[Football] Bad Boy Batty

Real Madrid was very cautious at the start of the game. Perhaps it was the experience of the past one and a half seasons that made Zidane understand the saying "offense wins the hearts of the people, defense wins the championship". He did not ask the players to launch a tight pressing against Manchester City, but to retreat to defense in a large area and limit the opponent's attack in their own half.

Similar to the lineup predicted by Guardiola, Real Madrid lined up a 433 formation today, but in fact it was obvious that it had turned into a 442 diamond midfield formation after running: Marcelo and Carvajal played as left and right full-backs, Ramos and Varane partnered as central defenders, Casemiro fell back as the single defensive midfielder, Kroos and Modric were double midfielders, and Isco replaced Bale as the right winger, but judging from his running position after the opening, his positioning was closer to the attacking midfielder, with Benzema and Ronaldo in the front.

Obviously, Zidane has made targeted improvements and adjustments to limit Manchester City's midfield possession.

However, what the Real Madrid coach did not expect was that Manchester City also played a different tactic today. Similarly, in the starting lineup announced before the game, it seemed to be a regular 433 formation, but after a few attacks after the opening, it could be seen that Guardiola actually deployed a formation of 3 central defenders.

Kolarov, who is on the left of the back four, often assists. Kompany, Stones, and Sagna are in front of the goal. Fernandinho plays as a B2B midfielder and often assists. David Silva and De Bruyne are their dual cores in the midfield. These two and Sterling, Aguero, and Batistuta in the frontcourt can all carry out small-scale local cooperation.

All in all, Guardiola actually played a 352 offensive formation.

Zidane glanced at the electronic live running map brought by his assistant and continued to observe the game on the sidelines.

The current Manchester City undoubtedly reminds him of Barcelona a few seasons ago, of course, the feeling is not exactly the same. Guardiola's transformation of them is comprehensive. In addition to the passing and controlling tactics he played in Barcelona, ​​he also added the pressure he learned from Bayern.

It’s not that his players have already figured out this tactic, but it’s hard for ordinary people to imagine that they have been able to hone it to such a level in just one season.

It will be a tough battle, Zidane thought.

Whether it is Real Madrid or Manchester City, the final result of this game will definitely be tragic.

In the 10th minute, Manchester City controlled the ball and Fernandinho launched an attack from the backcourt, but his pass was a little too long. Batistuta tried his best to save the ball from the sideline, wasting a little time. When he adjusted himself and prepared to pass the ball, Real Madrid's defense was ready.

To his surprise, neither Marcelo, who was directly opposite him, nor left center back Ramos chose to rush forward, as if they were deliberately avoiding the one-on-one defense of Batistuta to prevent him from dribbling past him.

What should I do?
Batistuta controlled the ball under his feet, observed the distribution of Real Madrid's defenders, and decided to kick a high ball to the back point of the middle.

Marcelo was marking his pass, Ramos was directing Casemiro to mark Fernandinho who was about to make a run, Aguero was closely followed by Varane, and Sterling was entangled with Carvajal again.

Then the best option is to pass the ball back to the middle and let the midfield organize the attack or try a long shot into the gap between Varane and Ramos.

Batistuta passed the ball to the left middle. After receiving the ball, Silva observed that his position was not good enough, so he passed the ball to De Bruyne. Casemiro made a substitution and intercepted the ball, but De Bruyne did not make any adjustments after receiving the ball and shot directly.

De Bruyne made a long shot from outside the box.

The angle was very tricky, but Real Madrid goalkeeper Navas, known as the "Wall of Navas", reacted quickly and flew to save the ball.

This was already a good result. De Bruyne couldn't think of a better way to deal with it. He raised his hands above his head, clapped, and told his teammates to keep going.

Navas instructed his teammates to steady themselves, and then prepared to kick the ball. Taking advantage of this gap, Marcelo turned a small corner and passed in front of Batistuta.

"That was a good pass, and you handled it very well." The Brazilian international said in a tone of encouragement to the younger generation, "In fact, we have communicated with each other a long time ago, but you just didn't know it."

