[Football] Bad Boy Batty

After returning from Brazil, the coaching staff gave them two days of buffer time, with rest and physical therapy in the morning and special training in the afternoon.

In addition to the South American World Cup qualifiers, the UEFA Nations League is also being held at the same time. Most of Manchester City's international players have responded to the national team's call-up. Players come and go, and it is difficult to get a complete team together at the Etihad training ground, leaving Guardiola with much less time to experiment with the formation.

After the club game, they will report to the national team soon, and return to the club immediately after the national team game. This kind of continuous running between the club and the national team makes the players easily tired and it is difficult for them to maintain 100% condition in the next game.

Therefore, the match between Manchester City and Liverpool was labeled as 'boring'. Both sides had players who had just returned from the national team, and many of them were teammates wearing the same jersey a few days ago. Naturally, the game lacked passion.

Carragher's comment on the game was: This is the most boring Manchester City game I have watched in the past three seasons. It almost made me fall asleep during the live broadcast.

In the end, thanks to Rodri's long-range shot into the dead corner, Manchester City beat Liverpool 1-0. Afterwards, this goal was named the Premier League's best goal of the week, and it was worth the ticket price for the home team fans who had difficulty entering the stadium.

Yes, following protests from many fans and clubs, the English Football Association has allowed clubs to open one side of the stands to allow fans to enter the stadium from this round. However, the number of fans must be controlled below half of the stadium's capacity and must be seated in accordance with isolation requirements.

With the end of the game, the 2020 Premier League summer transfer window officially closed. Manchester City signed Scott Carson from the Championship team as the team's goalkeeper at the last minute, and there were no other moves.

However, with Ruben Dias and Ake to strengthen the defense, the Blue Moon Army's transfer operations this year can get at least 80 points.

And the facts have proved that strengthening the defense was the right decision. After 6 rounds of the league, Manchester City is firmly at the top of the list as the only undefeated team.

In comparison, Manchester United's transfer list seems a bit empty. Although they were linked with several players at the end of last season (such as Van de Beek, De Jong, Griezmann, Lewandowski, De Ligt, etc.), they have not made any moves since signing Dortmund right-back Hakimi Ashraf, and none of the rumored targets have come.

Of course, this does not mean that their strength will weaken in the new season.

目前曼联只平一场（主场3-3战平热刺，前93分钟3-2领先，最后被孙兴慜单刀绝平）积16分暂居第二。

In early November, on Halloween, Manchester welcomed the 11nd Manchester Derby, with the Red Devils Manchester United playing at Old Trafford against the visiting Blue Moon Army.

Since the end of the last league match, or more precisely, since the day when both teams won their respective matches, the smoke of the derby has gradually spread. The fans of both sides have been cursing at each other, and since Batistuta and Augustus became enemies, the two of them have been quarreling with each other from time to time before the game, which has become a necessary preparation.

Most of the time, Augustus would post something first and then Batistuta would respond. But this time it was different. This time it was Batistuta who did it first. Three days before the game, Batistuta used his official account to like a post on Twitter that insulted Augustus and his family. He then retweeted "The Glory of Prussia" which he had posted on IG not long ago, and added several skull emojis.

As soon as this incident happened, it immediately caused a war between fans of both sides. There were also many neutral fans who thought that Batistuta had gone a bit too far. The tweet he liked contained serious personal attacks. They believed that no matter how much he hated Augustus, such a curse was too bad.

Batty disagrees.

Augustus, too, did not respond to the fans who spoke up for him. He only replied to Batistuta, and the content of his reply was similar to usual: a long list of kisses and red hearts.

Batistuta didn't respond, at least not on the surface, and most people thought the picture he posted before the game with a solid-color background and three vomit emojis was a response to Augustus.

[Actually I am very grateful to him (Bati), both him and Augustus, they injected new vitality into the derby. Seriously, this is a derby! Look at the derby in previous years when they were not there, so many greetings and hugs, please, you are derby opponents, not friends, this is a war! ] - Roy Keane
……

"Come on, everybody, come here, put your shoulders together and listen to me!"

With a quarter of an hour left before the game started, Batistuta put on all his equipment and clapped his hands to gather everyone together. Soon, everyone except De Bruyne and Neymar, who were called away by Guardiola for a lecture, arrived. They put their arms around each other's shoulders, formed a circle, and looked at Batistuta.

"What I want to tell you is that we are going to win this game and get our seventh victory. In 7 minutes, everyone will see the news that we beat Manchester United on their mobile phones and TVs." Batistuta clenched his fists and scanned everyone as he spoke.

