[Football] Bad Boy Batty

After equalizing the score, Manchester City tried to press on, but Real Madrid's defense was well prepared and did not give them this opportunity. The score remained 1-1 until the end of the first half.

In the stands, in the VIP box area, Neymar put away his binoculars and prepared to go back inside to rest and watch video replays. Then he turned around and saw Batistuta's godfather, the legendary Brazilian director Edmundo, looking at him with interest.

"Sir?" Neymar stopped and asked hesitantly, "What's the matter?"

The director didn't speak immediately. He pointed to the screen above the scoreboard, where Real Madrid's goal was being replayed.

“Who do you think will win?” he asked, “from a professional player’s perspective.”

"It's hard to say." Neymar answered sincerely. Although he hopes Batistuta can win, he has to admit that Real Madrid is indeed a strong opponent. "It's 1-1 now. There are too many possible situations. In football, anything can happen."

"Just like the 14-7 in 1," said the director.

Neymar didn't know why the other party mentioned the game that was basically equivalent to a national humiliation. He couldn't tell from his tone whether it was a well-intentioned teasing or a malicious ridicule. He looked at Edmundo for a while and decided to go back to the box and not respond to this question.

Just before he walked in—

"My baby Batistuta is like a football game that no one can figure out. He has many options and many possible situations. Here's a piece of advice for you: don't wait until the other team scores before you think about how to defend. You'll have no chance then."

After saying that, the director smiled at him, put on his sunglasses, and went back to the box first, leaving Neymar standing there thinking about what he said.

The halftime break ended quickly and Guardiola did not make any tactical adjustments. During these 15 minutes, he kept encouraging his players, telling them that they did a good job in the first half and to keep going. If they maintained this state, the trophy would be theirs.

But they soon ran into trouble.

In the second half, Zidane made targeted adjustments, strengthening the siege on De Bruyne and preventing him from receiving and passing the ball. This tactic was effective almost immediately. Facing the blockade of three Real Madrid players, De Bruyne had no choice but to pass back. Kolarov made a mistake in passing the ball directly to Isco's feet. Fortunately, Stones made up for it in time and kicked the ball out of the baseline to destroy the counterattack.

In the 48th minute, Real Madrid got a corner kick.

Batistuta returned to the goal again, this time standing behind Ronaldo.

Everyone knows that the Real Madrid superstar has focused all his skills on heading in recent seasons. Not only does he have a keen sense of smell in front of the goal and can always hit the right part, but his jumping ability is also very strong, so they must be on guard.

Kroos took a corner kick and Batistuta jumped up right after Ronaldo.

Damn it! How can this Portuguese guy jump so high?

Batistuta clenched his back teeth and tried to stop the opponent with physical confrontation, and he succeeded. Ronaldo was disturbed and the ball brushed over his head and went straight to the second point. Ramos headed the ball, but unfortunately the power of his header was a little weak, and Caballero flew to grab the ball.

However, Batistuta behind him knew nothing about it. Although his interference plan was successful, he did not take into account the important issue of the physical difference between him and Ronaldo, which resulted in Ronaldo pressing up with his back to him when he landed.

The impact was so great that Batistuta had no time to steady himself and fell directly to his knees. His left knee rubbed hard on the grass, and a large area of ​​it turned red instantly.

Ronaldo, who had a human flesh pad on his back to help relieve the impact, was unharmed and quickly climbed up.

hiss--

The skin on his knees felt like it was on fire, and Batistuta turned over and sat on the grass, lifting up his socks to check. This was not expected, he thought, perhaps because of years of fitness, Ronaldo was heavier than he thought.

It's too hard, it must be uncomfortable to use as a pillow.

While checking, Batistuta's mind was wandering with all sorts of random thoughts to divert his attention. Caballero raised his hand to indicate that someone was injured, and the referee left and stopped the game.

"Are you okay?" The Argentine goalkeeper patted Batistuta's shoulder while holding the ball and asked with concern.

Batty touched the skin around it and confirmed that it was just a scratch, not even a broken skin, and nodded. "It's okay, it was just an accident."

The referee also rushed over to inquire about the situation and whether a stretcher and a team doctor were needed. After receiving a negative answer, he nodded and gave Batistuta two options: either go to the sidelines to recover for a few minutes, or get up as soon as possible so as not to affect the continuation of the game.

He chose the latter.

"Come, I'll pull you up." Ronaldo stretched out his hand to Batistuta, "Next time, don't challenge an opponent who is much heavier than you. It's no good."

Batty did not respond to this.

If he had the chance to do it again, he would still choose to do so.

If he hadn't pushed Ronaldo just now, the ball would have most likely gone in.

A fall equals a goal.

Very cost-effective.

……

The following game was like glue that had solidified. Both teams successfully restricted each other's passing points. There were no additional shots, but the midfield fight was very fierce. The scene even surpassed the hot Manchester Derby in the Premier League and the Spanish National Derby.

At the 60th minute, both sides even made mistakes to show their friendship.

