[Football] Bad Boy Batty

[…Following the camera, we can see that the players are returning to the field. In a few minutes, the second half of the Champions League quarter-final between Manchester City and Borussia Mönchengladbach will begin.
【Thanks to De Bruyne's long-range shot, Manchester City led 1-0 at halftime and 3-0 in the aggregate. Monchengladbach wants to advance... Oh! The camera cuts to a very interesting scene. In the player tunnel, the referee of this game, Mr. Sarr from Spain, is asking for an autograph from Manchester City captain Batistuta. I believe he must be doing this for his children...】

Today is Batistuta's 22nd birthday, and it is also the day of the second leg match between Manchester City and Bundesliga powerhouse Borussia Mönchengladbach at home.

Although the game is played at home, they are not actually at the Etihad Stadium. Players from both teams are playing at the Puskas Stadium in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

Due to the recent signs of a resurgence of the epidemic, UEFA has stipulated that all matches of the Champions League quarter-finals must be held in neutral stadiums, and the matches between Manchester City and Borussia Mönchengladbach are scheduled here.

The first leg was played at the end of February, with Manchester City winning easily 2-2. However, Borussia Mönchengladbach is in a turbulent period during this period. Their head coach just announced last month that he will coach Dortmund next season. The team is demoralized and has no fighting spirit. Before facing Manchester City in the first leg, they had lost six consecutive games on multiple fronts.

Therefore, there is no suspense in today's game, and Manchester City's advancement is almost certain.

"Did you just sign for the referee?" De Bruyne asked Batistuta as they came out of the player tunnel.

"Hmm," Batty nodded, "I'll still sign it on the yellow card."

"This is inappropriate," De Bruyne criticized bluntly, "You shouldn't sign for him, at least not at this time, and you have to wait until the game is over."

"I was just walking on the road, and he came over with a pen. What could I do?" Batistuta gave De Bruyne a slightly annoyed roll of the eyes. "He is the referee. I don't want to be tripped up in the second half."

"If he had any work ethic he wouldn't have done that."

"God, what are you worried about? It's going to be okay, Kevin." Batistuta hooked De Bruyne's neck and stuck out his tongue at him, "Compared to that - did you know that our referee is a Real Madrid fan?"

"Hmm?" De Bruyne looked over. "Did he tell you?"

"No, I saw it." Batistuta was secretly happy that he had successfully changed the subject. "He has a tattoo on his neck that says: Pure White Forever. He is Spanish. What else can he be but a Real Madrid fan?"

This association is a bit far-fetched.

De Bruyne chuckled, reached out and pulled Batistuta's shorts down to cover his thighs, "Anyway, you are the captain, you have to be careful."

"I know." Batistuta slapped De Bruyne's hand away, pulled his shorts up again, and deliberately lifted the hem of his jersey.

He grimaced at the Belgian midfielder's warning look.

"I'm hot." Batty covered his mouth and said, "If you keep doing this, I'll take off your shorts and socks after the game and give them away to lucky spectators at random. How about that?"

Too outrageous, De Bruyne frowned and glared at him.

Of course, Batistuta knew that giving benefits immediately after the threat would allow the negotiations to proceed smoothly, so he smiled ingratiatingly at De Bruyne: "I am your captain, I know what to do, and - you can see more than any of them."

After saying that, Batty gently kicked him in the calf.

"Believe me, today is my birthday, everything I do will be a bonus!"

De Bruyne's attitude finally softened, and he gave Batistuta a look that said, "I don't agree with every word you say but I love you so I won't argue with you."

At this time they came to the midfield position, Batty patted his cheek and let go of his hand, "Come on Kevin, dear, cheer up, don't always think about those things, focus on the court, and then-"

"--Remember to make the ball for me!" The king pointed at him with his index finger and walked backwards to his side. "I will be very sad if I can't bring back a hat on my birthday!"

De Bruyne made a quick helpless expression at his stomach and the grass under his feet, then he waved his hands and gave a thumbs up to Batistuta, who was gradually distancing himself but still staring at him.

"Don't worry, I'll do it for you."

……

In the second half, the Belgian midfielder fulfilled his promise very well. Even a blind man could see that he wanted to feed the ball to Batistuta, but thanks to Borussia Mönchengladbach's Swiss goalkeeper Sommer, Batistuta was unable to get any of the balls into his mouth.

He even made a brilliant goal-line save in the 63rd minute, exactly the same as the one he made against Bayern defender Kimmich in the Bundesliga last season. Every Manchester City player thought the ball had gone in and was yelling at the referee, but after the goal-line technology ruled that the ball had not crossed the goal line as a whole, it was not counted as a goal.

