[Football] Bad Boy Batty

In the first leg, Guardiola used a "bus" style of play with two defensive midfielders and wingers retreating to achieve a surprising victory. Not only did it prevent the Real Madrid captain from playing in the second leg, it also helped the team gain 3 goals. However, Manchester City's form has been up and down during this period, and without the home advantage of fans cheering, Manchester City cannot be said to have an absolute advantage in qualifying.

Before the game, many people speculated that Guardiola would still focus on stability this time, and lower his posture to put out a pseudo 433 but actually 451 formation to prevent Real Madrid from counterattacking. When the game started, everyone was surprised. No one expected that Guardiola would actually use the most familiar all-attack lineup.

The formation is 433, with Fernandinho playing as a central defender and partnering with Laporte who has returned from injury, Lucas on the left, Cancelo on the right, Rodri as the defensive midfielder, and in front of him Gundogan and De Bruyne carrying the midfield banner. In the frontcourt, there is a Brazilian set, with Neymar on the left and Batistuta on the right, and Jesus at the front.

[It seems that Guardiola is very confident in his team and his leading advantage. Friends who have watched Real Madrid's games should know that since the La Liga restart, Real Madrid has been in very good shape. They just won the La Liga championship last week and their morale is high. If Manchester City wants to play against Real Madrid, the scene will definitely be very exciting. ]

In the 6th minute of the game, Manchester City seized a coordination error of Real Madrid in the counterattack, Rodri intercepted the ball to launch the attack, De Bruyne quickly advanced in the midfield, and with Neymar and Batistuta in place, he chose to take a long shot himself, but unfortunately it hit Real Madrid center back Militao and bounced out of the baseline.

If Militao had not been in that position, De Bruyne's long shot would definitely have been within the goal, but Courtois would have no visual interference, and the threat to him would not have been great if the ball was not moving very fast.

But overall, it was a good try.

Not only did it improve De Bruyne's offensive statistics, it also demonstrated the Blue Moon Army's desire to attack, telling everyone with practical actions that Manchester City came here with the purpose of winning today.

Guardiola stood on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, observing the situation on the field with a serious face. For him, the result of today's game was not the point. The point was that he had to revitalize the team.

Since the resumption of various competitions, Manchester City's form has never returned to its previous state. The defense is weak and the offense is disorganized. After three consecutive losses, morale has fallen to an unprecedented level.

Fortunately, there were no problems in the locker room.

This is also thanks to his current captain. Guardiola thought that Batistuta was a good kid. Although he sometimes didn't know what to do, he was still trying to fulfill Kompany's expectations of him, maintaining peace in the locker room, trying not to quarrel, and solving problems privately.

Now that the locker room is stable, changes must be made on the field.

Manchester City needs a victory, a victory against a strong opponent, and it would be best if it was a hard-fought victory, with everyone playing at their best and relying on cooperation to finally win the game.

Of course, this is too demanding. It is not something that can be done by just thinking about keeping all the players on the field in the best condition, not to mention the final reversal. The situation on the field is ever-changing. Even the godfather of football, Cruyff, cannot accurately predict all possible situations.

In comparison, it is much easier to inspire players' competitiveness and fighting spirit.

This is also the main purpose of Guardiola's offensive lineup.

……

Just as people expected before the game, the game was very exciting, with both sides switching between offense and defense very quickly. Real Madrid added people in the midfield to limit Manchester City's ground attack, and Manchester City also actively fought on the wing, using offense instead of defense to limit Real Madrid's speed.

Soon, the score on the field changed.

But this change was something no one expected.

In the 11th minute, Manchester City's midfielder intercepted the ball, Gundogan dribbled the ball on the left, Kroos and Modric came forward to block him. His position was not good, so he turned back to Lucas. Benzema pressed in the frontcourt. At this time, Manchester City's defense line was very forward, and if he succeeded, there would be a large open space in front of him.

At the critical moment, Ederson rushed out of the penalty area and acted as a backcourt support point. He and Lucas passed the ball several times and pulled the Real Madrid formation little by little. Hazard and Rodrigo in the frontcourt crossed the center line, and Carvajal also followed forward. Seeing that it was almost time, Fernandinho made a long pass to find Batistuta who was in the open space on the right side of the frontcourt.

The moment he kicked the ball, De Bruyne judged the landing point in advance.

"Bati!"

He gestured to Batistuta to move forward to receive the ball, and Batistuta quickly understood it. He blocked his position and raised his foot to stop the ball steadily before Casemiro came over. At this time, Casemiro came over to defend, preventing Batistuta from turning around easily and entering the penalty area from the flank, and signaled Varane to go to the outside to assist.

Casemiro is experienced and knows him well. Batistuta does not want to give up the ball easily. After quickly observing his surroundings, he decided to look for a scoring point from Varane. Whether it is a cross from the bottom or a corner kick, these are possible ways for Manchester City to score.

"Here, Gabi!" He called Jesus to the outside to cooperate.

Batistuta dribbled the ball away from Casemiro and went to the wing, Varane followed, De Bruyne pressed forward in the middle, Casemiro and Militao did not dare to attack rashly, Modric retreated to help, and the two sides started a small-scale fight near the left sideline of Real Madrid's backcourt.

Batistuta and Jesus tried to send the ball into the penalty area with a series of wall passes, but were spotted by Modric, who signaled Varane to stretch his foot to intercept the ball and seize possession of the ball.

Real Madrid's No. 10 deserves the title of midfield master.

And although he looks thin and easy to bully, he is not afraid of physical confrontation during the fight, and he even makes some small movements with his hands to help him steal the ball.

Real Madrid seized the ball.

