[Football] Bad Boy Batty

The situation then became stable, with both sides attacking each other but neither scored a goal.

In the 29th minute, the first yellow card of the game was issued. Barcelona attacked from the backcourt, and Manchester City's defense had not recovered from the previous attack. Silva tactically brought down Pique and received a yellow card.

Pique looked a little strange when he got up, as if his old injury had relapsed because of this, but he still wanted to persevere.

But not long after, the Barcelona defender said he could not continue, the referee suspended the game, and Barcelona used the second substitution.

As Pique left the field, Batistuta openly stuck out his tongue in that direction.

Humph, who asked him to do this fishing enforcement and then slap him on the butt.

The fans continued to boo, and the scales tilted towards Manchester City again.

Silva and De Bruyne cooperated in the middle, Aguero ran away from the defender, De Bruyne advanced to the front of the penalty area and passed the ball to the side, Batistuta took the ball and moved inward, shaking off Mathieu and coming to the Barcelona goal area.

[Here we go again! Two forced substitutions put Barcelona's defense in crisis, and Batistuta entered the penalty area again! ]

Manchester City's No. 9 fooled Ter Stegen with a fake shot.

[Ding——]
The ball hit Barcelona's crossbar.

Just a little bit closer!

……

"Well done Batistuta! Don't be discouraged." Aguero walked over and gave Batistuta a comforting hug. "You can do it. Push down a little more and you will definitely score next time."

Batty nodded, said nothing else, and gave the other party a thumbs up to indicate that he was fine.

Guardiola watched from the sidelines without saying a word. He thought the current lineup was impeccable. Although there were always some small mistakes in the defense, Aguero and Batistuta in the frontcourt prevented Barcelona's attack from being fully launched. It was only a matter of time before a goal was scored.

But soon, an unexpected turn of events emerged.

Things change rapidly on the football field. The ball that you fail to score one second may become the opponent's attack the next second.

Messi dribbled the ball forward on the right side, and Kolarov's one-on-one defense destroyed the passing route, but he did not get the ball. Zabaleta, who followed behind, did not continue to move forward to support him, so Mascherano acted as a wall for Messi and sent the ball directly to the frontcourt.

The situation was solved, but not completely.

Messi successfully entered the 'Messi Corridor' and Manchester City's defense line quickly got into place, blocking Messi's shooting and passing routes tightly. But just when Messi couldn't find a receiving point, Gundogan accidentally slipped in the penalty area, and there was an open space in front of Messi.

This is simply a gift package that fell from the sky, and it is impossible not to catch it.

The Barcelona king dribbled past goalkeeper Bravo and easily shot into the empty goal.

[It shouldn't be like this, why didn't anyone fill his vacant position... The ball went in, 1-0! In the 35th minute of the first half, Manchester City made a mistake in the backcourt, Messi broke the deadlock and helped Barcelona take the lead at home. ]

Then the score of the first half remained unchanged, 1-0, entering the halftime break.

It's strange to say, in the first half, Barcelona used up two substitutions early and was suppressed by Manchester City's fierce attack for a while, but in the end, Barcelona scored the first goal and Manchester City could not score.

In the locker room, Guardiola did not blame Gundogan for slipping in front of the goal. He dragged the tactical board to the middle and focused on analyzing several points where they might have lost the ball in the first half.

He is more worried about the defense than the offensive line.

However, Batistuta didn't listen to any of this. He was still concerned about the crossbar he had kicked.

If he could lower the angle a little bit and use a little less strength, the situation would at least be 1-1 now and the team would not be passive in the second half.

Batty relaxed his back muscles and leaned against the cabinet in a trance, mechanically accepting the massage and questions from the physiotherapist.

Things are really not going well today, he thought. How did a good game with an advantageous position turn out like this?

First, the sure goal he assisted was kicked away, then he was fooled by Pique, and finally the ball hit the crossbar... How did the ball hit the crossbar? It should have gone into the net through the blind corner.

This was only Batistuta's second start. He was already upset about losing to Tottenham in the first game. Now he couldn't score after a long time and let the opponent score first, which made Batistuta even more unhappy.