"COME ON!" Batty complained as he waved his hands in front of the goal, "Is this guy cheating?"

"Don't be in a hurry." Foden, who switched to the middle, gave Batistuta a hug while passing by, "I believe you can do it, Batistuta, you are our omnipotent king."

"Thank you." Batty gave Foden a swaggering smile. Although it was not of any substantial help, he was indeed comforted.

Manchester City controlled the ball in the midfield, Gundogan passed the ball directly to the left, B Silva received the ball and cooperated with Foden to send the ball into the penalty area. De Bruyne got the ball 15 yards away, but he did not choose to shoot. Instead, he passed the ball to the right while holding off the defender of Monchengladbach with his back. Batistuta got the ball and immediately faked to pass the opponent.

[Look at this time——]

There was a loophole in Borussia Mönchengladbach's defense, and there was a lot of space around Batistuta. He even had time to stop the ball with his right foot, make a slight adjustment, and then shoot with his left foot.

【Shoot! Ah, I have to say that Sommer's reaction is really quick. Batistuta's shot has good angle and strength, but he still hits the ball out of the baseline. He is like a wall, a wall of sighs guarding the goal of Monchengladbach.】

Corner kick.

De Bruyne walked towards the left corner area, Batistuta followed him and stopped halfway with his back to the goal.

"Let's start a tactical one," he said quietly, gesturing.

"Tactical?" De Bruyne paused, a little worried.

'Hmm.' Batistuta quickly looked back at the situation. Stones and Rodri were being closely guarded, entangled with several tall players from Monchengladbach. Gundogan was on the periphery, with B Silva and Foden at the back post. Batistuta thought that under the current situation, it was not a good choice to just go in front of the goal as the ground was more threatening.

"Tactical," he repeated.

"Okay." De Bruyne agreed. He believed in Batistuta. "Get ready—"

The Belgian pretended to raise his hand to indicate the back post, then pushed the ball out lightly with just the right amount of force. Batistuta started to receive the ball, and there were no defensive players around him at the first moment.

"Damn it!" The Monchengladbach defender was so impatient that he chose to leave the front of the goal to destroy the ball at Batistuta's feet. Unfortunately, many of his teammates thought the same way.

Facing the siege of three defensive players, Batistuta dodged sideways continuously. He saw through his opponents' thoughts. They wanted to drive him out of the penalty area and then confront and intercept him.

Batty snorted inwardly.

Only 3 people?

What, you look down on him?

You have to know that Manchester City's king Batistuta is famous for his playful feints. If there are three people guarding him, there is a high probability that someone will be nailed to the pillar of shame. If there are four people guarding him, it is standard. If there are five people, you have to be careful that you may get a red or yellow card. As for six people - when a team sends out six people to guard Batistuta, then they must be prepared to be hit by a big score tragedy.

come.

Batistuta curled the corners of his mouth, and with the help of a defender pushing him from behind, he lifted the ball, stopped the ball with his thigh, and then headed it forward. He then found the right opportunity between the crowd and kicked his foot quickly, easily picking up the ball and completing a horizontal pass.

[Beautiful! Manchester City took a tactical corner kick, Batistuta was besieged, but the ball seemed to stick to him, and the defensive players of Monchengladbach were like elephants in a circus, clumsy and being played around! ]

Sommer realized something was wrong and quickly got into position, but it was too late. Batistuta had taken away almost all the power in front of the goal. Facing the empty goal, Foden shot directly without stopping the ball.

【The ball goes in! Foden! In the more than one month that Neymar was absent due to injury, he took up the banner of Manchester City's left-wing attack. This is his 18th goal this season. What an amazing young man! 】

"Phil! Well done! I knew you wouldn't let my pass go to waste!" Batty squeezed in from his celebrating teammates and gave Foden a big hug. Of course, he didn't trust the other person, he just believed that there must be someone to pick up the ball at that position.

"And, Phil, you should think about your celebration." Batty flicked Foden's head. "Don't be like Kevin and the others, just pumping your fist. That's a regional league celebration."

De Bruyne who was suddenly mentioned: Hey...
but--
There are no new celebrations for now, but the traditional ones are welcome. "Come on!" Foden opened his arms towards Batistuta, "Come on! This way we can still score!"

"Are you sure?" Batty raised an eyebrow. "I'm taller than you."

"No problem." Foden was very confident. "I caught you many times. You said I was stable after the game last week."

"Before, it was either a sprint or a back attack." Batty rolled his eyes, prepared to fall, and jumped towards Foden.

"Ohhhhh!"

The situation was better than expected, Foden caught him steadily.