Manchester City's attack failed, but Batistuta was not too depressed. He glanced at Modric, and combined with the Real Madrid attack clips shown to them by the coach before the game, he quickly thought of ways to bypass him and score.

And at this moment——

"Bati! Go up!"

De Bruyne's voice suddenly exploded in his ears. Because there were no spectators, the shout was clearer. Batistuta had already turned around and ran back to prepare for Real Madrid's quick counterattack, but when he heard this, he subconsciously turned his head to look.

On the way to look at De Bruyne, Batistuta saw Varane still dribbling the ball on the wing, and Jesus was relentless and was rushing towards him. At that moment, Batistuta understood what De Bruyne meant by calling him.

Being too sticky with the ball is a problem. Sure enough, De Bruyne's judgment was very accurate. Just as Batistuta filled in Jesus' vacancy in the middle and got into position in front of the goal, Varane made a mistake in dribbling the ball and was intercepted. Jesus did not delay at all and turned around and passed the ball to the front of the goal without thinking.

Batty shot directly without stopping the ball.

To be honest, the position was so good that it didn't require any skills at all. He just acted as a shooting point in front of the goal and gently lifted his foot to send the ball into the net. Courtois didn't even have time to fall to the ground to save the shot.
.

There was really no technical content in this goal, so much so that after seeing the ball enter the net, Batistuta did not have the adrenaline rush and the desire to celebrate passionately.

But it's a goal after all, and I'm definitely excited.

"Good job Kevin, your prediction was quite accurate!" Batty did not run to the sidelines. He was at the position where he scored the goal, turned around and gave De Bruyne a hug, "Come on! Keep going! I believe we have accumulated a lot of goals these days!"

De Bruyne accepted Batistuta's hug, and soon other teammates came to celebrate. In the gap between the crowd, he saw the Real Madrid goalkeeper angrily fishing the ball out of the goal, while shouting to arrange the positions of the defenders. For a moment, De Bruyne felt that he seemed to meet Courtois' eyes.

It’s hard to say what kind of mood this is.

"You're right, we haven't scored too many goals." De Bruyne fended off Neymar's arms and hugged Batistuta again, then held him up for a few seconds.

In the puzzled eyes of the crowd, the Belgian midfielder smiled and said, "Tradition." He said, "If we don't pick up Batistuta, the goddess of luck will not bless us in the next game."

"Haha! It's rare that you say that, Kevin!" Jesus agreed very much. Taking advantage of the crowd, he stepped forward and rubbed Batistuta's hair. "I'll do it too. Bless me to continue to have good luck!" He just got an assist. No, more than half of the credit for that goal should be attributed to him. His emotions were high at the moment.

With Jesus' demonstration, others also tried to receive good luck from Batistuta. Due to the limited celebration time and the large number of people, Batistuta was pinched and touched by several pairs of hands almost at the same time.

"That's too much!" Batty complained, "I'm your captain, show some respect!"

Then--
When he couldn't see, someone pinched his butt.

"Hey!"

Soon the crowd dispersed, and Batty looked around but couldn't determine who did it. In the end, he had to roll his eyes at all his teammates who saw him laughing.

"I swear! When I get back I'll watch the replay right away. If I find out who did it, he'll be dead!"

Just 12 minutes into the first half, Manchester City led 1-0 at home.

The total score came to 5-1.

Manchester City has one foot in the quarter-finals.

……

Trailing by 4 goals in the aggregate score, Real Madrid was pushed to the edge of the cliff, but they did not give up. The whole team showed great tenacity and spirit and fought actively. At the end of the first half, Rodrigo had a flash of inspiration and used his personal ability to shake off Lucas' defense and send a cross. Benzema had been lying in ambush in the middle, Hazard and Modric diverted Fernandinho's attention, Laporte misjudged the landing point and failed to stop Benzema. The French center jumped near the penalty spot and used a standard header to equalize the score for Real Madrid.

Ederson was unable to save the ball and could only watch the ball go into the net.

1-1! The total score is 5-2.
If Real Madrid can score three more goals and prevent Manchester City from scoring more goals, tying the aggregate score to 3-5, then even according to the away goals rule they will still have to go into overtime or even a penalty shootout.

[Real Madrid's attack should not be underestimated, Manchester City still needs to pay more attention.] The commentator said pertinently, [Based on the current situation, it is not impossible for Real Madrid to score again. Manchester City needs to score at least one more goal in the second half to secure their place in the quarterfinals.]

The first half is over.

The two sides are temporarily tied 1-1, with Manchester City leading 5-2 on aggregate.

……

Guardiola was very satisfied with the team's performance in the first half. He did not make too many adjustments during the halftime break. He just used the tactical board to explain to several players in more detail the positioning requirements when switching from defense to offense.

Soon the second half begins.

After the change of sides, Zidane replaced Hazard with Asensio to strengthen the attack on the flanks. The goal in the first half gave him hope. If there were more players like this who could engage Manchester City's defense, scoring a goal was only a matter of time.

But it's a pity.

Zidane never expected that Courtois would make a mistake in throwing the ball. Just five minutes into the second half, the Real Madrid goalkeeper made a mistake in the kick-off and was decisively intercepted by De Bruyne for a counterattack. On the right, Batistuta was guarded by Mendy and Jesus was not in a good position either. De Bruyne passed the ball to Neymar on the left.

It was too late for Carvajal to retreat. Neymar, who was unmarked, volleyed the ball from outside the penalty area. The ball drew an arc, hit the post and went into the net.

Courtois flew to save the ball in a panic, but Neymar's ball was at a tricky angle, and even though he used all his strength, he only touched the ball with his fingertips.

In the 51st minute of the second half, Manchester City took the lead.

(End of this chapter)