[Football] Bad Boy Batty

[…My physical condition forced me to make this decision. A month and a half ago, I found out about my heart problem and the doctor told me that the best option was to stop playing football. 10 days ago, I made the decision not to continue playing professional football. This was a very difficult decision. I have played here for 11 years and have many good memories here that I will never forget. I love you! ]

On December 12, the 11th round of the Premier League, the 16th Manchester Derby in history was about to begin. Manchester City played against the visiting Manchester United at home. Before the game, they held a farewell ceremony for Aguero, the Blue Moon killer who announced his retirement on Tuesday due to heart reasons.

Looking at the photos on the screen that carry countless memories from 2010 to the present, and listening to the applause of support from the fans in the stands, the Argentine striker, holding a bouquet of flowers, choked up several times.

In the stands, two familiar figures wearing Brazilian jerseys appeared.

"Hey, what a big deal! The epidemic is finally over and I saved up some money to watch a game in person, but I happened to see A Kun retiring." The curly-haired boy sighed while holding a telescope.

"I thought you were here to see your baby Batty," the friend teased.

"What's wrong with coming to see Batistuta? Can't you just come to see Batistuta and feel sad about Tsubasa Ozora retiring?" The curly-haired boy hit his friend. "Besides, you're not Batistuta baby anymore. You have to call him the King of Manchester City."

"Oh, yes, yes," agreed the friend.

[——In addition to telling you that I am retiring today, I have another very important announcement to make, which is who will be the No. 10 in the future.]

"Yes!" The curly-haired boy was as excited as if he had discovered a new world. "Aguero has retired, but Manchester City still has the No. 10 jersey. Now it should be given to Batistuta. The true king should wear No. 10."

"But haven't we already registered for this season?" My friend said again, "It seems that the Premier League does not allow players to change their numbers mid-season."

The curly-haired boy was stunned for a moment. "I remember that it cannot be changed, but there must be player transfers. Now Aguero is going to retire, which is equivalent to canceling his status as a professional player. The English Football Association should not stop it." He said.

That makes sense, my friend nodded.

"And then?" He snatched the binoculars from his curly-haired friend, "Why don't you announce it? Who will it be given to?"

[I won’t tell you who will be the future No. 10 now. We will announce it after the game is over.]

"Ah..." The friend returned the telescope, "You really keep us in suspense."

"I don't think we're keeping people on suspense." The curly-haired boy picked up the telescope again. "For Manchester City, this is not just a derby, but a battle for the future that must be won."

Yes, must win.

In the player tunnel, Batistuta was standing there with a serious face. He was more nervous than in any previous league game.

Aguero's heart problem is not very good, and he can't even sustain the strength to play a game as his farewell match. So today, in a sense, is his last game.

Manchester City must win no matter what.

No matter how you win or how beautiful the process is.

But that was not easy. Griezmann's joining made the French people in the Red Devils start to produce a wonderful chemical reaction. Not only was the defense airtight, but the speed of transition between offense and defense was also very fast.

So far this season, Manchester United has not lost or even tied a game, 3-1 Tottenham, 2-0 Chelsea, 2-1 Liverpool, 4-1 Arsenal. Now it's Manchester City's turn.

If they win, Manchester United will create a new legend. If they lose, Manchester City will kill Manchester United's hopes of winning all the games in the season.

Batty doesn't want to lose.

He felt his fingertips going numb, and as he swung his hands, he bumped into the Portuguese striker who had just come out of the locker room in high spirits.

"Hey!" Ronaldo greeted in a good mood, "We haven't contacted each other since I returned to the UK. You should come and see my lawn and swimming pool. It's great for a party there. I'm sure you'll love it!"

Batistuta gave him a fake smile: "Are you really from Manchester United? You flirted with the Manchester City captain before the derby. Guess what Sky Sports will say about you today, what will Neville say about you?"

