[Football] Bad Boy Batty

"Don't deny it, Leo, I know you and Kun have a child, and we've found him, right Julian! Look, he smiles just like you!"

On the training ground, the players were doing free training in separate places. They had just finished their stage-by-stage special exercises and would soon start competing in groups for laps.

Batistuta kept teasing Messi and Alvarez. Even though the temperature in the UK was terribly low in early February, he was still shivering with cold even though he wore a thick hat, gloves and warm underwear. This could not destroy his interest in having fun.

Messi has almost become immune to his jokes, but sometimes they can still be annoying, especially in such extremely cold weather, and few South Americans can resist complaining.

"How cute, little Spider." Batty whistled teasingly, "Seeing him is like seeing you and Kun when you were young."

The Argentine shook his head helplessly: "When I was his age, I never met a senior as annoying as you on the training ground."

"Senior? No, no, I'm only one year older than him." Batty adjusted his gloves, "Hey Julian! Kick the ball over here, let me see your pass."

Alvarez obediently kicked a high ball and made a long pass to Batistuta with good accuracy. However, this was on the training ground without any external interference. It would be amazing if he could maintain this accuracy in the real game.

Batistuta gave a thumbs up to show praise, then quickly passed the ball to Messi next to him. The two cooperated with each other under the interference of the coach, and finally Batistuta kicked the ball into the small goal in the front right, and this set of training was completed.

"By the way, Batistuta." Messi suddenly changed the subject, "Are you watching Kun's live broadcast?"

"I watch it occasionally, what's wrong?"

"I saw him live streaming on an app called Twitch. I downloaded it and logged in, but I couldn't figure out how it worked. I could open Kun's live streaming, but I couldn't leave a message." Messi raised his question.

"Ha, you must have logged into the guest account. The guest account can only read, not leave messages." Batty bent down and rubbed his cold calves. "I thought you were very good at these things. How come you haven't learned anything from being with Kun every day?"

“We don’t always watch electronic products when we are together. Sometimes he will watch it and I will wait for him to fix it.” Messi touched his nose, “So, Twitch, can you fix it?”

"Of course." Batty agreed easily, "That's easy, it will be done in a few minutes - how long do we have left to start stealing the laps?"

"I don't know, but..." Messi looked up at the sidelines. Guardiola was still talking and gesturing with his assistant, which meant that he would not organize training for at least a while. "About 10 minutes, is that enough?"

"It's enough for you to register and leave messages." Batistuta talked to the coach and pulled Messi to the sidelines to take out his phone. "I guess you don't know that you have to watch Twitch's live broadcast for 10 minutes before you can leave a message. Don't worry, I will help you subscribe to his channel and set it as a special attention. When he starts broadcasting, I will send you a push notification."

"Thank you!" Messi thanked sincerely, and then used himself to block Guardiola's sight. He didn't like players being distracted on the training ground.

For the internet-addicted youth of the new era, it is easy to organize a live broadcast. The Argentine only had to lower his head to fiddle with his shoelaces while Batistuta helped him register and log in.

"Okay, it's connected." Batistuta threw the phone back to Messi, "But he hasn't started yet. When there's a push message in the notification bar, click on it. Watch for 10 minutes and then leave a message."

Messi expressed his sincere thanks again.

But he didn't know at that time that when he handed the matter over to Batti, Batti also got hold of his account and password (the little bastard also turned off the remote login reminder by the way), so, what would happen next?

"Bati! Leo! What are you two doing!!" Guardiola's angry voice came, "Go back and warm up, and put your phone down! I said no mobile phones during training!"

The two of them tilted their heads and curled their lips in tacit understanding. They all knew that they shouldn't look at their phones during training, but now they were not training. They were just using their break time to do something. It was too strict.

"I know, I know!" Batty waved his hand, then threw the phone far away in anger, "We'll go back now!"

Guardiola was not very angry at first, but his captain's action of throwing his phone angered him, so he snatched the football from the assistant coach next to him and kicked it very hard at the little bastard.

Don't underestimate the core of the midfield during the Dream Team's Barcelona era.

"Be careful."

As the football broke through the air, Messi grabbed Batistuta's arm and pulled him, just enough to allow his head to avoid the coach's attack, but Batistuta subconsciously turned his head to look at the ball, which was not a wise move.

“Ah! Hiss——”

Batty gave a short exclamation, then squatted down with his hands covering his face. Just now, the ball bounced off the ground in front of his toes and hit his jaw and the corner of his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Messi quickly bent down to check on him, then cast a disapproving look at Guardiola from a distance.

The Manchester City captain was not very cooperative. He just squatted there like a mushroom, covering his face and shaking his head.

"Hey, let me see." Messi also squatted down. He grabbed Batistuta's wrist and let him show his face like peeling an onion. Then he slowly reached out and lifted his chin and turned it to both sides. "It's okay, just a little red, not scratched."

Every movement is filled with a hint of pampering.

"Something's wrong." Batty raised his eyes and complained softly, "Do you think I'm not hurt? No, my hurt is in my heart."

Uh--

This was an answer Messi did not expect.