"Great! Little Phil is now an adult that people can rely on!" Batty kissed Foden's forehead hard, and then waved to the few fans in the stands, "Come on! We can continue!"

Halfway through the second half, Manchester City was leading Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0, and the total score was 4-0.

……

Perhaps it was Manchester City's traditional mysterious ritual that worked. In the last 5 minutes of the game, Manchester City scored 2 goals in a row. Batistuta successfully scored a hat-trick, but it was not a goal hat-trick but an assist hat-trick. Foden scored twice and B Silva also scored a wonderful goal near the baseline.

In the end, Manchester City advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals with a total score of 6-0.

After the game, De Bruyne took Batistuta to an interview. He was not supposed to go today. After hesitating for almost 8 minutes, Batistuta realized something was wrong.

"Tell me, what do you want to do?" On the way back to the locker room, Batistuta poked De Bruyne and asked jokingly.

"You think too much." De Bruyne refused to admit it.

"Come on, you're not experienced enough to fool me." Batty raised his chin arrogantly, "Group prank?"

"No."

"Do not believe."

"Not really."

"Tsk, is someone going to throw something at me when I open the door, a stinky sock or a used bandage?"

As they talked, the two of them came to the door of the locker room.

"Neither." De Bruyne slowly leaned over and grasped the door handle, with a smile on his face, and made a mysterious gesture to Batistuta, "No one will play a prank on you, Batistuta."

Batty blew his lips. "Not a prank? Then what else could it be—"

Before he could finish his words, De Bruyne opened the door of the locker room. It was dark inside and the lights were off, but in the middle, there was something floating there that looked like it was on fire.

【SURPRISE!!!】

Batty opened his mouth in surprise.

[Bang——]
Someone opened the fireworks cannon.

As De Bruyne turned on the lights, everything in the locker room became bright. Everyone gathered in the center, including the players, coaches and staff. Loach was in the middle, holding a big cake in his hand, with Batistuta's name and Happy Birthday written on it in blue cream.

"Oh my God!" Batty walked in in disbelief. "You actually-did you bring this thing from England? You brought it all the way from England to Hungary?"

“Right!” Sean B snapped his fingers. “This babe followed us on the plane and bus. When we came here before the game, you were less than 5 meters away from her!”

Oh!
Batty finally understood.

"My headphones fell on the seat and I wanted to go up to get them, but Kyle tried to stop me from going. It turned out that the cake was right there."

"Yeah, thanks to me." Walker said proudly, "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have felt so surprised - quick! Where's the equipment? Put it on him!"

"Varied--"

Before Batistuta could react to what was going on, two staff members nearby rushed out, grabbed him without saying a word, and forced a birthday hat with a cartoon giraffe painted on it on it.

"Hey!"

As soon as Batistuta protested, Walker and Stones put candles on the cake and lit them. It was obvious that the two guys had ulterior motives. Rather than sharing the cake, they would rather use it to fight.

But just as Walker was about to reach out and destroy the cake—

"Shh, stop making noise." Loach slapped his hand away.

"What are you doing!" Walker glared at him.

"Quiet." Loach made a gesture to keep quiet, then motioned him to look forward.

Walker looked over and saw Battie squatting in front of the cake and candles, with his hands clasped together, as if praying or making a wish.

"Fuck, man! Are you serious?" Walker's eyes widened. "Are you still a baby? Why do you have to make a wish before eating cake?"

Stones slapped him on the head.

"Hey! I'm not wrong." Walker shrugged his nose, his eyes full of resentment. He glanced at Batty and the cake, "What wish did you make? Tell us, please, don't deprive me of the only fun I have left!"

"That's right, I've never seen you make a birthday wish before." Seat B was also aroused by curiosity, "What is so important that you can use your birthday wish to make it come true?"

Many people started to make a fuss.

"My wish is very simple," Batty blew out the candle, shrugged and stood up, "Actually it's - haha! Take it!"

"Wow!"
"Hey! Are you kidding me?"
"Wait, it's starting now?"

Before the curious crowd could get an answer, the king treated them with cream.

"Hahahaha! Try this!" Batty pulled the chocolate from the side of the cake and threw it while laughing wildly.

"Good, Batty! How dare you deceive us!" Walker rolled up his sleeves with a head full of cream, "Friends, get ready, we are going to fight!"

A protracted war began.

There was cream flying everywhere in the locker room, and screams and laughter were heard. No one cared what wish Batistuta had made.

It was not until many years later, on a TV show reminiscing about once-shining football superstars, that Batistuta himself revealed what wish he had made that night.

He said: "It's simple - I want Neymar's metatarsal to be like new again."

(End of this chapter)