Of course, this was just a joke from the fans who were watching the live broadcast. The reality was far more heart-wrenching than what was said in the joke.

Let’s review the whole process -

Real Madrid was in control of the ball. Casemiro looked up and observed the positions of his teammates and chose to make a large-scale pass. However, he missed the ball and it looked weak. Batistuta intercepted the ball halfway and successfully transferred the ball to Manchester City.

At this time, Real Madrid's defense line was very forward. Batistuta saw the opportunity and quickly advanced to the middle. However, he made a mistake when passing the ball to Aguero. He did not notice Carvajal next to Aguero. The situation reversed again. Carvajal decisively passed the ball to Modric, and Real Madrid players immediately turned back to launch a counterattack.

Of course, this is not the end of the story.

Modric cleverly broke through Manchester City's midfield defense and brought the ball to the ribs. Stones did not dare to move forward, Fernandinho filled in the position, and Modric sent a straight pass to Benzema who was making a run.

I have to say that this was a really good pass, breaking through layers of blockade to reach the open point. However, Benzema did not grasp the timing right, and the ball had not arrived when he rushed over. Unfortunately, he missed the chance to shoot.

Modric was so angry that he raised his hands and shouted Benzema's name in the frontcourt.

But Manchester City was relieved.

Especially Batistuta who made a mistake. He swore that his heart rate soared to 180 when he realized that his ball had been passed to his opponent. Fortunately, the ball did not go in, otherwise his heart might have been frozen and shattered into pieces.

"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes." Aguero noticed Batistuta's misbehavior and came over to hug him to comfort him. "I am also responsible. I should have reminded you just now."

Batty held his breath and looked over with a complicated expression.

At times like this, he still shares the responsibility for his teammates' negligence to reduce their psychological burden. Except for Aguero, he has never met such a player.

"A Kun..."

Aguero didn't listen to him finish his words and gently pushed Batistuta on the back of his head.

"It's not time to get discouraged yet, Batty," he said. "Come on, we have to keep going."

Yes, the outcome is still undecided, he shouldn't be like this.

Batistuta looked at Aguero and nodded firmly, then ran back to his position and continued to devote himself to the game.

……

The clash occurred at the 70th minute.

During Manchester City's attack, Batistuta dribbled the ball from the wing, Marcelo went too far forward and had no time to return to defense, and Ramos happened to switch to the other side, so the task of marking Batistuta fell on Real Madrid's other central defender Varane.

In this one-on-one defense, Batistuta was at a disadvantage. Varane, who had more experience facing players with more agile feet, tackled Batistuta and the ball out of bounds without committing a foul.

It’s okay if you’re not as skilled as others.

The problem was that when Batistuta got up from the ground and was about to exchange positions with De Bruyne to let the opponent kick the ball out of bounds, Varane took advantage of the movement of turning around and talking to his teammates and attacked Batistuta with a hidden elbow.

Batistuta noticed the move in advance and turned his head to avoid it, but Varane's elbow still made contact with him, and he could feel the hard bone hitting the left side of his lower jaw.

There was no pain when the impact occurred, just a numbness in the bone.

But after 1 or 2 seconds, the pain spread to the palm-sized area. He raised his hand and touched it, but there was no bleeding, but at the same time, he felt a sweet and fishy smell coming from the left molar.

At that moment, Batty was furious. He could understand that players served different teams during the game, and sometimes two people who fought on the court would become good brothers with arms around each other after the game. This was a common thing.

But that still didn't stop him from getting angry.

It's not a personal vendetta.

Varane turned around and shrugged at him insincerely, "Sorry."

"What bullshit are you talking about? You are plotting against me, you bastard?" Batistuta raised his hand and pushed Varane in front of him without thinking. "When I was confronting drug dealers with a gun, you didn't know where to play football. How dare you play this trick on me?"

Varane doesn't understand Portuguese very well, but he is not a wimp, so he turned around and started a fight with Batistuta.

"I've already apologized, what else do you want? Huh? You want me to kneel down and kiss your feet?" He yelled at her, "If the referee didn't blow the whistle, there was no foul, why are you yelling!"

"You hit me so hard that I bled!" Batty raised his head and pushed back, licking his gums with his tongue to bring out the blood stains inside for him to see. "If you push harder, the corner of my mouth will be torn open. How dare you say this is not a foul? Red card! You deserve a red card!"

Seeing the conflict escalate, teammates from both sides rushed over to put out the fire. The referee also arrived soon after. He clearly saw the two people pushing and shoving each other, so he gave them each a yellow card without hesitation.

"What! I didn't start this at all!" Batistuta couldn't believe his eyes. He pulled away Aguero's arm that was blocking him and stuck out his bloody tongue to the referee. "Look, look! He elbowed me and it's bleeding!"

The referee was at a distance and was only concerned with determining whether Varane's tackle was a foul, and did not bother to see any contact between the two players' upper bodies.

After calming the situation down a bit, the rigorous German referee found the linesman to inquire about the situation.

Without the referee's obstruction, Batistuta glared at Varane and could hardly resist the urge to give him the middle finger.

