[Football] Bad Boy Batty

With little time left, Guardiola simply replaced Fernandinho with Aguero, changing the formation to a magical lineup of three central defenders and five forwards and giving it a try.

"Just shoot, stay in your position, don't run around." The head coach took the Argentine striker and told him in the final moments, "Forget everything in the training session, you can do it based on your feelings, let go, don't hesitate."

Aguero was surprised when he heard this.

This is so un-Guardiola.

'Forget about positioning, just shoot by feeling.' Oh my god, it's unbelievable, this is what Guardiola, who was furious because he didn't receive the pass as required and scored directly, said.

Perhaps because he was forced to this point, or perhaps because this was his last season at Manchester City, Guardiola hoped that he would make good use of the remaining time... The fourth official raised the substitution sign, the ball was dead, Fernandinho went straight off the field, and Aguero accelerated onto the field without thinking about anything else.

Goal, goal.

He should only have one idea now.

【Ah, changing the formation at this time, it can be said that Manchester City and Guardiola are forced into a desperate situation, Zhang Zhi, do you think a miracle can still happen? 】

[Of course, this is possible. No one can predict what will happen on the field. For example, at the beginning of the game, who would have thought that Manchester City, which has been so powerful throughout the season, would be the one being suppressed? And Guardiola's desperate formation of 5 forwards was definitely something no one expected at the beginning.]

[Yes, there is no shortage of miracles in football. It is possible that Manchester City will score a goal now. ]

[With Batistuta, Foden and Silva being kept under surveillance, putting Aguero on the field might be a good idea. Although fans say he only has 60% of his energy and may not be able to withstand Manchester United's tall defense, he can go to the front field to stir things up and disrupt Manchester United's defense so that they don't know how to defend and who to defend. That would give Manchester City a chance.]
[Manchester United defended the entire game, so it is very likely that they made a mistake in the end, just like Bayern in 12 and Paris in 16, both of which were breached in the end. They must be careful, because at this critical moment, a little slackness may lead to a big mistake.]

3 minutes left.

Everyone was in a tense state, and everyone tacitly agreed not to say a word.

Manchester City's midfielder took the ball and attacked. B Silva received the ball and passed it to Batistuta. Batistuta then went to the right to try to find an opportunity. This time it was not Augustus, but Theo. He blocked the position and kicked the ball out of the sideline.

However, Batistuta was well prepared and did not force a save but kicked the ball into Theo's leg. The linesman raised the flag and the out-of-bounds ball was awarded to Manchester City.

After quickly taking the ball from the caddie, Batty stood on the sidelines to observe the situation on the court and quickly planned his deployment in his mind.

Don't waste time, but don't do useless work either.

He saw that Aguero and Foden's positions in the middle were slightly overlapping, while Maguire and McTominay, who were responsible for marking, seemed to have some differences in the arrangements and their positioning was not good. If Foden and Aguero started in the opposite direction at the same time, there might be a gap.

"Back, back!"

At that moment, he believed that the players in the frontcourt understood what he meant.

Batty threw the ball out of bounds.

De Bruyne received the ball, but due to Manchester United's defensive strategy, the defense line did not want to rush for it. He immediately adjusted and passed the ball to B席, who dribbled horizontally after receiving the ball. Augustus wanted to defend him, but when he saw De Bruyne advancing, he gave up on B席 and retreated directly to block De Bruyne.

“He’s going to shoot!”
"Seal! Seal!"
"Watch your arms! Keep them tight!"

But it's wrong.

B Silva faked a shot and then passed the ball.

Just a few seconds after he dribbled, Foden started to the wing, taking away Manchester United's defensive players on the wing. Batistuta made a fake move to the flank, attracting the attention of Theo and B Fee, leaving only Aguero.

The Argentine striker, wandering on the offside line, was unmarked at this time.

"Why is there no one there! Hurry--"

But by the time Augustus discovered the gap, it was too late. Aguero received the pass from B Silva and shot. The timer showed that it was 89 minutes and 32 seconds. The whole audience stopped breathing at this moment.

【coming! 】

'Boom—'

The ball was not moving very fast, but it had some rotation, and there was grass and dirt flying in the air. De Gea judged the direction correctly and stretched out his foot to block it.

89 minutes 33 seconds.

The ball went past De Gea and hit the inside of the post and went into the net.

In an instant, the stadium was noisy again.

[Oh! The ball goes in! ! Aguero! 1-1! Manchester City equalized the score at the last minute! It's time to go into overtime, and the Blue Moon Army has bought themselves 30 minutes of extra time! Can they use this last minute to win the championship trophy? ]

The regular time has expired and both sides entered overtime.

"Are you okay?" De Bruyne asked as there were still a few minutes of hydration time before the start of overtime.

"You should ask yourself this. I still have 100% power." Batty raised his eyebrows at him, and then sipped water from the water bottle. Maybe because he was too nervous or something, he didn't realize that he was holding the water bottle upside down.

De Bruyne reached out and straightened him up.

“I may be old, but I’m not confused yet,” he quipped.

Batistuta drank the water, washed his hands, and then rolled his eyes at De Bruyne. "Keep it up. Another 30 minutes, one goal, and we'll win."

De Bruyne remained noncommittal.

"Do you think they'll continue to defend?" he asked.

