[Football] Bad Boy Batty

[Crystal Palace striker Zaha breaks into the penalty area from the right, Sterling defends closely, Manchester City is sentenced to death, penalty! Milivojevic takes the penalty - misses! Ederson blocks the ball with his foot. Let's see Manchester City's counterattack this time, Yaya Toure, pass to De Bruyne! Ponjon fouled... zzzz (rewind) Manchester City's counterattack, Yaya Toure, pass to De Bruyne! ]

"See? That bastard was going straight for you, without even looking at the ball." Batistuta sat sideways on the sofa, holding the remote control and replaying the clip of De Bruyne being tackled. The more he watched, the angrier he became. "This is definitely a red card, absolutely!"

"Hmm, a tactical foul is the best option at that position. Pang Qiong is too slow." De Bruyne sat next to Batistuta. His ankle was not so swollen anymore, but he still needed ice. He took the remote control from Batistuta and rewound the tape again. "I felt someone approaching, so I kicked the ball out in advance."

"You call that a tactical foul?" Batty expressed his disgust. "The moment he turned to defend, he only had you in his eyes. Disgusting! This description is really weird. Anyway, because of Crystal Palace's foul, we lost the chance to break the record. We were only one game away from 1 consecutive wins. Damn it!"

Compared to Batistuta's irritability, De Bruyne seemed very calm. He put his hands on the sofa and stretched his body completely. "I was injured because of Crystal Palace's foul, but that's not why we didn't win." He said, "The absence of Jesus and you and tactical mistakes are the reasons why we didn't win."

"——Are you speaking for the Crystal Palace?"

"No, I just don't want to make excuses for our poor performance." De Bruyne shrugged, "When will you come back to training? We still have a game on the 3rd, against Watford."

"Tomorrow," Batistuta replied. "There's no other schedule in the world that's as ridiculous as this. The 3rd? There are only 3 hours left until the 48rd, and there's not even enough time to recover!" After complaining about the Premier League schedule, Batistuta looked at De Bruyne again. He licked his lips and asked, "Will you play in the next round?"

"The team doctor said I'm fine."

Batty nodded without saying anything else, then picked up his phone and casually browsed the entertainment news.

About half a minute later, De Bruyne turned off the projection screen on the TV, and then unexpectedly lay face down on Batistuta's thighs.

"Kevin?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired." De Bruyne said sullenly, burying his face in the fabric of his clothes, then put his arm around Batistuta's waist, took a deep breath and said, "Come and recharge."

Batistuta stopped scrolling on his phone and looked down at the golden head on his waist. It felt very novel. De Bruyne rarely showed his deeply vulnerable side in front of him.

On the field, he is a reassuring midfield commander, a stress-monger, and a hot-tempered boy. Off the field, he becomes an almost perfect colleague, good friend, and... a qualified lover.

Oh, maybe more than qualified.

Batty reached out and slowly combed the other person's hair, as if he was teasing his own growing wolfhound. It felt a little strange, but especially warm, as warm as a blazing fire in the fireplace.

In a trance, Batistuta imagined a small wooden house that was about to be submerged in a blizzard. He seemed to hear the crackling sound of firewood. He and De Bruyne were there, hugging on the bear skin rug beside the burning fireplace.

Warm and cute.

It's like being stuck in the mountains during the winter while hunting but not depressed at all because they have each other's little lovers.

"Buddy?"

De Bruyne's voice burst the bubble around Batistuta. He blinked and looked down at De Bruyne's profile.

"Um, Kevin, what's going on?"

"Nothing, I saw you were in a daze, what were you thinking about? The game?"

"No, I-I just like to let my imagination run wild. I can't control it." Batty said softly, "Do you want to change places?"

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason, I just want to." Batistuta joked, then pinched De Bruyne's nose, "By the way - can I turn on the fireplace, the fake one on the screen is fine."

……

After a night of hard work, the two woke up a little late the next morning and stepped into the gate of Manchester City's training ground. De Bruyne's ankle had subsided, but for safety reasons, Batistuta did not let him drive on the way to the club.

After a leg massage and simple indoor training, Guardiola called all the players to the screening room. He wanted to make arrangements for the next game against Watford. Batistuta did not sit with Aguero today. He ran to the back row and sat next to De Bruyne.

The atmosphere was somewhat solemn; no one spoke or laughed.

This made Batty feel uncomfortable.

"Why are you all so serious? Our unbeaten streak is still going on." He kicked the back of Sterling's chair and at the same time grabbed the two bags on Kyle Walker's collar and pulled hard. "It's just a draw. Look at the way you look. If you don't know, you would think we lost to a weak team by a large margin."

"Hey!"

“Hey—cough cough cough!!”

Sterling and Walker glared at Batistuta at the same time, and their annoyed expressions, which were almost copied and pasted, amused their teammates and many members of the coaching staff. De Bruyne tightened his lips to prevent himself from laughing too much, and at the same time pulled Batistuta's shoulders to let him lean over and rub his hair.