"We didn't win last season, two games, we didn't win, everyone said it didn't matter, but they were roaring in their hearts - this is a fucking derby! We lost to Manchester United! Fuck United! You know how it feels! Now, this is our chance, the chance to correct everything, we won't allow that to happen again, right!"

"right!!"

"Tell them! Who is the real king of Manchester!"

"Yeah!!"

"Win the game!"

"Win the game!!"

Batistuta successfully mobilized everyone's emotions and perfectly took on the responsibility of pre-match mobilization. He became more and more skilled in the position of captain.

"Come on! Let's go!"

Guardiola finished his instructions to Neymar, but kept De Bruyne to continue giving instructions. Neymar walked over here and just caught up with Batistuta's last wave of mobilization, and shouted a few words as well.

"Run, run like a lion and a tiger!" Batistuta pushed Neymar's shoulder and walked out. Neymar was a little surprised, but did not resist.

"You're a little excited today, Batistuta," Neymar whispered.

Batistuta patted Neymar's butt, then hooked his neck and said, "We are going to avenge last season's double kill at Manchester United's home ground. Isn't this worth getting excited about?"

"It's worth it, but be careful." Neymar smiled and pushed him, "Don't forget the content of the training. Pep emphasized this to me again and again just now."

"Of course I know. I came here two seasons earlier than you." Batistuta blew his lips at him. "It was the same in the training match the day before yesterday. I passed everyone and scored a goal. You saw it was a beautiful goal, but I didn't cooperate as required. Pep was still angry."

"But he's not mad at you."

"He lectured me."

"He just called you a little bastard and told you to follow the rules, that's not a lesson at all." Neymar shook his finger. "He was reluctant to teach you a lesson. This is too common. When you do something that annoys him and he can't do anything to you, we are in trouble."

"us?"

"Yes." Neymar drew a circle, "referring to ordinary players like us."

"Haha, very funny." Batistuta said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at him. "You are the one who transferred here with the highest fee in the world. When you first arrived, Pep hugged you and often held small meetings with you for guidance. Many newspapers said that he loves you to death. It's so funny to hear such words coming from your mouth!"

As Batistuta pushed open the door of the locker room, and coincidentally Mbappe also came out of the locker room across the aisle. He looked a little worried, and put on his jersey while thinking.

The player tunnel at Old Trafford is still so narrow. In this place that has witnessed countless conflicts between the two sides, it is impossible to ignore the opponent.

"Hi Kylian." Neymar was the first to greet. Mbappe came back to his senses and put on his signature smile to greet Neymar and Batistuta.

Looking at the smiling face not far away, Batistuta recalled the awkward yet somewhat amusing experience after the derby match on his birthday last season, so he let go of Neymar and walked over to put his arm around Mbappe's shoulder, showing a bright smile when the other party didn't understand what was going on.

"Good afternoon, my good brother who shares the same birthday with me." Batistuta patted Mbappe on the shoulder. Mbappe still had obvious confusion on his face. "I hope you can exercise your courage. If those Prussians can scare you to the point of slipping, then we may scare you to the point of not being able to find the goal."

"Huh?" Mbappe made a confused sound. He almost immediately realized that Batistuta was talking about "Happy Birthday" and "Missed the equalizer due to slipping", but he didn't understand why. "You——"

"Whatever." Batty didn't give him a chance to finish, "We're going to win, but I still wish you good luck in the game. Go ahead, Kylian, go!"

After saying that, the King of Manchester City pinched Mbappe's cheek with satisfaction, waved his hand and turned to the front of the passage, leaving Mbappe standing there with a question mark on his head.

"He calls me Kylian, he never calls me Kylian." Mbappe looked at Neymar, "What happened to this guy today?"

"I feel good, that's how Batistuta is." Neymar shrugged, then patted his former teammate on the shoulder, "See you on the sidelines, good luck in the game."

……

Batistuta felt surprisingly good today and was full of confidence in himself and the team. Everything went smoothly from entering the away locker room to stepping onto the turf. Of course, it would have been better if Augustus hadn't tried to kiss the back of his hand when the captains of both teams shook hands after guessing the side of the coin.

Kneeling on one knee (the support activity has not yet ended), he thought of the two derby games he lost last season, and the scene in his mind was frozen on the scoreboard.

Not this time.

These 3 points must be theirs.

"I will win." Batty remembered that he had just said this to Augustus.

How did Augustus react?

He didn't know, didn't care, it was never a two-way street between them. He would win, City would win, that was his promise to himself.