At the same time, the Barcelona dressing room was full of joy, and everyone was shouting Messi's name. The little flea, who never liked to show off, smiled and accepted their congratulations, and then he found his Brazilian teammate who was out of the atmosphere and a little absent-minded.

"Luis and I will pass the ball to you more in the second half." Messi touched Neymar's shoulder, "Don't think too much, you will score goals."

Neymar was a little surprised, he looked up. "Leo, you——"

"I know." Messi interrupted him, "Come on, let Batistuta see your hard work and progress."

This sentence is also for himself. People say that he will be very excited to meet Guardiola and Aguero. He just wants to say -

If you are strong but you can't show it to the people you are close to and love, then what's the point.

Neymar understood what he meant instantly.

He wants to win, win in front of Batistuta, and score a goal in front of him.

"Well, I'll do my best." Neymar smiled sincerely, "Thank you, Leo."

……

In the Manchester City locker room, the head coach's speech had ended, but Batistuta was still worried. Aguero was the first to notice something was wrong, and De Bruyne also noticed it. They came over and wanted to talk to Batistuta.

But Batty didn't want anyone's comfort now. The boy waved his hands impatiently and covered his face with a towel.

"I'm fine, don't worry." He said, "Keep going in the second half."

The two men who failed to comfort him had to go to Guardiola. Guardiola looked at Batistuta who refused to communicate and smiled helplessly.

"I know." He said to Aguero and De Bruyne, "I will find a way, you go and rest first and think about the pass in the second half."

……

The second half started quickly. Batistuta followed his teammates back to the field from the player tunnel. He was a step late. When he went out, he just saw Neymar and Messi walking out talking and laughing.

Batty's steps paused, but only for a moment, and before anyone noticed, he returned to normal.

"Hey, just now I saw the bishop went to look for Batistuta." Aguero pulled De Bruyne to the back and asked quietly, "You were close, did you hear what they said?"

De Bruyne shook his head: "My Spanish is not good and they spoke so fast that I didn't hear anything."

Aguero nodded somewhat depressedly, then quickened his pace to catch up with Batistuta.

"When the game starts, I'll be your wall. The boss said that I'll be better at holding off the defense in this game." He covered his mouth to prevent the camera from capturing him, and whispered to Batistuta, "Don't go down the flank. Come to the ribs more. Let's play with each other."

Batistuta didn't respond much, just nodded. But as they stepped back onto the pitch, Aguero watched Batistuta suddenly bend down and touch the grass of Camp Nou, then put his fingers to his lips and kissed them gently.

This is not very common, the Argentine star thought, Batistuta is not a superstitious kid.

Suddenly, Batistuta stopped and turned to look at Aguero with a kind of mysterious solemnity.

“Kun, do you believe me?”

Believe him?

What kind of question is this?
Aguero was stunned for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"I always believe in you, Barty." He hooked his arm around his neck and leaned closer to him, then kissed him on the ear. "Do whatever you want to do. I will always be by your side."

Batistuta, who had been silent throughout the halftime break, suddenly laughed.

"Thank you, Kun." He said, "Let's do this."

Aguero still didn't know what Guardiola said to his young teammate, but he could feel that the aura around Batistuta had become fiercer.

……

Sure enough, at the beginning of the second half, Manchester City launched a wave of attack thanks to Batistuta's efforts.

As if he wanted to launch a surprise attack when the players were not yet in form, De Bruyne retreated and passed the ball to Batistuta. Batistuta got the ball on the right side of the midfield and got rid of Rakitic's block on the spot, and then unexpectedly used a bull tail to dribble past Iniesta.

[What? Batistuta actually used his biological father's signature move. This is too--oh, some fans may not know that Batistuta's biological father is the last generation of Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho. But because of his mother, Batistuta's attitude towards Ronaldinho has always been not very good. ]

Batistuta had not lost the ball on the field, and even used a change of direction to get past Mathieu who was planning to confront him head-on.

Including this time, he has passed three players in Barcelona's midfield.

The commentator quickly got into the game.

