[Football] Bad Boy Batty

In early October, Manchester City faced the second round of group matches in the European competition. Previously, they defeated the Dutch Eredivisie team Feyenoord 10-3 away from home, basically laying the foundation for the top spot in the group. They have not lost a game this season. Today, returning to their home court, Manchester City will face the visiting Shakhtar Donetsk.

Given that captain Kompany was injured again, Guardiola had no choice but to let Laporte play as a central defender.

From the formation point of view, they have returned to the 433 style of play, but in actual application it is more like 343, with Laporte, Stones, and Otamendi as the three central defenders, Walker attacking on the right, Fernandinho as the single defensive midfielder, De Bruyne and D. Silva as the double core in the midfield, and Aguero, Jesus, and Batistuta as the trio in the frontcourt.

Sterling and Sane have been in average form since the beginning of this season, so Guardiola, who has repeatedly emphasized the need for competition, no longer dwells on the question of "who will start between Aguero and Jesus?" left over from last season, and directly lets them coexist as two strikers.

Batistuta is still in the attacking midfielder position. He has been in great form recently. Although we cannot say that he has fully adapted to the new position, his steadily increasing statistics are enough to silence those who boasted at the beginning of the season that he would be "wasted" by Guardiola.

On the other hand, Shakhtar Donetsk has been struggling in their domestic league recently and their morale is low, so no one doubted the outcome of this game before the game.

There is no doubt that Manchester City will win, the question is, how many they can win.

"I think five is about right, six is ​​the most likely." Batistuta chatted with Aguero while stretching his back in the player tunnel. "It has to be a clean sheet, otherwise it will be considered a loss."

"It's a good idea, but it's difficult. Three is more reasonable." Aguero touched his chin, "And keeping a clean sheet - that depends on Ederson."

"That won't do. The World Cup is coming up soon. If he wants to get the starting goalkeeper position, he must perform better." Batistuta said. Mentioning the World Cup, Aguero began to frown again. After all, Argentina is not out of danger yet. Batistuta condemned himself in his heart and quickly changed the subject. "How about this, let's make a bet on how many wins we can have in today's game."

Aguero's emotions came and went quickly. "What about the bet?" he asked.

"If you win, I'll take you to see Maluma's concert. If I win, next time I score a goal you have to give me—"

"Wait, you mean the Maluma concert?" Aguero raised an eyebrow. "The one in Holland?"

Batty nodded.

"What a coincidence, he invited me to the concert! He also said there would be a surprise, no wonder." Aguero suddenly got excited, he clapped his hands, almost attracting the attention of the entire player tunnel, "So that surprise is you!"

"Oh - that's what he told me too, a surprise." Batty blinked. Maluma was a singer under his godfather's company and was discovered by his godfather in his early years, so they knew each other for a long time. He just didn't expect that the other party would set him up with a surprise at the concert. "He'd better give me a reasonable explanation when the time comes, otherwise I will deliberately sing out of tune on the stage."

Aguero looked at Batistuta lovingly and said, "Silly boy, you are the one who sang out of tune and made a fool of yourself, not him."

Batty: ...

It seems to make sense.

"Anyway, if he's trying to play a trick on me, then I'm going to play a trick on him too." Batty cleared his throat. "Let's talk about our bet. In this case, let's change the bet. The loser will be responsible for renting a plane for us to fly comfortably to the Netherlands to attend the concert. I want a private plane, a top-of-the-line one."

"Wow-oh! Are you assuming you can win? You trust us too much, six of us, seriously?"

"Of course." Batty raised his chin, "We have the ability."

After saying that, he stretched out his fist towards Aguero, who shook three fingers at him, then smiled and bumped fists with him.

"It's a word."

……

However, the situation did not go as smoothly as expected. Shakhtar Donetsk gave up defensive counterattacks and started to attack Manchester City, disrupting Manchester City's rhythm for a while.

