[Football] Bad Boy Batty

[The game suddenly got interesting in the second half. I believe that a large number of viewers did not see what happened in the past 15 minutes. It was too fast. Don't worry. Let's follow the replay and watch how these goals were scored.]

54nd minute of the second half.

Perhaps Batistuta forgot to hide and was discovered by the fans. Manchester United intercepted the ball in the backcourt and launched a counterattack. Taking advantage of the position between Messi and De Bruyne, Griezmann retreated to contain Rodri, Mbappe moved into the middle to confuse the opponent, and Augustus successfully passed the ball to Sterling on the left.

The happy boy did not forget to be happy today. Under Walker's defense, his shot was extremely off target, but he was just a step too slow. Ake and goalkeeper Ederson did not cooperate with each other. Before the ball rubbed the grass and rolled near the baseline, it was out of control for 3 seconds.

And it was during these 3 seconds that Mbappe broke away from the defense and poked the ball into the goal.

Ake immediately raised his hand to indicate offside and that the ball had just gone out of bounds, but after looking at the VAR, the referee Rizzoli said that it was not offside or out of bounds, the ball just pressed on the baseline and did not leave the field completely, so the goal was valid.

1-0, Manchester United players celebrated passionately in front of the goal.

Augustus looked up at the box, but the blurry light-colored figure was not there. At that time, Batistuta had just finished taking photos with the fans and was about to return to the box when he realized that Manchester United was leading.

2 minute later.

Batistuta was probably unconsciously 'greeting' the Manchester United players on his way back to the box.

At this time, Manchester City succeeded in pressuring Fred in the frontcourt, Messi's long shot was blocked, and Manchester City quickly organized a second attack. De Bruyne made a long pass to the penalty area with a little too much force. B Silva jumped up to stop the ball, De Gea attacked, and the Spanish goalkeeper controlled the ball first, but then lost it and collided with B Silva while trying to control the ball, and the ball fell into the net.

Manchester United players immediately complained about the collision with the goalkeeper.

However, since the collision occurred after De Gea lost control of the ball, after consultation with the video assistant referee, the referee ruled that the goal was valid and did not show a yellow card to B席.

The worst thing was that De Gea was unable to continue the game and Mourinho had to replace him with Henderson.

[This goal may be the turning point of this game. Manchester City quickly equalized after losing the ball and escaped unscathed from the controversial penalty. Manchester United lost their advantage and was forced to use up their precious substitution quota at such an early time. At the beginning of this season, UEFA announced the abolition of the 5-man quota during the epidemic and returned to the original 3 substitution quotas. ]

Next is the 65th minute.

Batistuta dragged his injured leg back to the door of the box. Just a few seconds before he opened the door, Cancelo got the ball and used a wonderful shot to penetrate the goal of Manchester United's substitute goalkeeper who had just come on the field.

The brilliance of this goal is comparable to the extremely stylish world wave scored by Pavard in the match between France and Argentina in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Then the Manchester City captain opened the door of the box. Everyone was celebrating, but he was the only one who was staring at the score of 2-1 on the scoreboard.

Playback ends.

[There is still half an hour left in the game. Manchester City is currently leading 2-1. The situation is quite unfavorable for Manchester United.]

Although they had learned the full story of the goal from the replay, and the Manchester City players on the field were excited at this time, and the situation seemed to be developing in a direction in their favor, the Manchester City captain was still unhappy.

"From now on, I will stand here and will not move a hair." Batty stood in front of the window with his arms folded, staring at the game on the field, "I swear, I will not miss any of the next goals!"

Then--

No goal happened.

……

In the 72nd minute of the game, the score was still 2-1, with Manchester City ahead. Mourinho could no longer sit still. After a little thought, he replaced Fred with Ronaldo to strengthen the attack, and then stayed on the sidelines.

The Portuguese's joining has indeed made Manchester United's attack more threatening, and Manchester City has had to devote their energy to marking him. Although he is 37 years old, throughout Manchester United's entire season, the opportunities created by Ronaldo's running are among the best in the team.

And how does Guardiola respond?
The answer is simple.

Defend with all your strength.

Yes, this sounds very un-Guardiola, but here, with nearly 20 minutes left in the game and the team leading by one goal, it was not safe, so he chose the most unlike-him-but-safe way.

