[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"So beautiful Ney, I couldn't get in even a centimeter!"

After scoring the goal, Neymar ran to the sidelines, raised his hands and made a heart shape to the camera to thank the fans who have supported him over the years. Then he turned around and caught the flying Batistuta.

"Do you like it? I'll teach you later." He said proudly.

Of course he knew that the goal was beautiful and not accidental. Through years of experience and training, Neymar can guarantee a hit rate of over 65% when taking free kicks in this position or receiving the ball without much interference like today.

"Come on, you always say that, but in the end you never really taught me any tricks." Batty gently pulled his hair, "Wait, I can do it too, just this game, I'll score a goal later and show you!"

"Oh, Batistuta, I heard someone bragging, did you hear that?" Neymar said this deliberately to tease him, and pretended to look around.

Batty gave him a pair of eyes that were unable to hide his joy.

"Just wait and see!" He looked up and said, "I'll show you what talent is in a moment!"

Teammates gathered around to celebrate, and before returning to their positions, Neymar reached out and slapped Batistuta's butt hard with full of sarcasm, then faced the death gaze from the king, he made a face and ran away.

Real Madrid kicked off from the center circle.

Batty couldn't help but roll his eyes again at the dark Manchester night sky.

Why do they all like to attack him? Next time, he thought, no matter who scores a goal, he will retaliate against the one closest to him when they celebrate together.

In the 60th minute of the game, Real Madrid's attack was interrupted again. Rodri passed the ball to De Bruyne, the Belgian midfielder dribbled forward and then seized the opportunity to make a through pass.

This pass tore through Real Madrid's defense like a surgical knife, passing through the ribs between Kroos and Casemiro. Batistuta understood the hint and rushed into the penalty area. Unfortunately, he was too excited, and when facing a one-on-one opportunity, he focused too much on the angle and did not use enough strength, so the ball went slightly out of the goal frame.

The Blue Moon missed the opportunity to further expand the score.

"Ah! Damn it!"

Seeing the football rolling out of the baseline, Batistuta was so angry that he stomped his feet on the spot.

Just a little bit closer!
'So cute. '

De Bruyne curled the corners of his mouth briefly, then quickly returned to his position and gave Batistuta a thumbs up to indicate that he had done a good job.

In the 62nd minute, Gundogan's pass was intercepted and Real Madrid quickly organized a counterattack. Kroos dribbled past Rodri but failed to clear the ball. Modric got the ball again on the outside. Real Madrid's No. 10 looked at the positions of the people around him and when he found that the Manchester City goalkeeper was a little far from the goal line, he decided to try a long shot.

"Watch out, Eddie!"

Fernandinho realized Modric's intention and quickly reminded him loudly. Ederson was fully focused and quickly returned to the goal line, but unfortunately, he failed to prevent the goal.

[The ball goes in! Modric, a world wave! The Croatian midfielder kicked a wonderful fairy ball, and the Manchester City goalkeeper was powerless. 2-2, Real Madrid equalized the score again. Zidane's team told everyone with their actions that they have not given up, and they still have a chance! ]

The total score came to 6-3.

There is still about half an hour left and the gap is 3 goals. If Real Madrid wants to reverse the situation and advance, they will need to score a goal in at least 10 minutes.

This is far from simple.

Perhaps it was because of too much pressure that caused nerves to be strained. In the 68th minute of the game, Manchester City launched an attack with a long pass. Varane headed the ball back but the goalkeeper made a mistake. Batistuta, who had switched to the middle, seized the opportunity to sprint towards the penalty area. Courtois also realized that something was wrong and attacked decisively.

"Tibo, quick!"

"Bati Charge!!"

The air above the Etihad Stadium was filled with the anxious shouts of players from both sides, with all eyes focused on the Real Madrid penalty area. They could see very clearly that neither Batistuta nor Courtois slowed down, and facing the impending collision, they both chose to continue.

Or rather, they were all forced to continue.

On the court, if there is a head-on collision or physical contact like this, you cannot dodge. Once you allow your body to subconsciously dodge to protect itself, the chance of injury will increase exponentially.

Time seemed to stand still.

[beep——]
The referee blew the whistle for a timeout.

[Fell down in the penalty area!] Affected by the tense atmosphere, the commentator stood up to explain the game, [Let's take a look at the replay - God, Batistuta and Courtois collided really hard, both fell to the ground, Batistuta looked better, the ball went out of bounds, wait and see what the referee says, it shouldn't be a penalty, maybe Batistuta would be judged to have collided with the goalkeeper.]

Just as the commentator was analyzing the situation to the audience, Batistuta sat up on his knees, shaking his dizzy head. At this time, the benefits of playing in an empty stadium were reflected. Without the deafening cheers of the fans, Batistuta quickly recovered from the tinnitus and dizziness.

"How are you, Barty!"

Following the sound, he looked to the side and saw Neymar running towards him.

Looking past Neymar, Batistuta saw a green figure lying on the ground. It was Courtois, and he hadn't gotten up yet.

what happened?

Batistuta frowned and quickly recalled everything that happened before and after the collision. Seeing that Courtois did not react, he hurriedly staggered over and called for the Real Madrid team doctor to come in.

"Thibaut? Thibaut! Can you hear me?" Batistuta lifted up Courtois' head. He vaguely remembered that his heel had hit something hard just now. If that 'hard part' was Courtois' head, then things would be very serious.