Five minutes into the game, David Silva's pass from the flank was blocked and he made a triangle pass back to Batistuta, who made a lob pass into the penalty area and Aguero followed up with a shot, but he didn't grasp the angle well and the ball hit the post and went out of the right bottom line.

Two minutes later, the miners' defender made a mistake in clearing the ball in the frontcourt. Batistuta and De Bruyne played against the wall and passed the ball to Aguero. Aguero stopped the ball a little too far and collided with the goalkeeper. The referee did not make a foul penalty. After the miners kicked off, Manchester City seized the ball and attacked again. De Bruyne sent a precise 45-degree pass to penetrate the miners' defense. As a result, Aguero's low shot in the penalty area was too straight and the miners' goalkeeper held the ball firmly.

"What's wrong with you? Did you forget to bring your shooting boots or something? My dead mother could have scored that goal, and she's been lying in a coffin for more than a decade." Batistuta slapped Aguero on the back of his head. "Come on, I'll scold you if you waste chances like this again."

What a strange metaphor.

"How can anyone tease his teammates about their deceased relatives?" Aguero gave Batistuta a disapproving look, then pushed him, "I promise not to waste any more opportunities, and get back to the game."

Batty shrugged, that's all he said.

……

However, sometimes the ball just can't be kicked in.

In the 30th minute of the first half, Batistuta retreated to the midfield to intercept the ball. After observation, he sent a precise through ball, and De Bruyne broke into the penalty area and had a one-on-one opportunity. However, the Belgian was also happy at this moment, because his shot missed the target despite such a great opportunity!

The Shakhtar players were scared out of their wits, and Manchester City unfortunately missed the chance to take the lead.

"Kevin, what are you doing!" Seeing his assist fly away, Batistuta waved at De Bruyne and complained, "Akun didn't bring his shooting boots today, didn't you bring them either?"

De Bruyne himself was also very unhappy, but the person who was talking about him was Batistuta, so he did not refute. He made an apologetic gesture, cursed softly, and returned to his seat.

"Really? You guys are wasting opportunities one by one," Batty stamped his feet and whispered to himself, "If you keep doing this, I won't pass the ball to you. I'll do it myself!"

In the 40th minute, Batistuta actually scored the goal himself.

Laporte made a long pass from the backcourt. Batistuta received the ball in the middle and refused to cooperate with any teammates. He cut into the penalty area from the right, but——

The miners defender quickly got into position and blocked his position. In order not to miss the opportunity he had fought for, he could only pass the ball to the far corner with his left foot, but the ball hit the post and went out of the bottom line.

"What the hell!"

Batty sat on the ground and hammered the turf hard.

"Who doesn't have shooting boots now?" Aguero joked as he and De Bruyne pulled Batistuta up.

"Don't worry." De Bruyne adjusted his hair. "Everyone has times when they can't score. We will score."

Batty made a few nasal noises of annoyance and finally nodded. …

Both teams drew in the first half. During the halftime break, many fans thought that Manchester City's winning streak would end here, but Manchester City scored a goal at the beginning of the second half, and the situation was instantly reversed, as if something was different.

In the 49th minute, De Bruyne intercepted the ball in the midfield and launched an attack. David Silva passed the ball to Batistuta in front of the penalty area. Batistuta passed the ball to De Bruyne who was on the right. The Belgian did not continue to break forward. He stopped the ball and shot directly!

Everyone watched the ball draw a perfect arc and rush into the net.

[Crescent moon knife! De Bruyne hit a Beckham-like world wave! The Shakhtar Donetsk goalkeeper had no reaction, 1-0! Manchester City leads at home! ]

"I take that back, Kevin!" Batty jumped onto De Bruyne's back and kissed the side of his face. "Nice goal!"

……

De Bruyne's goal seemed to have untied Manchester City's shackles, and in the next 20 minutes, Manchester City scored consecutive goals in the frontcourt.