In the 75th minute, Manchester City used up two substitutions at once. Stones replaced Messi and Gundogan replaced Neymar.

Soon, Manchester City's lineup on the field became 5 defenders, 3 midfielders and 2 forwards, and the forwards B Silva and Foden were ready to withdraw to the midfield to assist in defense at any time.

This looks a bit familiar doesn't it.

That's right, at the end of the Champions League final, Guardiola imitated their quarter-final opponent Atletico Madrid and deployed a 1-style completely defensive lineup.

[Ah——I believe many fans couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw this scene. Mourinho, who loves to park the bus, replaced the offensive lineup with 4 forwards, while Guardiola, who advocates passing and controlling offensive tactics, parked the bus in front of the goal! ]

Similar to the viewers and commentators in front of the TV, Batistuta could not understand what Guardiola was thinking, but the difference between him and them was that he was on the scene and had higher authority.

……

In the 79th minute, Batistuta couldn't bear it any longer and left the box. He didn't tell anyone and went straight into the stadium. He followed the player tunnel through which the players entered the stadium and came to the Manchester City bench.

I don’t know if it was because he was Batistuta, the captain of Manchester City, so he had a smooth journey all the way. Several security guards noticed him, but as French they never caused trouble for themselves, so Batistuta just came behind Guardiola.

"Pep! Pep!! What have you done to our team!"

When Batistuta's voice reached his ears, Guardiola's brain almost exploded. He felt like a little boy and a fat man were dancing inside his skull. (Two atomic bombs)
"Why did you come down here!" the Catalan shouted in the harshest tone, "Go back quickly, there is no place for you here!"

"Explain clearly why you put a turtle shell in front of our goal!" Batistuta insisted, "This is not us, Pep, you know that simple defense is useless!"

Guardiola pinched his eyebrows, and without bothering to explain to his captain, he directly called his assistant and several team staff to carry the captain back to the box.

No unauthorized persons are allowed to enter the venue during the competition.

Even if he is a player of the team, as long as he is not on the roster, he is no different from a spectator in the stands. Guardiola is protecting him. If the referee finds out or something, at the very least, Batistuta will be dragged off the field by security guards. At worst, he will be banned from the Champions League next season by UEFA. It could be one game, or three games. It is not impossible that he will not be allowed to play for the entire season.

"Don't be so childish, Pep is very good to you, don't let him down."

On the way, the assistant coach explained in detail to Batty what might happen. The captain pursed his lips to show that he understood, then reluctantly returned to the box and sat down, continuing to watch the game through the broadcast on the wall.

There are only 5 or 6 minutes left.

It's tough for everyone.

In order to prevent Batistuta from swallowing plastic, Jolin took away the milk tea in his hand. Without the straw, watching the thrilling moment when Manchester United continued to attack Manchester City in the half court, Batistuta shifted his target to his nails.

In the 86th minute, Guardiola used up his last substitution quota and replaced another defensive player, Fernandinho.

Fernandes is worthy of being the most experienced defender in the team. In the last few minutes, he guided his teammates to make good use of the rules, disrupt Manchester United's rhythm as much as possible, lie down whenever possible, and never get up unless the whistle was blown.

Although this method is not very popular, it is indeed effective.

Manchester City completely stifled Manchester United's attack by giving each of their front midfielders an average of one yellow card for deliberately delaying the game. In the last few dozen seconds, it was obvious that the Manchester United players were about to overflow with impatience.

92 minutes and 36 seconds.

Manchester United originally had a good chance to equalize the score. Wan-Bissaka got the ball from the outside and Manchester City's middle was empty. If a straight pass was made, either Ronaldo, Griezmann or Mbappe behind him could have scored.

However, Wan-Bissaka chose to shoot himself.

He fired a flak shot.

It also cost Manchester United their last chance.

……

5 seconds left.

Batistuta sat on a chair in the box, his eyes fixed on the injury time countdown on the screen, his fingers crossed and silently saying "God bless" in his heart.

4, 3, 2, 1——

[beep——]
【The game is over! The referee blew the whistle to end the game. Manchester City beat their derby rivals Manchester United 2-1 and won the Champions League for two consecutive seasons! This also made them the only team to beat Manchester United twice this season, completely shattering their dream of winning four championships! ! 】

The moment the referee blew the whistle, Batistuta really jumped up from his chair. At that moment, he forgot how he had just complained to Guardiola about the unreasonable tactics, and completely changed his face and shouted for victory.