Batty glanced at him and ran away, "You talk too much."

"Don't you want to know when it is?" Marcelo followed unmoved. On the court, as long as it can affect the opponent, any amount of trash talk is acceptable (vicious curses are not allowed, you will get a card). "Last year, you had a Christmas party. Remember that time when Neymar sent someone to find you with a notebook?"

Ok?
Batistuta remembered. He quickly glanced at the situation on the field, then raised an eyebrow at Marcelo and asked, "The friend he was talking about, is that you?"

Marcelo nodded.

"That's a wonderful idea, isn't it? Love-brained kids are the cutest. Neymar really likes you."

This is what Marcelo really wants to do, to confuse his opponent's brain with this meaningless gossip.

Unfortunately, Batistuta is completely immune to this kind of news. He knows that Neymar is not interested in him (wrong), and even if he is, so what? There are many people who like him, and it is completely reasonable to have a few of them on the court.

"Trash talk is useless," Batistuta said. Seeing that Marcelo's suggestion did make Neymar laugh, he made a pertinent suggestion: "Just do your duty in defense. If you keep going like this, it's only a matter of time before we score."

Marcelo curled his lips, turned his head to see the positions of his teammates, and saw Zidane's offensive gesture on the sidelines. The Real Madrid defender nodded in understanding.

"Let's get back to business, Batistuta baby." He quickened his voice. "That's it for you (Manchester City). Now it's our time."

Kroos and Modric double-teamed David Silva, and Fernandinho stepped forward to help, but he was a step slow. Silva was knocked forward and rolled over during the confrontation. The referee did not stop the game, and the ball was intercepted by Kroos, and the ball was returned to Real Madrid.

The referee was from the Bundesliga, a rigorous German with 12 years of officiating experience. He saw clearly that the collision just now was not a foul, so even if Manchester City players waved their hands in protest, he did not say anything.

So after 13 minutes of stable defense, Real Madrid began to speed up and launch a counterattack.

……

"Buddy, Buddy!"

Guardiola gestured to him on the sidelines to indicate that Real Madrid's attack focus should be shifted to the left (Manchester City's right). Batistuta observed and decisively returned to the middle to assist in defense and wait for an opportunity to steal the ball.

Kroos dribbled the ball, and C Ronaldo, who had been waiting in the frontcourt for more than ten minutes, came back impatiently. De Bruyne and Fernandinho rushed forward, and Batistuta returned to defense, forming a small-scale pressing situation of three against two.

Ronaldo held Fernandinho with his back, but was disturbed when passing the ball, allowing De Bruyne to hook it. The ball came to the middle, Batistuta saw the opportunity to get the ball, and then quickly attacked from the wing.

However, this time Manchester City's counterattack only lasted a dozen seconds.

Casemiro returned to defense, intercepted the ball, and then quickly passed it to Kroos.

"Feel sorry."

The Real Madrid midfielder smiled at Batistuta and then left the wing.

Tsk, there are so many small movements.

Batty cursed "puta" under his breath and rubbed the side of his waist that was hit.

Just a few seconds ago, Casemiro stretched his body and raised his elbow secretly while defending. Batistuta was concentrating on moving sideways to grab the ball at his feet and did not notice this, leaving a gap for the ball to be intercepted.

This kind of trick is very common on the court and is basically within the scope permitted by the rules. Batistuta himself has used it, but - it is not so wonderful when it happens to him.

With the initial accumulation of anger, Batistuta let De Bruyne temporarily take the lead, and he returned to the middle to press Kroos.

He has to get the ball back himself if he loses it.

……

However, this counter-attack was unsuccessful. Kroos dribbled the ball sideways. Batistuta wanted to squeeze him from behind to get some space before making a move. However, Kroos measured his body and changed his center of gravity. Batistuta suddenly lost his opponent and staggered forward two steps, just tripping over Kroos.

As a result, Batistuta lost his balance and fell on the grass, rolling twice, and Kroos fell to the ground right after him.