"Why are you so serious? I thought we were friends." It seemed that the consecutive wins really made him happy. "I like my new yard very much, so I shared it with you. Even if you are the captain of Manchester City, I can still invite you to my celebration party."

what!
Is this a provocation?

Batistuta turned to look at him, first examining him from head to toe, then crossed his arms, deliberately exposing the side with the captain's armband.

"I don't think you can make the decision, Chris." He teased with a hint of sarcasm, "At least in Manchester City, where to hold the celebration party is decided by the chairman, coach and captain."

Ronaldo was choked back, and it was obvious that he was trying not to care, but Batistuta could feel that he was glancing at his captain's armband.

As for the affairs of the Manchester United dressing room, ever since Augustus gave Pogba a good beating, no one dared to leak a word to the newspapers, so no one knows how they talked about the captain after the Portuguese returned at the beginning of the season.

Even when asked by reporters, Ronaldo and Augustus did not give a direct answer.

But no matter how it was resolved, in short, Augustus Rothschild is still the captain of Manchester United. Many people speculate that he did this so that he could shake hands with Batistuta as captain in the game. Of course, he has not responded to these questions.

"What is the point of asking a question when the answer is almost obvious?" Augustus said.

C Ronaldo ruffled Batistuta's hair.

"Do you still want to come to my party, Batistuta? If you say that again, I won't invite you." He joked, "Including today's after-game and Christmas (party). This is my first holiday back in the Premier League, so I have to enjoy it."

"You'd better not." Batty patted Ronaldo's arm and gave him a sunny smile, "Otherwise I will bring people to destroy the place."

"Do you know?"

"Of course I won't." Batistuta looked up and made eye contact with him. "I'll start by giving you your first defeat of the season today. What do you think, Cristiano?"

This was the first time that Ronaldo met Batistuta on the field in recent years. He was surprised at the opponent's growth and the strong hostility before the game.

From their previous encounters, he had thought he was the gentle and enthusiastic type.

But of course, after 20 years as a professional player, he was not intimidated by the young men in front of him, even if they called him the King.

"Do you always rush like this before the game?" Ronaldo asked.

"Yeah, you'd better treat me like a barrel of dynamite before the game starts." Batty raised his head and raised his eyebrows at him, "Don't mess with me."

The two looked at each other.

It was as if an electric current was flowing through the air.

"What are you doing?" A frivolous voice came, and Augustus suddenly put his hand on the shoulders of Batistuta and Ronaldo. He looked around at them and said, "If I don't come, what are you going to do next? Kiss?" This guy is a troublemaker. He has ruined all the smoke of the derby.

Batty rolled his eyes, shook off his arm and stepped back. "Your player provoked me," he said. "Control him."

He had intended to annoy the two people in front of him with this sentence, but he forgot that the Frenchman in front of him wanted him to do so.

"Oh, Batistuta, dear, you said Chris provoked you?" Augustus let go of Ronaldo and stood between him and Batistuta, using his body to block the line of sight between the two.

"Putting everything aside, are you not at all wrong?" He tried to reach out and touch Batistuta's face but was knocked away, but he didn't mind at all, "I know you feel bad today, Aguero..."

"Shut up." Batty interrupted Augustus rudely, "I don't want to hear a word from you, get out of my sight."

And don't waste his favorability towards him which has just increased to a positive number because of that face.

"You haven't heard what I want to say yet." Augustus pretended to be heartbroken. "I just want to say - I'm sorry that Aguero retired. If you need a cardiologist, a top-notch one, you can come to me and I'll help introduce him."

Oh.
This surprised Batty a little.

"Thank you, but no thanks." He thanked me carefully. "Rather than that, you should focus on the game. I will stop you from breaking our record."

"Okay." Augustus smiled maliciously again, "How about we make another bet? If we win this time, you have to kiss me."

Batty looked at him for two seconds.

"Eat shit." After saying that, he turned and went to the front of the line.

It seems that the reasons for having to win have increased.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo looked at Augustus with surprise, "You - you really said that." He said he would kiss him if he won the game.