"We win! We are the European champions!" The Manchester City captain rushed over to celebrate with his teammates' families. It seemed that Noah Gallagher from the Oasis band also came. They huddled together to open champagne to celebrate, like sardines in a can.

When Batty came out dazed, Qiaolin found him holding a cell phone.

"Are you not disgusted with the team parking the bus now?" she joked with a smile, "I thought you hoped they could fight till the very end and keep attacking with high morale until 90 minutes."

"I was wrong! I! Was wrong!" Batty picked up Qiao Lin and spun her around, then gave her a loud kiss on the face. "I don't care what happens in the end. What's wrong with lying on the grass, kicking my feet backwards, or delaying? In the end, I still won! Winning is more important than anything else!!"

[In the past 6 seasons, Manchester City has reached the finals 5 times and won the trophy 4 times! It is enough to show their strong dominance in the Champions League. I believe that if the 19-20 season had not been suspended for 4 months due to the epidemic, then... Hey? Where did all the Manchester City players on the field go? It's almost time for the award ceremony, why did the award recipients disappear? ]

The commentator quickly noticed the unusual situation on the field.

Unlike in the past, most winning teams would stay on the field for a long time, and the players' families and friends would also return to the field to take pictures.

But today, apart from the dejected Manchester United players and some Manchester City substitutes and staff who came to comfort them, everyone else on the field disappeared.

【Did they just go to the party and have fun? 】

At the same time, the people in the box also noticed the situation. They were planning to go to the venue, but they found that the people they were going to meet were gone.

"What are you doing?"

Batistuta leaned against the window and looked out. He saw the head coach, Guardiola, talking to Mourinho, and the two looked like they were arguing.

But that doesn't explain the players' disappearance.

So Batty continued his search.

At this moment, with a baboon-like shout, the players who had just won the Big Ear Cup on the field instantly rushed into the box and surrounded their captain.

"Hahahahahahaha you never expected that!! We're coming up!"
"You don't have to run down this time!! Captain!"
"Hurry! Lift him up! Hurry! Don't let him run away!"
"Hey! Keep an eye on his foot! He's not fully healed yet!"

Batty: ?
The Manchester City captain's brain was spinning rapidly, but before he could come up with any results, his feet left the ground. He was like a hapless fan being lifted above the heads of the crowd at a concert or a bread crumb carried away by a group of marching ants in the desert.

"You idiots! Put me down!" Batty struggled with all his might.

"No way!!!" Everyone answered together, "We have to do this, this is our tradition! For good luck next season, let's throw the king into the sky!"

“Ohhhhhhh!!”
"Throw! Throw! Throw!!"
"Good luck!"

Batty felt like a rag doll.

"Ah! Who pinched my butt? Let go! I'm warning you! Ah - don't pull! My pants, they're going to fall off! My cell phone, hand - the one who grabbed my waist, you're dead! Dead to the bone! I - Hey!! That's my nipple, not a switch!!"

After being tormented for a long time, Batty gave up. He was no longer tense but completely gave himself to his teammates.

It won't break anyway.

Besides, he knew they wouldn't throw him off.

He believed them.

……

[This... This has never happened before in the history of the Champions League. The broadcast camera hasn't found where the players are. Wait a minute, the podium will be ready soon. We'll see if they will come out when they receive the award - Oh! Here they come!]

Following the camera, people saw the arrogant players who had just disappeared appeared in the player tunnel, and along with them appeared Manchester City king Batistuta, who appeared in the stands today due to his unhealed foot injury.

[Haha! So they went to pick up their little king! ]

Just like riding in a carriage, Batistuta and his players celebrated on the field, unintentionally bypassing the Manchester United captain.

Augustus looked up.

Against the lights of the stadium, he saw Manchester City's little king, surrounded by stars, sitting on Stones' shoulders, looking down at him, with a white loudspeaker in his hand.

"Last month, someone said in an interview that Manchester City couldn't win without me!" Batistuta's voice was full of pride, "Look at it now! I want to tell you...! Even without me on the field, Manchester City will always win!!"

(End of this chapter)