[beep——]
The referee blew the whistle and the game officially began.

For familiar opponents like Manchester City and Manchester United, or Guardiola and Mourinho, probing is unnecessary, and both sides started playing aggressively. They are eager to form an offensive to gain an advantage at the start, and then bring the rest of the game into their own rhythm.

[In this game, Guardiola used his common double defensive midfielder and three forwards tactics this season. They have already used this lineup quite skillfully. For Manchester United, it is not easy to cross from the wing and penetrate the middle. Perhaps they can try to open up the defensive distance of Manchester City's midfield and backcourt and then look for opportunities. ]

[Mourinho also brought out Manchester United's regular main lineup, but unfortunately he did not find the striker he wanted in the transfer market this season. Mbappe's momentum on the wing is enough, but if he is closely watched, there is a lack of effective support in the middle. Manchester City has more options. They can try to make use of the gap between Wan-Bissaka and Ashraf. Ashraf has just arrived and has not yet integrated into Manchester United's system. ]

In the 10th minute, Gundogan got the ball in the backcourt, and after observation, he passed it to De Bruyne to signal the other party to go to the left. Batistuta was always paying attention to the movements of his teammates, while also paying attention to his own position and the offside line of the defensive players around him. According to Pep's "script", after going up the left, Walker will follow, Theo and Maguire will block him, and he can go around to support, and the same is true in reverse.

Unfortunately, this attack was interrupted. Augustus discovered the opponent's intention. He and B Fee successfully intercepted the ball, and then quickly moved to launch an attack.

Manchester City switched from offense to defense. With the lessons learned from last season, they deployed very quickly in this regard. Manchester United's quick break failed to take off. Batistuta saw the opportunity to retreat, and cooperated with De Bruyne to force the ball out of bounds, taking the ball back from Manchester United.

In the 15th minute, Manchester United took the ball from the backcourt and organized an attack. Rodri successfully intercepted the ball and turned to pass it to De Bruyne. Manchester City instantly changed direction and attacked.

"Over there, go up Batty!"

While running, De Bruyne made a precise pass to Batistuta, who simply adjusted his right foot and shot. De Gea quickly got down to the ground and blocked Batistuta's shot with one leg.

Three minutes later, Manchester United attacked. Pogba took advantage of the open space left by Walker who had not yet returned from his attack and cooperated with Rashford to complete a high-quality shot from the edge of the penalty area, but Ederson flew to save it.

In the subsequent corner kick attack, Maguire got the first point, but fortunately his header went wide, which gave the nearby Manchester City players a cold sweat.

In the 26th minute, Bruno Fernandes made a mistake in his long-distance pass to Rashford, which was intercepted by Ruben Dias and turned into an offensive opportunity for Manchester City. The Portuguese did not pass the ball too much with his teammates, and directly passed the ball to De Bruyne. De Bruyne made a diagonal pass, and Neymar shot directly without stopping the ball, but was saved by De Gea. De Bruyne followed up with a shot that flew away.

Halfway through the first half, the two sides were trading blows, attacking and defending each other, and the game was very exciting. The fans in front of the screen didn't dare to blink, for fear of missing any details.

Just when the game was in the 32nd minute, the situation on the field changed.

Perhaps he was troubled by the club's rumors of an affair with Griezmann throughout the summer, or perhaps he was depressed about not being selected for this period's England squad. Lingard, who was eager to prove himself, actually raised his foot too high and knocked down B Silva in a fight.

"Oh God, I'm not - how are you?" Lingard immediately regretted it and hurried to check on B Silva's condition, but it was too late.

[Oh! Is this a card? ]
[It's time to give the cards. ]

Yellow card, give me a yellow card.
Lingard looked nervously at the referee who was running over.

Don't be——

[beep——]
The team doctor came on the field to treat the Portuguese midfielder, and the referee ran over and showed Lingard a red card firmly and decisively.

It’s over.

Lingard's eyes went dark.

[Red card! It’s a red card! ]
[Lingard was sent off with a red card just 33 minutes into the first half! Something is going to change on the field. Oh, look, Mourinho can't sit still on the sidelines, his face is full of seriousness, but the referee will not change the penalty. ]

The broadcast camera on the sidelines was aimed at Batistuta. The Manchester City king had just stood up from the injured player. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, with an expression that seemed to be smiling. A close-up was taken, and his blue eyes sparkled under the reflection of the stadium lights.

Just 33 minutes into the first half, Manchester United was forced to play with one less man.

(End of this chapter)