[Football] Bad Boy Batty

When Qiaolin came back after finishing the call, she just saw Augustus leaving the room with a satisfied (?) look on his face, and he even greeted her.

The woman was stunned for 5 seconds, then she screamed, pushed open the door and rushed in.

"Bati! Batty are you okay!!!"

Fortunately, the terrible scene she had imagined did not appear. When she saw the light-haired young man lying in the bathtub, humming a song and playing with a pen like a magic wand, Qiao Lin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why are you so nervous?" Batty raised his eyebrows.

"I... I just saw that lunatic leave from here!" Qiao Lin finally straightened out her tangled tongue and nervously went to check on her friend. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

"No." Batty looked over lazily. Just now, when Augustus left, he helped him raise the water temperature. Now the temperature made him a little drowsy.

"Don't worry, he can't do anything to me, you know me, Jojo." The Manchester City King yawned and said, "Besides - I thought you would be happy, what's the saying? He and I are a cult couple, right?"

"Yeah," Qiao Lin recovered and pinched her temple. "Cult CP doesn't mean there are few people who produce food. Manchester City's two captains can also be considered popular. But no matter what, I am a fan of it, but real people are another matter. If he really takes advantage of me when I am here, then I can only die to apologize."

Batty was amused by her statement.

"That's so thoughtful. Thank you." He held out his hand to signal his friend to come over. "That guy just came in and did nothing except leave his signature on my plaster. He didn't even act like he wanted anything to happen."

Hearing this, Qiao Lin, like Batty just now, showed a skeptical expression. "Is this a new trick?" she asked, "Retreat to advance? Let you think he is normal and let down his guard before attacking? Maybe he has read "The Art of War". They Europeans like to do this."

Batty shrugged, indicating that he didn't know and didn't care.

"I don't care what other ideas he has. If he cheats on me or something, I will beat him up and then cut off the part of him that makes me unhappy and throw it into the sea to feed the fish," he said.

Uh, okay.
That's very Batty.

Qiao Lin pursed her lips and looked at the plaster splint. She immediately noticed the red one in the middle: "I heard about your idea of ​​tattooing those names on your body. What do you do now? Are you going to tattoo him too?"

Batty raised his foot and took a look, then raised the corner of his mouth.

"About this—" he said slowly, "I already have an idea. Believe me, the final result will satisfy everyone."

Make everyone happy?

Qiao Lin's eyebrows twitched uncontrollably. Seeing the little bastard like this, she knew that he must be up to something bad, so she stopped asking.

"Then let's change the subject." She said lightly, "How about helping me cosplay during the summer break? There's a new character in the game I play, Lu Ming Dayuemaru, who is very suitable for you. It just so happens that my live broadcast room also needs to increase its popularity."

Batti was not interested in the game character her friend mentioned, but considering that he would soon enter the stage between recovery from injury and resumption of training, and that this could indeed help her career, she agreed.

"I can help you cosplay, no problem," he said, "but we have to wait until the Champions League final is over and we win. Of course, I will also help you if we lose, but you may have to have a character with a sullen face throughout the whole process."

……

On the last day of May, the Champions League final was held grandly at the Stade de France on the outskirts of Paris, France. Batilla took Joline on a private plane to watch the game.

Now he can basically walk freely, but to be on the safe side, the team still equipped him with a wheelchair and crutches. Batty himself hates them and insists on not wanting to see them.

With almost 40 minutes to go, the Manchester City captain headed to the locker room to cheer on his players.

"I know a place. Before I was born, France beat Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final here." Batistuta leaned against the door frame and said, "But now it's not 1998, Manchester United is not the French team, and we are not the Brazilian team. I believe you can win a victory here."

It has been half a month since the semi-final against Real Madrid. With the return of many injured players, Manchester City is now almost the same team that terrified the whole of Europe last season.

On the other hand, Manchester United has not been doing well recently.

After a season of full staff, with the Champions League final approaching, Ronaldo missed the starting lineup due to a thigh strain, and Rashford also had some muscle problems. Rumor has it that Mourinho wanted Mbappe to play as center forward, but the Frenchman was reluctant. After hearing about this, his father went to the head coach's office, which led to a conflict.

