[Football] Bad Boy Batty

I like teams like Manchester City, their control of the field, and their efforts to win the ball back. Did you see what they did last season? They won all the games, which is what all coaches and players want. I have no doubt that Manchester City has very good players, maybe they are better than us, but these are two games, everything can happen.
—— Diego Simeone, head coach of Atletico Madrid, interview before the Champions League quarter-final match between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid.

……

Despite the disappointment in the domestic league, this does not affect Manchester City from becoming the favorite in the Champions League. Before the match with Atletico Madrid, the Blue Moon Army ranked first with a probability of winning nearly 40%, surpassing Manchester United next door and Bayern in the Bundesliga. After all, Manchester City's dominance in the Champions League in the past five years is obvious to all.

However, Atletico Madrid is no pushover either. Although the two teams met in the European Super Cup two seasons ago and Manchester City won, Atletico Madrid still has a slight advantage when looking at the record of the two teams' confrontations.

In the eyes of fans, Guardiola's Manchester City is undoubtedly the representative of the spear, and the most sharp attacking team in the entire world of football, without a doubt. Simeone's Atletico Madrid is the representative of the shield, and is the best defensive team in the top five leagues this season. It ranks first in the La Liga standings, 5 points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid.

Therefore, this confrontation is a veritable battle between spear and shield.

在此前的欧冠淘汰赛中，瓜迪奥拉仅碰到过西蒙尼1次, 那次还要追溯到15-16赛季, 由瓜迪奥拉率领的德甲巨人拜仁慕尼黑做客0-1不敌对手, 回到主场虽奋力取胜，但最终以总比分2-2，客场进球少遗憾出局。

So this game can be regarded as Guardiola's revenge battle in the Champions League.

On the day of the match, the Etihad Stadium was packed. Half an hour before the start of the game, it suddenly started to rain heavily and the temperature dropped a lot.

"Damn, I really shouldn't believe the weather in the UK in April. Who has extra gloves - oh, I found them." Batistuta complained and stuffed his almost frozen hands into B席's collar.

Although it was cold, he was in a good mood today. Rumor has it that the committee will present his godfather Edmundo with a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars ceremony to be held at the end of April. Although the Oscars have become more commercial in recent years, it is still an important award.

"Ah!! Take it out, take it out! Your hands are like ice!" The Portuguese screamed and tried to jump away, but Batistuta grabbed his neck with his backhand.

"Let me stay a little longer, Bernardo. My legs are cold too." Batty hung on him like a spoiled child. "I'll make the ball for you later."

"I'll thank God if you don't force me to play for you." B Seat didn't dare to resist (he didn't have that much strength) and could only say, "You are so afraid of the cold, why don't you remember to put on more pants."

"Who knew it would suddenly rain today?"

"That's not a reason for you to bully me, dear King."

"Listen, so you know I'm the king." Batty said as a matter of course, "In that case, isn't it your job to warm your king's hands?"

"Oh my God, Batistuta, it's rare that Kyle isn't on the roster today, why do you have to ruin my wonderful time!" B席 pinched the back of Batistuta's hand through his jersey to get him away from his skin, even though it was the same temperature as his. "Why don't you warm up to keep warm? There are still 20 minutes!"

Batty let go of one hand and patted the face of the public punching bag in the locker room in front of him, and gave his answer firmly: "No."

Seat B: …

"Stop, I mean you two." Guardiola walked in, waving a tablet in his hand with the newly announced Atletico Madrid starting lineup on it. "Our prediction before the game was good, 532--. They will indeed focus on defense. As long as we don't score, their goal will be achieved."

"Don't worry, Pep, we will score!" Batistuta whistled, "Even if they set up an iron bucket, we can make it leak!"

"Thanks for the blessing, Batistuta, I believe in you too." Guardiola made a downward gesture to signal his captain to be steady, "But we are facing Atletico Madrid today, which is different from any Premier League team we are familiar with. If they deliberately take away a 0-0 game and are willing to commit a hard foul for this, don't confront them head-on, understand."

Batty finally let go of B席: "You want me to be softer?"

"Yes, I want you to be gentler," Guardiola said. "Don't go up to the bull when you should lie on the grass. As long as they hurt you, just sit down. This is the best way to deal with the bus formation."

"I understand." Batistuta nodded in relief. "You've seen me ask for a yellow card, and you know what my godfather does. Believe me, if I want to hurt myself, no one can see it."

"That's one thing. My point is - they have five defenders and it's very difficult to break through." Guardiola first said to Batistuta, then looked at everyone, "Remember, boys, don't care about confrontation, yellow cards and set pieces are our primary goals, and this applies to every player who will play later."