The referee stopped the game, then awarded Manchester City a foul and Real Madrid was awarded an indirect free kick.

Batty hammered the grass beside him in dissatisfaction.

"Pay attention to your emotions. This was not an intentional foul. I'm only giving you a verbal warning." The referee noticed his action and said to him, "If you do it again next time, I'll show you a yellow card. Do you understand?"

Batty gave the referee a fake smile and said he understood.

As the referee just turned to leave, a tattooed hand reached out to him on the ground. Batistuta used the force to stand up, then looked up and saw the captain of Real Madrid in front of him.

"Sorry, baby, I haven't seen your performance so far." Ramos said jokingly in Batistuta's ear, perfectly responding to the harsh words the opponent said in the player tunnel before the start of the game, "If you want to fight back, at least don't fall down and get called for a foul - Oh, don't look at me like that, keep working hard, mama (teasing)"

After saying that, the Real Madrid captain patted him on the side of his face affectionately and then ran back to the backcourt.

Barty was left standing there sulking.

Rage value accumulation: 20%
……

Real Madrid quickly took a free kick and seized the opportunity to cross the ball.

This was the opportunity they had been waiting for. They bypassed Manchester City's strong side and sent a high cross from the right to Ronaldo for a header. However, this time Ronaldo pulled to the side to cooperate, and Benzema was the contact point in the middle. Benzema took the ball with his back to the goal, and Fernandinho quickly stepped forward to steal the ball. Kompany took the opportunity to direct the defense to position themselves in a defensive posture. During the fight, Benzema kicked the ball too high and subconsciously blocked it with his hand, causing a foul. The referee stopped the attack.

The ball returned to Manchester City.

In the first half, 20 minutes had passed with both teams attacking and defending, and the game was evenly matched. Both teams had good opportunities but were destroyed by the opposing defensive players.

But at the 23rd minute, the atmosphere became tense.

The reason was still in the midfield. Manchester City controlled the ball. David Silva observed and then made a long pass to the empty space on the right. De Bruyne stepped forward to meet the ball and just entered Casemiro's defensive range. The Real Madrid midfielder accelerated forward and jumped high to try to steal the ball.

It's a reasonable move tactically, but a dangerous move in action.

Casemiro flew over and made a signature Bundesliga move, his shoes and studs almost brushing De Bruyne's nose.

The referee was very close and stopped the game directly.

Batistuta, who was just diagonally to the side of De Bruyne, saw it more clearly than the referee. In addition, Casemiro had used a small move to steal his ball not long ago, so he became very angry.

"What the hell do you want to do!?"

As soon as Casemiro landed, Batistuta pushed him back two steps with his shoulder.

"You're going for the face instead of the ball. Who taught you to defend like that?"

Casemiro also knew that he had raised his leg too high, which constituted an intentional foul, so he did not confront Batistuta, but retreated with a grumble. But Batistuta asked him to give an explanation, and he put pressure on him in Portuguese, Spanish and English.

The referee stood between them and raised his hand to control the distance between Batistuta and Casemiro.

"Don't be impatient, don't be impatient." De Bruyne stepped forward, hooked Batistuta's neck and led him back, leaving the referee to the captain Kompany who came over to negotiate, "He didn't kick me, I dodged it."

"He wants to do that!" Batistuta waved his hands and said loudly so that the Real Madrid players next to him could hear, "This should be treated as a foul! You avoided it this time, but what about next time? Your nose will be broken by him!"

The referee was very calm. He called Casemiro over and verbally warned him that this was a dangerous action, and then awarded Manchester City an indirect free kick.

No yellow card given.

Batty was somewhat dissatisfied with the decision.

It was very dangerous to have a disagreement with the judge on the field. Aguero also came back to help comfort him. He ruffled Batistuta's hair and kissed his temples.

"Don't argue with the referee," he said. "We still have plenty of time."

De Bruyne nodded on the side.

Batty took a deep breath, blew the hair hanging down in front of his forehead, and then waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.

