[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"—Hey! Go back to your position! Jesse's departure doesn't mean you have the right to run around! Come back and defend! You have to keep an eye on—what? What did Jose say? Ignore that, come back! Steady—hold on!"

B Silva was carried off the field on a stretcher, and Guardiola urgently replaced him with Foden to fill the vacancy. At the same time, there was chaos in Manchester United's half. This red card disrupted all of Mourinho's arrangements.

Augustus was shouting at everyone to assign tasks, and Mourinho and the assistant coach also took the time to pull the defensive players in the midfield and backcourt to explain things, but this did not make the situation better. Many Manchester United players on the field looked even more confused than the audience, as if they had lost their souls.

For example, Maguire.

When Manchester City attacked with a free kick, the Red Devils' defensive general seemed a little confused. He was supposed to defend Dias, but after Augustus yelled, he actually gave up on Dias and turned to defend Walker in the front. When Manchester City's ball was halfway in the air, he realized something was wrong and turned back quickly.

Obviously, you can't defend against anyone with your eyes. Fortunately, De Gea was still in good shape and saved shots from Batistuta and Foden, which prevented him from becoming the target of criticism when the fans continued to vent.

But he could not avoid it this time. De Gea passed the ball to the midfield. Pogba failed to pay attention to his surroundings after receiving the ball, and Rodri and De Bruyne cooperated to intercept the ball and launched a counterattack.

Without Lingard's retreat and support, Mbappe basically did not participate in the defense. Although Sterling and Augustus helped, the cooperation of Neymar, Foden and Jesus still made Manchester United's right side on the verge of collapse. They conceded three goals in 15 minutes. Foden scored twice and Neymar scored with a low shot in the near corner.

At the end of the first half, Manchester City led 3-0 away from home.

Seeing Manchester United collapse made Batistuta in a good mood. Except for the fact that he didn't score a goal, everything was perfect. He hummed a happy tune and returned to the locker room. On the way, everyone (Manchester City) had a happy face.

B Silva was also in the locker room. He had a bandage on his head and looked a little miserable, but he was in good spirits. He must have watched the entire process of the goal on TV.

Batty walked to his locker, taking off his dirty shorts and throwing them into the basket. "How's your recovery going, Bernardo?"

"Good!" B Silva got out from under Ederson's arm and ran to Batistuta. "3-0! Oh yeah!
! The effect is equivalent to a shot of morphine! "

"I know, I know, Manchester United, 3-0, halftime, oh ho!" Batistuta raised his arms and cheered. De Bruyne happened to pass by and handed him a bottle of water. Batistuta took it and rinsed his mouth. His movements were smooth and quite natural.

what's the situation?
B Silva glanced at De Bruyne quietly, then quickly glanced at Batistuta, and his eyes finally fell on the water bottle in Batistuta's hand.

"It seems that you are really happy about beating Manchester United, Batistuta." The Portuguese drawled out his tone, as if hinting at something.

"Of course." Batistuta pretended not to hear the deep meaning behind B's words, "Winning Manchester United is comparable to the climax and it's more exciting."

Wow.

The locker room was quiet at first, and then erupted into loud cheers and whistles, as if someone had set off a dazzling firework in the room.

"Ha! Really?!" Accompanied by Neymar's signature laughter, a wristband hit Batistuta on the head. Batistuta picked up the wristband and threw it back, then raised his eyebrows and looked at Neymar.

"I mean, it's so nice to beat Manchester United," he said. "Why would I lie about it?"

Neymar shook his wristband and said: "Okay, I believe you, then - what about the World Cup?"

"what?"

"Beating Manchester United is more exciting than anything else, but how would you describe winning the World Cup?" Neymar deliberately smacked his lips, raised his chin towards Batistuta, and waited for his answer.

"Well..." Barty rolled his eyes, "It would be like a hundred simultaneous orgasms."

His answer once again caused laughter in the locker room.