[——Look at this ball. Batistuta hasn’t passed the ball yet, but he’s already advanced through the middle and reached the penalty area! ]

Umtiti took a defensive stance at the front line, Sterling was reaching for the ball on the left, but Batistuta ignored him and continued to dribble on his own.

He pushed the ball to the left, getting rid of Busquets who was chasing him from behind, then pulled the ball back with a dribble, then he turned around and lightly lifted the ball into the air.

It was as if he had entered an empty space. The ball picked up by Batistuta passed over Umtiti's head. Now the only one standing between him and the goal was Ter Stegen.

[5! Batistuta used his most familiar and favorite lob pass! My God, the last player who could pass 5 players in a row at Barcelona's home court was... a one-on-one! Ter Stegen is on the attack, what should Batistuta do now? ]

What happened next left everyone stunned.

Facing the attacking goalkeeper, Batistuta's fake shot was successful, and he shifted his center of gravity twice to trick Ter Stegen into diving in the wrong direction.

It was of no avail for Xiao Ma Ge behind him to try his best to chase after him.

After easily and leisurely defeating the goalkeeper, Batistuta slowed down and was less than one meter away from the goal line. No one could threaten him anymore.

[Bang——]
The commentator knocked over the water cup on the table, and the sound was transmitted to the ears of thousands of fans through the headset, but no one cared now.

[The ball went in! Unbelievable! Batista, the 17-year-old teenager, scored a goal by dribbling past 6 players at Barcelona's home stadium! He equalized the score. Guardiola couldn't believe his eyes. The last person who made him hold his head was Lewandowski, the supreme leader of Bayern Munich! ]

The fans at Camp Nou were stunned.

The last person to dribble past six players and score a goal here was the 6-year-old Messi, who was less than 20 meters away from Batistuta. The previous person to do so was the Argentine superstar Maradona in the 20 World Cup.

[The fans applauded Batistuta. With the appearance of a god, this Brazilian teenager, who was still four months away from his 18th birthday, conquered the hearts of everyone who saw this goal. ]

"You did it! Batistuta!" Aguero couldn't hide his excitement. He rushed over and gave Batistuta a big hug. "You are amazing!"

"I just said I'm fine." Batty curled his lips, then jumped onto the Argentine star and hugged his neck. "Let's conquer this stadium together."

Aguero looked up and met Batistuta's eyes.

The boy's blue eyes sparkled, brighter than the stars in the sky.

At that moment, Aguero's heart was pounding.

"Yes," he heard himself say, "we will."

……

However, Batistuta's bold words were shattered three minutes later.

At this time, the fans were still immersed in his amazing goal. Barcelona had reorganized the attack. At Guardiola's signal, Manchester City temporarily stabilized the backcourt.

Gundogan looked around and De Bruyne pointed behind him, so he passed the ball back to Bravo.

As a result, I don’t know what happened to Bravo. He passed the ball directly to Suarez from the backcourt, and Suarez kicked the ball into the goal without hesitation.

Bravo, who returned to the Nou Camp, had no choice but to block Suarez's shot with his hands.

The worst thing is that Bravo was not in the penalty area when he blocked the ball.

"What did you say? What happened to our goalkeeper?"

When Batistuta heard the news from De Bruyne, he thought he had heard it wrong.

"Yes, Bravo handballed outside the penalty area," De Bruyne confirmed.

Soon Batistuta knew it without him saying anything, because the referee walked towards Manchester City's backcourt and showed Bravo a red card.

Batty felt like a bucket of cold water was poured directly on his head.

【Oh my god! He was sent off. Manchester City goalkeeper Bravo made a mistake and passed the ball back to Suarez, who was forced to commit a handball foul outside the penalty area and was sent off with a red card! 】

The commentator said in the studio with his eyes wide open and his face red.

[It's so exciting! Who would have thought that this season's Champions League would be so exciting from the group stage! Today must be a day that makes history. Those fans who didn't choose to stay up late to watch this game will regret it tomorrow morning. ]

In the 56th minute, Manchester City was forced to fight with 10 men.

(End of this chapter)