Aguero and De Bruyne returned to their positions as Silva prepared to handle the free kick.

Batty ran back to the wing.

This should be a yellow card, he thought.

Rage value accumulation: 60%
……

The deadlock was broken in the 28th minute of the game, and it was Real Madrid who broke it.

Modric made a long pass from midfield, and Ronaldo and Isco made a wonderful combination on the wing to penetrate Manchester City's defense. Isco dribbled the ball to the baseline, and Caballero cleared the ball with a standard sliding tackle.

Real Madrid gets a corner kick.

Batistuta also returned to his own goal to defend. He kept a close eye on Kroos's movements, then jumped up when the corner kick was kicked in front of the goal and successfully grabbed the first point and cleared the ball.

But the attack was not over yet. Marcelo got the ball from the outside and passed it to the front of the goal again after adjustments.

This was something they had rehearsed in advance. It went towards the side of Manchester City's net. The goalkeeper was positioned in front of the goal. If he shot towards the landing point, the goal behind him would be completely empty, but if he did not put pressure on the landing point, then the opponent could choose to shoot directly.

Caballero made up his mind and chose to dive towards the landing point.

But Ramos was one step faster than him and slid the ball to the back post.

Batistuta, who was not far from the goal line, watched the ball pass in front of him and after that, Casemiro broke away from Stones and shot into the goal.

[The ball went in! In the 28th minute, Real Madrid scored from a corner kick. Casemiro, a controversial figure in the first half, scored! Helped Real Madrid take the lead! ]

Casemiro again.

The camera followed the Real Madrid midfielder who was sliding on his knees to celebrate as he came to the sidelines. Facing the fans who had come from afar, he and his teammates hugged each other and celebrated wildly.

At this moment, the camera suddenly turned to Batistuta who was walking towards the front court.

The boy seemed a little detached. He was neither upset nor encouraging his teammates. He stared at the opposing players who were celebrating on the sidelines and walked backwards back to his position.

When he stood still, he put his hands on his waist, raised his head and smiled.

Every fan who followed the camera and saw this smile felt a huge wave in his heart. No words can accurately describe that feeling, but it will trigger every nerve and every pore in the body, and make people tremble from the inside out.

Rage value accumulation: 100%
……

So just 3 minutes later, the score on the field changed again.

After Manchester City kicked off from the center circle, they sought cooperation on the right. De Bruyne kicked the ball, Batistuta retreated to receive the ball and quickly moved forward. Real Madrid's defensive players concentrated on Manchester City's right side. Aguero took the ball with his back and acted as a transit station, diverting the attention of Ramos and Varane.

The ball returned to Batistuta's feet, and he went straight into the gap on the right side, almost passing Real Madrid's entire defense line before they could react.

Half a second later, Batty brought the ball to the empty spot on the left, flicked it with his left foot, and shot with his right foot.

The ball was moving at a very fast speed and was deliberately spun during the kick. Navas did not hit the ball correctly and the ball flew into the net from his left side.

And all this happened in front of Casemiro.

"Oooo!"

Manchester City's fan section was in an uproar, waving scarves and jerseys and shouting and roaring.

After scoring the goal, Batistuta slid on his knees to celebrate in front of the fans behind the corner area, just like Casemiro had just done. He then hooked his hands around the neck of the Belgian midfielder who had come over and kissed him on the bridge of his nose.

"I've avenged you." He whispered.

De Bruyne was stunned for a moment, then reached out and picked the man up from the ground.

"Tradition, tradition!" Aguero pushed Batistuta's back to help him, "Hurry up!"

Batistuta hooked De Bruyne's waist and climbed a tree to celebrate, he raised his fist——

"Come on! We have more goals to score!"

[Real Madrid underestimated the opponent! Manchester City immediately caught up with them just after they took the lead. They didn't dare to make any big moves in the penalty area. Batistuta was almost unhindered and passed the ball horizontally to equalize the score! ]

In the 33rd minute, both sides returned to the same starting line.

【This game is great! 】

(End of this chapter)