"Okay gentlemen, the game is not over yet, and the climax is still a long way off. We need to work harder, especially on the right." Guardiola pulled the whiteboard to the center and knocked on it to attract attention. Obviously, in the first half, "Look here, everyone, yes, Manchester United only has 10 players on the field. We are the dominant side, but you can do better on the right-"

Obviously the head coach was not very satisfied with Batistuta today. He used the word "divisive" to describe Batistuta's performance in the first half, and said that if Batistuta had not competed with Theo, Manchester City might have gained a greater advantage.

Of course, Batistuta didn't mean to do that. Theo Hernandez was one of the few players in Manchester United who could be scored 90 points in the first half. In fact, if he hadn't successfully locked down Batistuta in the last ten minutes, preventing Manchester City's right-wing attack from being launched, the score would not just be 3-0, but 4-0 or 5-0.

"I didn't compete with him, I just..." Batistuta tried to argue for himself, but under Guardiola's kind eyes, he made a gesture to shut up, "Sorry, not in the second half, Pep, please continue."

Guardiola took down the magnet representing Lingard on the tactical board, and then rearranged the Manchester United lineup on it. He knocked on the board and said: "This is the formation they will use in the second half. One of Pogba and Augustus will retreat and participate more in defense. It is likely to be Augustus. In this way, they will have 5 defensive players. Mbappe and Raheem will be left in the frontcourt. Believe me, Manchester United will not give up the attack even if the backcourt is surrounded by an iron bucket. We must hold the ball."
"——Bati, don't pass the ball too quickly. If Theo and Maguire rush towards you, he will be open on the top. Kyle will go up and Ashraf will come out on the other side. You pass the ball to Kyle from the outside to the front of the goal. If he doesn't come out, give the ball to Kevin. You must occupy the numerical advantage."

……

At the beginning of the second half, the situation was exactly as Guardiola predicted. Mourinho really put up a layer of iron sheet in front of Manchester United's goal.

Let Augustus retreat to the front of the goal, change the formation to 531, Pogba pulls back, and forms the midfield with Rashford and Sterling, responsible for most of the running and ball distribution work, while Mbappe stays in front waiting for an opportunity.

[Many people say that Mourinho’s on-the-spot command ability is not good and he cannot deal with emergencies, but in this game, when Lingard was sent off with a red card at halftime, his current choice is the best. ]

In the Sky Sports studio, Carragher made this comment, which was quite gentle for a Liverpool legend.

[Parking the bus is a bit ugly, but it is very practical. Look, 7 minutes into the second half, Manchester City is pressing forward, but there are no threatening passes or shots on target. Manchester United's defense has caused them a lot of trouble.] Gary Neville said that although Manchester United was still 0-3 behind, he remained optimistic. [Maybe Jose gave a speech in the midfield. I feel that the mentality of the players on the field has changed a bit, which is much better than the headless flies in the first half.]

[I still favor Manchester City. No matter how well they deploy, they can't change the fact that they (Manchester United) are one man short on the field, and no amount of tactics can make up for that.] Carragher said, kicking Neville's chair next to him, saying sarcastically: [When Sterling and Pogba can't hold on, you will still be beaten by a big score. By then I will dance on your face.]

In the 60th minute, Manchester City controlled the ball. De Bruyne and Lucas kicked the ball back a few times. After noticing that Manchester United's defense was loosened, De Bruyne signaled Lucas to pass the ball back. Lucas understood and turned around to pass the ball to Gundogan. Gundogan dribbled the ball in the middle and retreated to near the center line, paying attention to Manchester United's defensive form while retreating.

Batistuta slowed down and turned to look at the positions of Gundogan, Rodri and De Bruyne nearby. There was not much space to operate in the middle, with Pogba and Rashford both there. If he got the ball, he would have to pass it out quickly to avoid being intercepted. After thinking about it, Batistuta ran to the outside.

But Theo followed very closely, and also noticed Walker who might move forward to the flank, and reminded Augustus and Maguire who were a little further away from the goal. So Batistuta changed his mind and retreated from the outside, then quietly gestured to his teammates to try other methods.

Not in a hurry.

If it doesn't work here, go to the other side, you will always find a gap.

Manchester City players played very relaxed, and Manchester United did the same. After several successful defenses, they seemed to have regained the feeling of ease at the beginning of the first half.

The turning point happened 5 minutes later.