Batistuta quickly glanced at the Manchester United players not far away, and found Mourinho and his assistant, as well as Augustus and B Fee who were in a heated discussion.

"I think so," Batty said.

It is impossible for Manchester United to attack now. As long as they have that intention, they will basically be sentenced to death, so yes, they are most likely to continue to defend in overtime and then look for an opportunity (Manchester City's mistake) to steal one, which is the safest for Mourinho.

"Keep going." Batty threw the water bottle to the ground. "Try harder. They have no more tricks."

……

Batistuta was right. In the extra time, Manchester United did not intend to attack as a whole. Manchester City continued to attack their defense with a five-forward lineup. In the 106th minute, Manchester City won a corner kick.

De Bruyne was about to take a penalty kick, and Batistuta went to the goal area. He saw that Manchester United's players were relaxing. Everyone was guarding against high attacks, pushing and shoving each other, and no one was paying attention to the corner flag area and the sky.

This is an opportunity.

Then Batty suddenly had an idea.

"Kevin, Kevin! Let me do it." He called out to De Bruyne, who had already positioned the ball in the corner flag area, "You go to the perimeter, I'll do this."

As he said this, Batty tried to wink at the Belgian.

De Bruyne was stunned for half a second. Batistuta saw it clearly, but he swore that no one from Manchester United saw it. This was a good sign.

"Give me a front spot." Batty waved and asked.

He knew that De Bruyne understood what he meant, so he shrugged and walked back naturally, which was no different from an ordinary substitution penalty.

Just a little bit.

De Bruyne walked halfway and quickly turned back to the corner flag area, catching everyone off guard, including the Manchester City players.

[What is Ding Ding going to do? ]

The Belgian midfielder quickly kicked the ball, but instead of lifting the ball up, he kicked it a tactical ball on the ground.

"Varied--"
"Attention please!"

This direction is just right.

Of course, it wasn't De Bruyne's precise calculation or anything, but Batistuta had positioned himself in advance and gestured to him.

【coming! ! 】

Batistuta shot directly without stopping the ball. He was not nervous at all. In these few seconds, he believed in himself and in the tactical coordination between himself and De Bruyne.

He believed that the ball would go in.

The main body of the white ball drew an arc in the air and hit the upper right corner of the goal, while everyone in front of the goal, including goalkeeper De Gea, stood there like wooden stakes without any reaction.

[The ball went in! The ball went in! 107 minutes! Manchester City came back from the dead! 2-1 overtaken! ]

"Ohhhhhhhh! Kevin!" Batistuta turned and ran towards De Bruyne, jumping on him. "I knew you could understand!"

It was not until more than ten seconds later when De Bruyne let Batistuta down from the tree that others realized what had happened. The Manchester United players quickly surrounded the referee to question the ball, but to no avail.

Whether it is the boss rules or the new rules, the goal is valid.

……

In the last few minutes, Manchester United finally woke up and started to counterattack, but it was too late. If they had woken up ten minutes earlier, there might be hope. Stones, Dias, and Ederson, they were like guardian angels to ensure that Manchester City's goal was not lost.

[beep——]
The final whistle sounded.

[The game is over! Manchester City defeated Manchester United 2-1 to win the championship! The winner of the 20-21 English FA Cup is - Manchester City! ]

Just as the whistle sounded, Batistuta led everyone to rush towards the fan area above the back goal. On the way, he bumped into Ederson and stumbled. Fortunately, Stones came to help and grabbed Batistuta's waist to help stabilize him.

"Great! Great!! I saw your last goal-line save, John!" Batty hugged Stones' neck and kissed his forehead, "Thank you, Johnny, you have half of that trophy!"

Stones accepted Batty's praise.

"What about the rest!" he asked loudly, and then he changed his position and hugged Batty, "Hey! Come here! The creator of the winning goal! Let's throw him up! Throw him into the sky!"

"Oh oh oh-"
"it is good!"
"I'm coming!!"

Just before his body was in the air, Batistuta broke free from Stones' arms and stopped the others. He raised his arm and pointed at Aguero who was hidden in the crowd.

"He's the one who should be lifted up!" Batistuta said loudly, "Without Kun's equalizer, there would be no overtime, and without overtime, there would be no goal for me, Aguero!! The Blue Moon Killer! Let's throw him up to the sky!"

Aguero:!

The Argentine striker was horrified. He had originally wanted to watch the show, but in the end the show fell upon him.

“Hey – wait! Aa ...

At Batistuta's instigation, Manchester City players rushed forward, directly lifting Aguero's feet off the ground. Then the perspective rotated, and the scene in front of him changed from the noisy stands to the sky.

“Hey! Stop it, or we’re going to fall apart! Ah!”

After several rounds of throwing, the playful kids finally put Aguero down until he was about to see stars. But that was not the end yet. Batistuta stretched out his hand, screamed a few times, and pounced on Aguero.

"Let's build a human mountain!!"

Aguero: !!
Batistuta lay on the Argentine striker, listening to the barking and cheering of various people, and he quietly leaned into the other person's ear.

"We won, Kun, we won," he said. "In two weeks, we will be recorded in history forever."

Aguero struggled to look up and look into Batistuta's eyes.

"Yes," he believed, "we will."

"so--"

Aguero saw Batistuta's lips tremble and heard him say, "Just, don't leave."

(End of this chapter)