But no, giving the middle finger on the field is a yellow card action, and he has just received a yellow gem card. If he gets another one at this time, Manchester City will have one less player to fight.

With 10 players in the Champions League final and the opponent being Real Madrid, the outcome is basically doomed.

So Batistuta bared his teeth fiercely at the Real Madrid defender.

Because what happened just now happened too quickly, he had no time to deal with the bleeding teeth marks, and bright red blood flowed down his teeth and covered the left side of his mouth. When he showed his canine teeth, at that moment everyone on the field seemed to see a wild beast that was excited about hunting.

The broadcast camera recorded the whole process just right. Before the penalty result was announced, at the director's request, they replayed the header that Batistuta and Varane had just argued over, this time in close-up.

The whole world saw the boy open his mouth, stick out his tongue, and his canine teeth, corners of his mouth and tip of his tongue were all stained with blood.

It hurts, but it's also erotic.

The picture has a kind of enchanting beauty. I wonder how many people in front of the TV had their hearts skipped a beat for him.

"Ouch - battle damage."

The great director sat on the sofa and talked to himself. He looked at his godson in the center of the screen, who wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and returned to the battle. He then looked at Neymar, who was frowning and obviously reaching the peak of anger. He then raised his eyebrows and let out a satisfied sigh.

"It's nice to be young."

……

The referee ended his communication with the linesman and upheld the original decision. He briefly comforted Batistuta, then called Varane to his side and sternly warned him not to let this happen again.

Varane nodded to accept the referee's lesson, while Batistuta waved his hands at his stomach and the grass to express his dissatisfaction.

He should be given a red card!

De Bruyne handed him a bottle of water to rinse his mouth.

"Are you feeling okay?" the Belgian midfielder asked worriedly.

"Well, okay." Batty rinsed his mouth as he felt the anger bursting from his chest, then spit out half of the bloody liquid and drank the other half. "Keep this, it (anger) will help me score goals."

I don’t know whether the last sentence was directed to De Bruyne or to myself.

"Let's go." Batty slammed the water bottle to the sidelines, "Keep going."

……

It turns out that Batty was right, and a proper amount of anger helps to maintain the momentum.

Six minutes later, he switched to Varane's side, reached out for the ball, stopped and passed it, and then scored a beautiful world wave in front of the penalty area.

The football spun straight into a blind corner. Navas guessed the direction correctly but failed to catch up in time.

2-1!

Manchester City overtook the score, and Batistuta's total number of Champions League goals also surpassed Ronaldo to 11.

Not finished yet.

Three minutes later, Manchester City made a comeback.

It was as if the goddess of luck descended upon them in the 10 minutes before and after. In the 80th minute, David Silva launched an attack from the backcourt. De Bruyne drew the attention of at least three defensive players. Sterling took the ball and transferred it to the other side. Batistuta passed the ball directly to the front of the goal without stopping.

Aguero swept the ball into the net.

3-1!

Manchester City extended their lead to two goals, and Real Madrid was almost powerless to recover.

"Come here! Quick!"

Batistuta, who scored a goal and made an assist within 5 minutes, was so excited that he first held on to the shoulders of his celebrating teammates and ran towards the stands in a vaulting horse motion. Then he opened his arms and shouted to Aguero.

Aguero understood what he meant, he ran up, jumped, climbed a tree and punched.

The whole set of movements is smooth and completed in one go.

"Who is the champion! Tell me! Who is the champion!"

"We are the champions! We are the kings!"

[Haha, little Batistuta, he is really strong, and he also really holds grudges.] The commentator said with a smile in the studio, [The two goals just now were both scored by taking advantage of Varane's defensive gaps, and he even pushed him when he ran over... A world-class player, he really has a lot of personality.]

……

Manchester City fans in the stands are already preparing to celebrate.

However, it turned out that they were happy a little too early. There were still 10 minutes left in the regular time, and including injury time, there were nearly 15 minutes left. In the round of 16, Barcelona was able to score three goals in the final minutes to achieve a reversal, so why couldn't Real Madrid do the same?

In the 87th minute, Ronaldo scored directly from a free kick in the frontcourt to tie the score to 3-2.

Seven minutes later, Real Madrid made a last-ditch effort and took a corner kick. Maybe because of the excitement, Ramos was left unguarded at the back post. He jumped up strongly and scored with a header.

Real Madrid fans cheered loudly.

The smile on Batistuta's lips had completely disappeared. He supported himself on his knees and lowered his head to breathe. He thought that he should have gone for the corner kick just now.

Still careless.

It's just like Bayern in the 11-12 Champions League final, where they played well for 80 minutes but were caught by Chelsea in the final moments to equalize the score.

Underestimating the enemy is the most undesirable thing in the end.

From Aguero's goal to extend the score to 3-1 to Ramos' header to equalize the score, it took only 14 minutes from heaven to hell.

The two sides were tied and the game went into overtime.

After 95 minutes, the game was still undecided.

(End of this chapter)