"What's wrong?" Augustus looked at Ronaldo strangely, "Don't you want him to kiss you?"

In the atmosphere just now?
Obviously not.

"...Okay." Ronaldo shrugged. He had only heard that this guy had something against Batistuta, but today he saw it in person.

Augustus was still looking at him.

"Well, you're right." Ronaldo raised two thumbs up a little uncomfortably, "Good luck in the game."

Now Augustus finally stopped looking at him and followed Batti to the passage entrance, continuing to harass the opponent while fulfilling his duties as captain.

C Luo whistled silently.

He agreed with Batistuta that Augustus was a lunatic, but thinking of those soft and kissable lips, the Portuguese began to look forward to the bet.

It must be funny to see Buddy's fur flare up, he thought.

To some extent, he and his fellow co-star, the Argentine, share the same ideas.

Further inside the passage, two people wearing red and blue jerseys watched the entire process with almost identical blank expressions on their faces.

"Well, I don't know what else to say," Neymar said dryly. "Keep playing, we all should."

"Well, we won all the games this season. We won't let you down just because Aguero retires, so -" Mbappe's voice was equally dry, "Keep up the game."

……

[…Good evening, audience friends, welcome to watch the 21th round of the 22-16 Premier League season. The much-anticipated Manchester Derby will be held today at Manchester City’s home stadium, the Etihad Stadium.]

【Two generations of two stars, competing on the same stage, this is a game that the whole world is watching. Ronaldo and Messi, Mbappe and Batistuta, as well as the captains of both teams who are teased by fans as old rivals, Neymar and Mbappe who were once teammates, Messi and Griezmann, plus the Hernandez brothers, although Lucas did not make the starting lineup today. 】

[The combined value of the starting lineups of both teams is nearly 30 billion euros. As some fans have said, what we see is like piles of running money.]

[Judging from the performance this season, Manchester United is better. After going through the crisis of confidence last season, the madman has restrained himself. Coupled with the adjustments made to the team in the summer window, Manchester United is now in a very comfortable state. ]

[But we can't jump to conclusions about the outcome yet. For Manchester City, this is their farewell match to the legendary striker Aguero, and it is also a derby match, so they have reasons to win. This summer, we just witnessed Messi lead the team to win the America's Cup, and we also saw the growth of Batistuta, the new captain of Brazil and also the captain of Manchester City. I believe that at a critical moment, someone will stand up. ]

[Okay, now the players from both teams have entered the court, and the game will start soon.]

'Ding--'

The referee tossed a coin.

Batistuta guessed the numerical side and was the first to choose the side. Then he shook hands with the members of the referee team respectively, and finally exchanged team flags with Augustus and shook hands for a photo.

Manchester City must win, he thought, they can lose to anyone but not Manchester United.

[beep——]
[Okay, with the referee's whistle, the game officially begins. The United teams are all wearing traditional home jerseys. The one attacking from the left side of the screen to the right is Manchester City, and the one attacking from the left is Man——Ah?! This ball? ? Goal? It's only been——less than a minute, De Bruyne's world wave in the midfield, De Gea's butter hands gave Manchester City a goal! ]

The surprise in the commentator's voice was about to overflow, and the fans at the scene hadn't reacted yet, and someone had just walked up to the seats with a hot dog.

Not to mention the fans, even the players on the field didn't know what was going on.

The electronic display screen of Etihad perfectly captured the scene where Mbappe's mouth opened into an O shape and he couldn't believe it, and he kept pulling Griezmann beside him to ask what happened.

And Batty.

The broadcast camera quickly found him and saw the Manchester City captain stunned for 5 seconds, then quickly turned into a shadow. In the slow-motion replay, people could see how he gradually grinned and laughed as he pounced on De Bruyne.

【Just 49 seconds into the game, Manchester City leads 1-0! Oh my god, this game is going to be great! 】

(End of this chapter)