At the same time, their defense is not stable. Maguire has a torn hip muscle and his return time is uncertain, but it will be next season at the earliest. Ashraf on the right was also reported to have left the field early during training, but there is no definite news yet on whether he will be replaced.

"What does this mean, everyone? This means that God is giving us a chance." Batty clapped his hands and said, "I know some of you don't believe in God, that's okay, just believe in yourself. God only gives you a possibility, and the final result is still in your hands."

"To be honest, before coming here, I thought about writing an article seriously to motivate you, but then I found that it would do nothing but dampen my passion." To ease the atmosphere, the Manchester City captain made a little joke.

"Friends, I have watched you train, tried various tactics, and endured pressure during this period. I have seen it all." Batistuta continued sincerely, "There is nothing to emphasize. What I want to tell you is that football is fair and hard work will never be in vain! I know what you have endured and I know what you deserve!"

"Tell me, say it out loud, what are you worth? Say it!"

"We deserve this victory!"
"We deserve that trophy!"
“We deserve it—to be champions!”

"Let's go!" The King of Manchester City raised his cane and pointed it in the direction of the stadium. "Go play, go win. We have been through too much this season. Manchester United took the domestic treble. Now, they are aiming for the last trophy. We will not let them succeed! That is our honor! Go and defend it!"

"That's our big-eared cup! It belongs in the color blue!"
"Don't let Manchester United succeed! Defend our honor!"
"Take the trophy!! Win! Win! Vamos!!"

Batty took out his mobile phone and showed everyone the personal homepage of a designer located in Paris.

"Who still remembers what we agreed on? Name, tattoo?" He shook his phone. "I've already made an appointment. The time is set for tonight and tomorrow morning. If we win the trophy, your hotel's name will appear on my thigh in tomorrow's group photo. Now-"

"What if?" Acting captain De Bruyne suddenly interrupted him, "Sorry, but this is not very rigorous, there is no if, tell him everyone! We will win the trophy!"

Amid the crowd's approval, the atmosphere in the locker room reached its climax.

Batty smiled with satisfaction.

"Go ahead, I'm waiting for your good news."

……

After saying goodbye to the team, Batistuta came to the top-floor box. The chairman was not there, probably because he was chatting with UEFA officials. However, Qiao Lin was there, and when she saw him come in, she waved the bag in her hand at him.

"I bought milk tea," she said, "half a cup with ice, and to prevent you from getting nervous, I replaced the grass jelly with taro balls that you need to chew."

"Nervous?" Batty sneered and took the milk tea. "The king is never nervous."

"Yeah, you're not nervous." Qiao Lin didn't take it seriously at all, and immediately teased: "I saw it, those words are written on your face: I'm not nervous."

Batty rolled his eyes at his friend, then came and stood in front of the glass window.

"Has the starting lineup been announced?" he asked. "It's announced." Niqiu had just taken the milk tea from Qiaolin when the boss suddenly asked him. He hurried over like an acrobat and handed the tablet to Batistuta. "C Ronaldo is indeed not on the bench, but Ashraf is on the bench. It feels like a smokescreen from Mourinho."

Batty looked at the formation diagram of both teams above.

It was not too surprising. Cancelo returned and guarded both sides with Walker. The central defenders were Ake and Dias. The midfield returned to the single defensive midfielder position. Messi started with De Bruyne. Neymar was on the left, Foden on the right, and B Silva was in the middle.

Manchester United's position is 4231, but Griezmann is the striker. Mourinho will not let him play as a striker. Behind him is Bruno Fernandes, Sterling and Mbappe are on both sides, Augustus and Fred are the double defensive midfielders, and the defense is unshakable, including Theo, Varane, Wan-Bissaka, and Ashraf.

"Pogba is not on the field?" Qiao Lin came over and asked.

"You know him?" Batty was a little surprised. "I thought you only cared about CP."

"Uh, yes, I watch the news too." Qiao Lin said rather guiltily. In fact, she knew him from the fan fiction about Pogba and Griezmann. "I thought he was very strong." Qiao Lin added.