But there is also a good thing, which is enough to prove that his captain is indeed not injured.

The Argentine held out his hand to him: "Come on, get up, I'll take you to Pep to argue with him. If he wants to scold you again, I have a way. We can drive straight home."

Batistuta nodded. Guardiola looked at the two generations of his favorite players coming towards him aggressively, and he felt extremely uneasy. At this moment, he suddenly regretted his decision.

……

In early March, a hurricane hit the British Isles again. The temperature did not change much, but the rainfall increased significantly. According to common sense, the popularity of the Golden Globe Awards should have passed long ago, but the popularity of the Golden Globe winner has increased instead of decreased.

The main reason is that he hasn't been having a good time recently.

During this period, Manchester City failed to win any game. First, they drew with Southampton away, then were equalized by Arsenal at home, lost to Manchester United in the League Cup final, and then were overturned by Chelsea in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

The only thing worth celebrating is that the Blue Moon Army successfully defeated Sporting CP twice and advanced to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and their next opponent is Atletico Madrid.

In the middle of the month, on Batistuta's 23rd birthday, unfortunately, Manchester City got another draw. They traveled to the away game but were equalized by Tottenham again.

It seems like they have been cursed by the London team this season.

What's worse is that Manchester United next door has never lost to any team in the league. They are at the top of the list with 84 points, and have a 9-point gap with Liverpool, which is in second place. If they can maintain this gap in another month, it will be their first time to top the Premier League in 9 years.

On the day when they defeated Liverpool 5-3 and established an absolute advantage, which was also the day when Manchester City drew with Tottenham, Augustus sent a message to Batistuta, hoping with a hint of boasting that he could cheer up, as Manchester United was waiting for them to snatch the championship.

After looking at the text message for a long time, Batty finally got so angry that he chose to block it.

Speaking of which, this is the second time that the King of Manchester City has failed to win a game on his birthday since joining the team. The last time was in the 19-20 season, when they lost to Manchester United in the second round of the Manchester derby, and then the city was closed due to the epidemic.

Manchester City ended up with nothing that season.

This also seems to reflect their future fate this season, which is destined not to be so glorious.

"Why are you so depressed, Batistuta? This is unlike you." In his living room, De Bruyne hugged the little king tightly in his arms, then rested his chin on the other's head and rubbed it slowly, "Even if we have nothing, we still have the Champions League."

Batty buried his head in his chest, pressed his lips against his sweatshirt, and then blew hard through the fabric. This was a little game he often used to relieve stress.

"I don't understand, Kevin. I really don't."

After a few minutes, he finally looked up at the Belgian midfielder. Burying his head for so long made his whole body radiate heat, and De Bruyne moved his throat.

"What don't you understand?" he asked.

"We have so many good players, not much different from last season, and we have Messi, so why are the results so bad?" Batistuta blew away the hair that was in the way. "I read a lot of commentators' explanations, but none of them convinced me."

"Why won't we have bad results with Messi?" De Bruyne grasped the point. "He is a human being, a professional player like us. He is not a god. He can't decide the game."

"I know, what I mean is -" Batty hesitated and thought for a long time, and then swallowed the second half of the sentence, "Anyway, I don't understand why."

"Maybe Pep's tactics have been studied thoroughly," De Bruyne said. "In the past, I mean 10 years ago, a new tactic could be used for at least three seasons, but now it's not possible. The pace is too fast now. They will crack this new tactic in just one season or less."

Batistuta knew that he was talking about Guardiola's tactical intention of having the full-backs retract to act as defensive midfielders. Indeed, in recent years, this lineup is the one they have used for a long time.

"Then we can only pray." He licked the corner of his mouth, "I hope Pep will not let us down and come up with new tactics or improve old ones as soon as possible to break the limitations of other teams."

Their players really have nothing to say about this matter.

They have tried their best and done their best. The rest is not up to them.

"Come and do it, Kevin?" Batty hugged De Bruyne's waist and tightened his knees. "I think this is the only thing that can make me forget the bad things and relax."

"No, Batistuta, that's not what you need." De Bruyne rejected his invitation.

"Why do you say that?" Batty looked up at him. "I know what I need, and this is what I want now."

"Sex can't solve everything," De Bruyne said. "You have to find other ways to calm yourself down. How about we have a fight? Will that make you feel better?"

Batty scoffed. "That won't make me feel any better, Kevin, but if you want to start rough sex with a quarrel, I'd be happy to play along."

"…You are 23 years old today, Barty, think of something like a mature adult."

"Mature adults should do this." Barty pinched the tip of his head in dissatisfaction. Seeing that he didn't react, Barty rolled his eyes slightly, and then he stood up, "Okay, I won't argue with you about this. You don't want to do it? It doesn't matter, I can go find someone else. There are many people who want me-hey!"

Suddenly, upside down, Batty was pressed on the sofa.

"Why, have you changed your mind?" the king asked with his red eyes raised.

"No, I said, you have to change your approach." De Bruyne did not change his mind as Batistuta thought. He reached out and pinched the captain's cheek. "Start with a hug and a nap. Come on, follow me."

(End of this chapter)