In the 65th minute, Rodri tried a long shot from the outside, but was saved by De Gea. Before the ball went out of bounds, Augustus cleared the ball to the midfield. Walker rushed too far forward and failed to keep an eye on Sterling. The England striker turned around and ran towards the goal with the ball.

[Sterling! A one-on-one opportunity! ]

The happy boy dribbled the ball all the way to the penalty area, with Walker chasing him at full speed, and Diaz in the middle trying hard to follow up, but Sterling was still in an excellent position.

[Let's see if he has a chance—]

The answer is no.

The happy boy is still the same happy boy and he is not less happy just because he changed teams. When Mbappe was already in position at the back post, he did not choose to pass the ball, he wanted to shoot himself.

Ederson flew in to save the ball.

In fact, he didn't need to do this because the shot was too far off target.

[Bang--]
Did you think the ball hit the post? No, it hit the camera stand on the sidelines, which was at least 2 meters away from the goal.

Sterling's shot went wide and Manchester United missed a great opportunity.

It was really thrilling. Batistuta stopped retreating and there were boos from the stands at Old Trafford. Batistuta looked up and thought that half of the boos were for him and the other half were for Sterling who wasted the opportunity.

"Come on! I'm there, I'm there!" Mbappe spread his hands and complained, wishing the ball would have gone in if it had been passed to him just now.

It turns out that the consequences of giving hope and then having it dashed in adversity are terrible.

Sterling's kick not only cost Manchester United a goal, but also destroyed Manchester United's positive attitude. The suppressed emotions in the players' hearts burst out, the number of fouls rose sharply, and the amplitude of the actions also increased.

In the 68th minute, Pogba pushed down Batistuta during a header on the right and received a yellow card, giving Manchester City a free kick in a good position.

After all, they still had the upper hand on the field. Batistuta sat on the ground for a while before getting up. By the time he got up, Neymar and De Bruyne had already discussed how to take the free throw.

"Do you need me?" Batistuta asked, waving his hand. "Go to the front." Neymar pointed to the nearest wall of people, then quietly drew a circle with his index finger, repeating it twice.

Batistuta understood what he meant and ran to the front, preparing to jump for the header. Augustus was waiting behind him. Perhaps it was the first time that something went wrong in the first half, so this time the French midfielder did not take the opportunity to do or say anything to Batistuta, which surprised Batistuta a little.

【Let's take a look at this free kick, Neymar and De Bruyne cooperated, De Bruyne kicked - deceived the wall, the first point was fought for by Maguire, wait! Someone fell down - look here first, wow! Maguire accidentally hit the ball on his teammate when clearing the ball, Foden took advantage of the opportunity to score a hat trick, Manchester City 4-0! 】

[beep——]
The referee blew the whistle to stop the game.

First, he wanted to see if the goal that just occurred in the melee in front of the goal was offside or foul, and second, he had to figure out what happened to the few people who fell into a ball in front of the goal.

Ten seconds ago, just as Foden scored, a series of collisions occurred in the penalty area on the other side.

Ashraf collided with Diaz, whom he was defending. Both of them lost their balance and fell backwards, dragging Batistuta and Augustus next to them into the water as well.

"what!"

There was a scream from the crowd.

Batty paused, then quickly pushed Ashraf off his back and stood aside, while also not forgetting to remove the foot that had stepped on Augustus' ankle.

Boos rang out again over Old Trafford.

Diaz and Ashraf also stood up, but Augustus did not. He sat on the grass covering his ankle, and soon blood began to seep out.

Batty stared at his bloody ankle for a while, and only looked up when the team doctor came to treat him. Then he found that Augustus was also staring at him, with that unpleasant smile in his eyes.

As if to say: Look, you hurt me, is this what you wanted?
Batty gave him a fake smile.

Sorry for not sorry

At this time, the referee finished watching VAR and returned to the field to check the situation. At the moment when Maguire touched the ball (own goal assist), Ashraf and Diaz had not collided, so the goal was valid.

But he still had a foul to call.

"It was an accident." Batty spoke first when the referee looked over. He crossed his arms and snorted twice. "If I really wanted to foul him, it would not only be his ankle that could not move."