And now it seems that he has lost consciousness.

In this situation, there is a high possibility that something more serious than a concussion will happen. "Jesus, come and help Ney!" Batistuta held Courtois' head with one hand and pinched his chin with the other hand to make him open his mouth. "Pull out his tongue and press it down. If he suffocates, it will be all over."

"Uh." Neymar had not taken the pitch safety lessons very seriously, so he hesitated when Batistuta asked him to touch Courtois' tongue.

Seeing that Neymar was not in good shape, Batistuta did not intend to waste any more time. The Real Madrid team doctor was already on the way, but sometimes a few seconds could change everything.

He quickly grabbed Courtois' chin with his wrist, then reached out and pinched his tongue. Fortunately, the Belgian goalkeeper did not faint or swallow his tongue, which made Batistuta feel a little relieved.

After all, it was he who caused this.

Courtois had been playing well with him some time ago, so Batistuta couldn't help feeling guilty. He put Courtois' head on his legs and freed his hands to pat his face.

"Tibo, Tibo! Wake up."

With Batistuta's unremitting persistence, Courtois finally woke up. He opened his eyes in a daze. Under the lighting of Etihad, Batistuta's face was not so clear, but in the swaying light, he remembered the light hair that swept over him and the blue eyes filled with tension and expectation.

"...I'm fine." Courtois muttered.

My god, those eyes are so bright, he thought.

"What did you say? Did you speak?" Batistuta didn't hear Courtois's mumbling clearly, he tried to lower his head to listen, at this time Real Madrid's team doctor arrived, they took over the examination and treatment first, and then expressed their gratitude to Batistuta.

"I saw the first aid you just gave. If the situation was dangerous, it would have been a life-saving move." One of the Real Madrid doctors (Bati thought he might be the team leader) fully affirmed Batistuta's emergency action, "Thank you, and thank you on behalf of Thibaut Courtois."

Batistuta responded and then explained the situation to the referee who came over.

Some Real Madrid players gathered around to ask for an explanation, Neymar, Jesus and De Bruyne also came forward to talk, but Batistuta had already told the referee that he might have made too much of a move just now, causing Courtois to be injured. Therefore, after combining the statement of the baseline referee, the referee did not pursue the matter further, verbally warned Batistuta, and sentenced him to collide with the goalkeeper, giving the ball to Real Madrid.

At this time, the Real Madrid team doctor's examination was completed. They told the referee that Courtois could not continue. Zidane had to make an emergency substitution and sent on substitute goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

Courtois was carried away on a stretcher.

Batistuta had been standing there watching the other team leave the field. Just when they were passing each other, Batistuta unexpectedly made eye contact with him. The Belgian goalkeeper did not have too many negative emotions on his face. Instead, he was smiling. From his expression and eyes, Batistuta saw something unusual.

but--
Can anyone really laugh when the team is behind and they are injured and have to leave the field?

Forget it, Batty shook his hair and decided to put everything behind him.

Maybe he had seen it wrong.

Perhaps his mind was filled with too many things, and at that moment Batistuta ignored the burning gazes from the people around him. When he and Courtois looked at each other unexpectedly, De Bruyne was also looking at him with a dark look in his eyes.

……

The game was interrupted for at least 7 or 8 minutes before it resumed.

The Manchester City players, who were re-engaged, retracted their formation at Guardiola's request, deliberately slowing down the pace to ease the tense atmosphere on the field.

In the 83rd minute, Real Madrid seized the loophole in the connection between Manchester City's midfield and backcourt to launch a counterattack. Benzema made a side-by-side response and Asensio scored the goal for the team to overtake the score.

At the end of the game, Manchester City lost 2-3 to Real Madrid at home, but with the advantage of the first leg, they finally qualified with a total score of 6-4.

Real Madrid played with great momentum on the road and could be said to be dying on their feet.

It is worth mentioning that during the game, Batistuta and Courtois collided, causing the latter to faint briefly, but then the Manchester City king gave first aid to the Real Madrid goalkeeper and maintained his posture until the team doctor arrived. After the game, Batistuta won the MVP again. At the same time, he also received praise from netizens and awards from UEFA.

During an interview, a reporter asked about this matter.

Batistuta said he did not think too much at the time, he just felt that Courtois fainted because of him, and he had to take action to save him. Batistuta then mentioned that this might also be related to his childhood experience. They were often attacked in the slums of Rio. He gave first aid to Loach several times, and Loach also did it for him. Perhaps this was because of this that he was able to react quickly when the situation occurred.

The journalists gave it high praise.

Zidane also found Batistuta after finishing his conversation with Guardiola and expressed his gratitude and affirmation to him. Batistuta could not be more satisfied with the game.

But what he didn't expect was that when he returned to the locker room humming a song with the MVP trophy, Courtois was already waiting for him at the door.

"Hi, Batistuta." The Belgian goalkeeper smiled and waved. He had a bandage on his head and looked like a wounded soldier. From a distance, Batistuta seemed to see some inexplicable emotions tumbling and roaring in his eyes, but the strange thing was that when he got closer, those emotions disappeared.

Batty shook the trophy in response.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"It's okay." Courtois replied with a smile.

"That's good," Batty said. "About that, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"I know." Courtois continued to answer with a smile, "Compared to that, I care more about another thing." He said, looking up and down at Batistuta without disguising, "Another very important, very important thing."

"Do you have time to chat?" he asked.

(End of this chapter)