game was really boring. Both Manchester City and Chelsea were in poor form. They returned to the field after 3 months, and the game was played in an empty stadium. Neither side created many opportunities.

The only moment that made the fans' hearts beat faster was when Fernandinho committed a handball foul in the second half, giving Chelsea a penalty kick. But soon after, Giroud inexplicably made a weak shot and unexpectedly missed the penalty kick, and Manchester City escaped.

In the end, the game ended in an awkward 0-0 draw. Sky Sports gave every player low scores equally. Of course, Fernandinho, who received a red card and ordered a set meal, received the lowest score of the game.

At the same time, Manchester United drew 1-1 with Tottenham.

As if the two Manchester giants had agreed on it, neither of them won their first victory after the restart, while Liverpool next door defeated Crystal Palace 4-0. If they can win the next game and both Manchester City and Manchester United fail to win, then Liverpool will win their first Premier League trophy in team history and tie Manchester City's record, winning the championship 6 rounds in advance.

Interestingly, on the way back to the locker room from the interview area, Batistuta returned the headbutt to Neymar, and this scene was also captured by reporters on the sidelines. The evidence was conclusive, and the English FA once again issued a fine of 3 pounds to Batistuta for violating epidemic prevention regulations.

Batty: ...

Highly praised comments on Twitter:
Congratulations to the King of Manchester City, he broke a new world record, God is my witness, this is definitely the most expensive brain collapse in history, no doubt about it (laughing and crying)
(End of this chapter)