In the 50th minute, Kyle Walker made a cross from the right, Batistuta easily missed the ball and attracted the attention of two defenders. Jesus volleyed the ball into the net from the back post. The Miners goalkeeper flew to save the ball, but it was of no avail. Manchester City extended the score to 2-0!

In the following 68 minutes, Batistuta and David Silva played a gorgeous combination in front of the penalty area. Their passes fooled the entire defense line of the Miners. Finally, Batistuta dribbled past the goalkeeper and kicked the ball into the net, dealing a fatal blow to the opponent.

3-0! Manchester City completely controlled the game!

The game was almost perfect except that Aguero's close-range volley was blocked by the goalkeeper due to poor control of the power.

With a three-goal advantage in hand, Batistuta returned to his usual flamboyant self.

"Don't let the bet stop you from scoring, Kun." He ruffled Aguero's hair jokingly. "Just now during the halftime break, I heard that you are now one goal away from becoming the team's all-time top scorer. It's not worth it to waste the opportunity by not renting a private jet."

Aguero waved his hands around like he was shooing away a fly.

"It's not like I don't want to score." He blew his hair and said, "If you can break the record and become the top scorer, I can rent you a private jet, not to mention another one, to store your souvenirs."

Oh hoo!

Batty smiled, revealing his two pointy teeth.

"That's what you said!"

……

So in the 78th minute, Batistuta was pushed down while trying to seize the opportunity to break into the penalty area. The referee awarded a penalty kick. Just when everyone thought that the teenager was going to take the penalty kick himself, he patted the grass off his legs and threw the ball into Aguero's arms.

"Come here." He said simply and clearly.

"Bati, you——" Aguero's eyes were complicated, "Are you going to give up the chance to score twice?"

"You talk too much nonsense." Batty rolled his eyes at him. "I won this for you. Remember what you said. I want the best plane."

Aguero was stunned for a moment, then smiled helplessly and took the penalty.

"Thank you."

……

The Argentine star made it in one fell swoop!

曼城主场4-0矿工，而阿圭罗打进加盟曼城以来曼城各线赛事第178个入球，打破了1927-1940年期间效力曼城的埃里克-布鲁克保持了近80年的队史进球纪录！

More importantly, Eric Brook took 493 games to score 177 goals, while Aguero only took 264 games.

After this battle, Manchester City has won seven consecutive games in all competitions this season and continues to advance.

The day after the game, Batistuta updated his social media photos, and Aguero fulfilled his promise and spent a lot of money to rent a luxury plane to go to the Netherlands to attend Maluma's concert. Batistuta invited all his teammates based on the principle of taking advantage of the opportunity, but in the end, only he and Aguero went together.

"You should have come!" Batistuta called De Bruyne via video after the concert. In the video, he was covered in glitter, his pink hair was sticking up, his face was red, and his lip gloss was smeared. He looked messy yet beautiful. "Maluma even invited me to the stage. Although I can't sing, I swear I dance much better than his dancers!"

"Yes! You shouldn't miss this!" Aguero squeezed into the camera and said excitedly, "Baby Batistuta is such a good dancer, totally - wait, what are you doing, slow down, slow down! God - fasten your seat belts, this guy is crazy - be careful!"

De Bruyne frowned and was about to speak to express his concern when he saw a flash of light. Then the whole screen shook violently, and there was a loud bang and accompanied by a scream, Batistuta's phone fell into the darkness.

"Fu*k! What happened! Batty! Kun! Talk to me!"

No one responded and the signal was forced to be interrupted.

De Bruyne almost made several holes in his phone, but no one answered whether he called Batistuta or Aguero.

"Hell, hell, hell!"

He was in a great panic.

Lights, shaking, loud noises.

De Bruyne was aware of what might happen, and after taking a deep breath to force himself to calm down, the Belgian called the head coach.

"Pep! Batistuta and A-Kun had a car accident in Holland!"

(End of this chapter)