He's too nervous, Batty thought.

Who makes him Guardiola? Even though they have reached the finals four times in five years in the Champions League and won three trophies, he still gets nervous when facing opponents in the knockout stage.

"Do you understand?" the head coach asked again.

So as a qualified captain, Batistuta led all the players to respond to Guardiola's request.

"Okay! You heard what Pep said!" He clapped his hands. "Let's go! Let's go teach these Madrid people a lesson!"

……

The words sound nice, but soon Simeone's Atletico Madrid taught them a lesson.

[Oh my god, I can't believe my eyes! Before the game, we expected Simeone to defend, and taking 1 point from Etihad would be a victory for them, but I think no one expected that he would use such an extreme lineup to limit Manchester City! ]

The commentator was shocked, the fans were shocked, and even the players on the field couldn't believe it, especially Batistuta, who had never met such an opponent before.

Atletico Madrid began to change its formation just halfway through the first half.

On the back line, five players, including Fosalico, Savic, Felipe, Reinildo and Lodi, were lined up from right to left, with three midfielders, Llorente, Combiado and Koke in front of them. The two forwards Felix and the newly joined Depay retreated from the front line to the midfield, and the five of them were also lined up in a row.

It changed from 532 to 550.

In order to limit Manchester City's forward line, Simeone actually deployed a 550 formation, which was as shocking as Italy's 901 back then.

Depay and Felix, who were originally in the front, made a few small attacks on Manchester City's defense at the beginning of the game, and then quickly retreated to the midfield to participate in the defense. Almost all 10 players were gathered in their own half, leaving no gap for Manchester City.

And they made targeted defenses against Messi and De Bruyne who were active in the midfield.

A complete iron bucket formation.

【From a tactical point of view, Atletico Madrid, who are defending with all their strength, will inevitably cause some obstacles to Manchester City. In addition, we can see that the referee has not called many fouls since the start of the game, which shows that the enforcement standards of this game are relatively loose. So the situation is actually favorable to Atletico Madrid. If they can bring back a 0-0 draw, Manchester City will probably be in trouble in the second round at their home stadium. 】

So how should Manchester City respond?

It's very simple. They flexibly change positions in the frontcourt to try to find space. Atletico can focus on one, two, or maybe three people, but they can't focus on everyone. When Batistuta and Messi are on the court at the same time, it is difficult to defend them completely.

Of course, there is also the set piece that Guardiola emphasized before the game.

In the 30th minute of the first half, B Silva dribbled the ball to the bottom line from the right and was blocked by the defender. Manchester City got a corner kick and De Bruyne took the kick.

Batistuta avoided the crowded front point and stood in the middle and back. Atletico defender Savic noticed him and stepped forward to defend. He grabbed Batistuta's jersey tightly and stood with his feet apart to block the position, trying to stop Batistuta from jumping at the moment the ball was sent.

"Let go! Stay away from me!" The Manchester City captain threatened in a low voice.

"You can't scare me, Brazilian boy." Savage laughed sinisterly, "Don't tell me how strong you are in the Premier League. Have you experienced the Premier League 10 years ago? I have."

"Is that a big deal?" Batty glanced at him disdainfully. "Maybe you want to say you should retire, abuelo (old man)."

Savage was furious. He cursed and pushed Batty's chest with his hand. Experience told him that this was the best way to mess with the opponent's mentality and it was not a foul. "Get out of here!" Batty pushed hard because he felt the pain.

"Puta, you didn't even have all your hair when I played for Manchester City!" Savage growled, "Someone should teach you what respect is!"

The referee turned a blind eye to the rivalry between the two. Just as the commentator said, today's standards were indeed a bit too lenient.

A few seconds later, De Bruyne took a corner kick and he chose the front point.

Batistuta failed to jump and was entangled with Savic. The first point was snatched by Llorente, who quickly cleared the ball. Midfielder Messi snatched the ball under the double-team and tried to get rid of the defender and shoot from a long distance, but at this moment Batistuta was pushed in the chest again by Savic. With almost no delay, Batistuta immediately fell down with his face covered.

Since he fell in the penalty area, the referee blew the whistle to suspend the game.

"I didn't touch him!" Savage shouted to the referee, "This guy is acting! It's diving, diving!!"

Although there was some acting involved in this fall, to a certain extent he was not wronged. Batty, who fell to the ground and covered his face in pain, was also crying out in pain in his heart. It was a burning pain in his chest, and that feeling was definitely not something that could be brought by grass. He must have been bleeding from the scratch that Savage had just made.