"He played well before," Batistuta said, "but then he started to go downhill and had a falling out with the head coach. It's understandable that Mourinho no longer uses him, given his temper."

and so.

Today's focus is still on the defensive midfielder.

For Manchester City, attacking Fred is a good choice, forcing Augustus to come out to fill the position, consume his physical strength, and then create opportunities behind Varane.

Of course, at the same time, they also have to guard against Manchester United's frontcourt tearing through their defense in counterattacks. In order to control the midfield, Guardiola gave up the double defensive midfielder combination of Gundogan and Rodri this season. This did increase the flexibility and penetration of the frontcourt, but it also weakened the defense. Most of the goals that almost doubled compared to last season came from this.

Through the window glass, Batty looked at the players who were warming up on the field.

It feels like another tough battle.

……

He was right, it was indeed a difficult game.

Mourinho accelerated the game at the start and caught Manchester City off guard. The connection between midfielder Augustus and frontcourt Griezmann and Mbappe almost broke through Manchester City's defense in less than 6 minutes.

Fortunately, Diaz chased back and cleared the ball out of the baseline before Griezmann.

After the opening time, both sides deliberately slowed down the pace, but the game was still going back and forth. Perhaps because they were too familiar with each other, the data showed that both sides did a good job of limiting each other.

According to statistics, in the past 45 minutes, the two teams had only 2 shots in total, 1 of which was on target, and it was the threatening shot that almost put Manchester United ahead at the beginning of the game.

The first half ended 0-0.

Batty did not sit down in the box the whole time. He said that this was more comfortable and he was not nervous at all. But Qiao Lin secretly glanced at him several times and saw that the straw of the milk tea in his hand was almost bitten off.

Humph, don't be nervous.

……

In the second half, Manchester City couldn't hold on at the beginning.

No, it was the Manchester City captain who couldn't hold on any longer.

Because he drank too much milk tea, Batistuta had to run outside to drain water and then come back in the 49th minute of the second half. He was accidentally seen by fans outside the field. The Manchester City captain could only smile and sign autographs for them and take photos with them.

Delayed 10 minutes.

The problem is not big.

Batistuta tried his best not to use his right foot to quickly return to the box. When passing through an aisle, he heard the thunderous cheers of fans coming from the stadium.

It means someone scored a goal.

Without caring about his position, Batty came to the stands from the nearest passage. When he saw the scoreboard for the first time, his chest seemed to have returned to the Ice Age. His heart was frozen and could not beat at all.

In the 60th minute of the second half, Manchester United led 1-0, the goal was scored by Mbappe.

It's a fucking ghost!

what happened?

Batistuta didn't bring his cell phone with him. In order to quickly find out how the ball happened, the captain rushed to the box cursing. On the way, he heard cheers again.

Not once, but twice.

That means——
There is a high probability that two more people will score goals.

Batistuta was going crazy. He pushed open the door of the box as fast as he could, but the situation inside was completely beyond his expectations. When he saw that Manchester United was leading 1-0 and heard other cheers in the corridor, he didn't expect that everyone in the box would sing "Wonderwall" to celebrate. The scene made him think for a moment that they had won.

"Ahh! He's back! Our captain is back!" The family of an unknown player opened their arms towards Batistuta, cheered and enthusiastically pulled him to celebrate together, "It's unbelievable! You are right, Manchester City is a team full of miracles!"

Batty didn't know what was going on.

He looked at the field and the scoreboard showed that the time was 64 minutes and the score was 2-1.

Manchester City 2, Manchester United 1.

Batty: ???
Batty: WHAT!? WTF?

Qiao Lin was excitedly recording the whole room with her phone. When she turned around, she happened to record the Manchester City king with his mouth opened into an O shape, looking as if he couldn't believe that this was really happening.

Remember that in the first round of the derby this season, Mbappe made almost the same expression after the team lost the ball quickly.

"What's wrong?" She walked forward and touched him, "Are you scared silly?"

Batty shook violently as if he had just come back to his senses from a hallucination, then jumped away.

"I was only gone for 10 minutes! 10 minutes!" the Manchester City captain roared at everyone in frustration, "Can anyone tell me! What! happened! in the past 10 minutes!?!"

(End of this chapter)