Referee: …

How should I put it? A very Batti answer.

……

In the end, Ruben Dias and Ashraf each received a yellow card. Batistuta was not punished, but because of his dangerous remarks, the referee chased him back to his position like a fly.

Augustus could not hold on and was replaced by Fred (he wanted to stay and continue playing, but was unanimously opposed by the team doctor and head coach). In the 71st minute of the game, Manchester United suffered another heavy blow.

[Who else can stop Manchester City this season? I'm not sure, really, I can't say for sure, this season's Manchester City is even stronger than the 17-18 season.] Carragher commented pertinently, [In the 17-18 season, they have already won all the trophies, so I don't know what they can do this time. I look forward to seeing them bring bigger surprises.]

After Augustus left the field, Manchester United's spirit was completely gone. From the 71st to the 76th minute, Manchester City scored consecutively within 5 minutes. Batistuta, who was defended by Theo throughout the game, finally scored and scored two goals in one go.

After scoring the goal, Batistuta ran towards the Manchester United fan area and made a phone call gesture. It was difficult to tell whether he was celebrating the goal with the most common Brazilian gesture or simply wanted to taunt his opponent with the number "six". Either way, it would not make the fans happy. The angry home fans treated him with plastic cups, hot dogs and swear words.

However, there were not many fans entering the stadium, and the accuracy of the objects thrown was not good enough, so no harm was caused to the King of Manchester City.

Guardiola looked at Batistuta who was provoking the fans with dissatisfaction, shook his head and cursed in Catalan dialect towards the lights of the stadium. He believed that even if all the fans entered the stadium, Batistuta would still go back to provoke. There was no reason. The little bastard just enjoyed the reaction when people went crazy because of him.

"Okay Batistuta, come back." Guardiola shouted, "Don't be too ostentatious, pay attention to prevention and control!"

Batistuta was quite obedient and quickly stopped his provocative celebration, but he did not forget to make a face at the head coach when he returned to his position, and also made a small pinball-like gesture. In Rio, where Batistuta lives, this gesture means: What a nuisance.

Guardiola: …
瓜迪奥拉：6-0，6-0，6-0，不生气不生气不生气
……

With 15 minutes left in the game, Manchester City led 6-0.

Guardiola quickly replaced several main players including Batistuta. Now that victory is certain, it is time to prepare for the next round against Liverpool, who are also a tough nut to crack.

In the final moments, Ashraf assisted Mbappe to score a goal for Manchester United, which was considered a bit of dignity. But unfortunately, many Manchester United fans did not see the home team score a goal with their own eyes, because they left the field in large numbers with 10 minutes left to express their protest with practical actions.

After the game, all Manchester City players received high scores. The MVP award was given to Phil Foden, who scored his first hat-trick in the Premier League. In the mixed interview after the game, Batistuta forced his way into the camera and praised him generously.

When the reporter asked Foden if he wanted to collect the ball, Batistuta reached out and took the ball out of his arms, "Don't treat it too much as a treasure, otherwise you won't be able to collect more (more hat tricks) in the future."

"Leave it here for now, I'll give it to you later." The king dribbled the ball casually, then used his height advantage to rub Foden's round head. "Hurry up and finish it. Don't forget our plan. The equipment is all with the loach. Go get it yourself."

In front of the camera, Batistuta hooked his arms around Foden's neck and gave him a loud kiss on the face. Then he waved and turned back to the locker room.

Foden looked at the happy light-colored figure walking away for a long time, and the reporter's eyes swept over him and then over Batistuta. While he lowered his head and closed his eyes, he came up with a topic that would definitely attract attention.

the next day.

[Conflict within the team? Bullying suspected within Manchester City] ——The Sun

The accompanying picture is the blurry moment when Batistuta snatched Foden's commemorative ball from him and Foden looked at Batistuta's back with "fear".

In order to make up this report, the reporter even brought up the incident when Manchester City players were trapped in Batistuta's home during the epidemic and Foden was mistakenly ridiculed for doing handicrafts in the room to exaggerate the atmosphere.

Foden woke up and found out that he was bullied:?
Batty, who can’t get rid of the bad boy label: …

(End of this chapter)