Perhaps considering the home field issue, after doing enough preparation (communicating with VAR), the referee showed Savage the first yellow card of the game.

"Oh my God!" Savage vented his anger on the Etihad turf, and then he turned to Batistuta, "You——"

Without waiting for him to do anything, Batistuta got up by himself. Of course, he did so after he saw the referee turned around.

"You!" Savage was stunned. "Look! I said he was pretending! You damn actor!"

Batty twitched his eyebrows at him.

Yes, he did, so what?

The Manchester City king raised his lips in disdain towards the Atletico Madrid defender and even mouthed: "Sue me!"

Savage was furious.

……

When a defensive team's central defender gets angry, it means they are not far from conceding a goal.

In the 40th minute of the first half, midfielders Messi and De Bruyne cooperated to open an opening on the right. The Belgian made a light pass, Batistuta and B Silva switched positions to the flank to create space. Savic stared at Batistuta and pounced on him. B Silva seized the opportunity and poked the ball lightly with his right foot through Savic's back.

Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Oblak's vision was obstructed and he was unable to make a save immediately. The ball flew into the lower left corner at a not too fast speed.

[The ball went in! In this duel between spear and shield, Manchester City's spear was the better one. Batistuta had 70% of the credit for this goal. The space he created in the flank and the attention he drew from Savic were the key. 1-0! Manchester City took the lead at home at the end of the first half! ]

After scoring the goal, B席 ran to the corner area and slid on his knees to celebrate.

Batistuta followed closely, and while on the way he did not forget to circle in front of the Atletico defender who was full of irritability and annoyance, he stretched out his index finger in a subtle way and pulled down his lower eyelid to make a face.

So what if the defense is strong.

Look at me, it's over.

Taunting Laman.

It was as if there was an atomic bomb in Savage's head. With a bang, the remaining rationality inside was blown to pieces. He was like a mad bull, with his nostrils flared, breathing heavily, and his eyes locked on Batty.

You're dead, boy!
……

Facts have proved that being too pretentious will lead to a beating. In the second half, Savage kept a close eye on Batty from the start.

In fact, Simeone had already noticed the conflict between his central defender and the opposing forward, but he did not stop it. Perhaps it was because of his own style or perhaps he did not expect any serious consequences. After the halftime break, Savic, who had a yellow card, was not replaced.

So in the 51st minute.

problem occurs.

【Let's take a look at this ball. Batistuta changes position to dribble the ball on the right side. There's De Bruyne in the middle, Messi at the back post, and Neymar also goes up there... Savage comes out to defend Batistuta. It seems that he still holds a grudge against the yellow card in the first half. Be careful, another yellow card will result in a red card - ah? ? ? Ouch! 】

Batistuta suddenly took the ball from the wing and Savage made a fierce tackle.

Because the direction changed in the second half, Manchester City's right attack came to their own bench halfway through the game. Savage made a tackle and directly kicked Batistuta out of the field.

The Manchester City captain screamed and rolled to the feet of the head coach.

As for Savage, he didn't seem to be apologetic at all.

"Get up! Get up!" He didn't even care about the ball, and ran straight to the fallen Batistuta and tried to imitate Otamendi's approach in the America's Cup to pull him up, "Smile, why don't you smile? I know you are pretending, stand up!!"

Can this be tolerated?
Tackle our king in front of our bench and all the coaches?
"What the hell do you want to do—"

The angry Manchester City substitutes rushed forward, and Savage was pushed and staggered several times. The surrounding Atletico players quickly came to support.

The place was in chaos.

The two sides engaged in a large-scale conflict on the sidelines.

"Go away, go away - don't touch him, don't - Batistuta! Batistuta!" Guardiola also rushed in and shouted. He rudely pushed away anyone who stood in front of him, "Quick, quick! Team doctor!"

Of course this cannot be blamed on him. No head coach can remain rational when seeing his beloved player being fiercely tackled just a few meters in front of him, not to mention that the Catalan in front of him has never been a gentle coach.

"Bati, Batistuta! How are you? Can you hear me?" Guardiola asked carefully while holding Batistuta's face.

The answer is no.

The surroundings were in chaos, and Batty's ears were even more chaotic. He didn't hear even a single word. From the moment Savage's studs touched him, there was only one thought left in his mind.

In the chaos, he vaguely saw the familiar bald head of the head coach.

So Batty freed one hand and grabbed his cuff.

"Pep, it hurts."

(End of this chapter)