"That's more like it." Batistuta raised his lips and raised his hand to tease Ederson next to him to make the atmosphere more lively. "Don't look so sad. We haven't lost this season. We are still the strongest club in Europe. All the trophies will be ours!"

"Well said, Batistuta." Guardiola walked in. Without wasting a moment, he picked up the laser pen and controlled the computer to project the starting lineup on the screen. However, unlike usual, there were no positions on today's formation diagram, only two rows of names.

Looking at the stunned expressions of his disciples in their seats, Guardiola said: "Today I will not tell you specific things, how to take set pieces, how to take corner kicks, or even how the front, midfield, and backfield players should position themselves. What I want to tell you is that you have been winning in the past half season and will continue to win. This has nothing to do with me. I am a dispensable person. Even if you don't use my tactics, you will still win as long as you show your responsibility."

After a pause, he continued: "On the field? That's your business. You have to understand what you are doing, see if the opponent has four or five defenders, and know when to attack and when to intercept. Everyone, you must fully understand what you have to do on the field. This is the most important thing. Now, you are only one step away from being invincible."

Guardiola's speech did not last too long, and his emotions were not as intense as usual, not even as intense as those so-called "success gurus", but he has a special magic that makes you completely immersed and follow his thinking step by step.

Some people say that he is nothing after leaving Barcelona, ​​and Barcelona gave him everything. In fact, this is a very narrow-minded idea. Guardiola has his own football philosophy, and he always implements his own ideas and improves on that basis.

This is also the reason why Batty is willing to be coached by him.

Guardiola: "Keep going, everyone, we have ended 2017 well, now we have to start 2018 well and win everything."

Guardiola walked out of the screening room to applause, but returned moments later with a whiteboard and a completely different level of excitement.

"Having talked about tomorrow's game, let's focus on another key topic - the Champions League draw!"

Batty was stunned for a moment, then reacted.

He almost forgot that today was the day of the Champions League knockout draw. Judging from the expressions of the players in the screening room, many of them had forgotten this important step. Guardiola pushed the whiteboard to the corner, then turned it over. On it were written all the possible opponents they might face in the round of 16.

"Come on, everyone, predict the result. Who do you want to be our first opponent in the knockout round?" Guardiola leaned against the whiteboard in a rather seductive posture. He picked up a fountain pen, bit off the pen cap with his teeth, and chose Batistuta from among the players. "Hey Batistuta, who do you choose?"

"Emmm - Bayern or Real Madrid." Batistuta said lazily and arrogantly, "Except for these two, the others don't matter."

Kyle Walker knocked him hard on the shoulder: "Are you crazy? It's only the round of 16. How can you play the most difficult game right away?"

A quiet laugh broke out in the theater.

"You may not know this, but Batistuta was like this last season." Sterling looked back and shook his eyebrows. "He just wanted to get it done in one go, skip all the easy modes and go straight to hell mode, and it would be best if he could get through it with one life."

Kyle Walker looked at Batty in disbelief, and Batty shrugged and gave him a 'yes, that's me' look.

"Bayern or Real Madrid?" Guardiola tapped his fingers on the whiteboard. "You can only choose one."

Batistuta smacked his lips. "Then it's Real Madrid," he said. "Leave Bayern to the end. I'd rather win the championship by stepping on them."

Guardiola nodded, and then negotiated Batistuta's name under Bayern Munich. After writing it, he looked at De Bruyne: "Kevin, who do you want to play?"

"It doesn't matter." De Bruyne shrugged, "Like Batistuta, choose Real Madrid."

Guardiola was slightly surprised, and then wrote De Bruyne's name under Batistuta. Kyle Walker exhaled, shook his head and looked at Batistuta and De Bruyne beside him as if they were a crazy couple.

"That's enough. We're going to play Real Madrid right away. I don't think so." He rolled up his sleeves. "I choose Sevilla!"

"Porto Porto! I want to go back to Porto!" B Silva jumped up from his seat. "No one wants Real Madrid and Bayern. Just like the most exciting part of a movie is always at the end, I like steady victories!"

Batty shrugged it off, but it was clear that gradual victory was the sentiment of most people in the theater.

……

However, the result of the draw was beyond everyone's expectations.

Manchester City's opponent will be Basel of the Swiss Super League.

Batty curled his lips: "Oh, a big gift package."

De Bruyne secretly pinched Batistuta's waist and asked him to keep his voice down. Although everyone thought so, the most basic respect still needs to be given.

Soon the draws for other teams were completed. Besiktas, a little-known club, drew Bayern, while the one who drew Real Madrid was Paris Saint-Germain.

Paris plays Real Madrid?
profound--

What a lucky guy, Ney, Batistuta pursed his lips and took out his phone from his pocket to send a message to Neymar. This is definitely not a good signing for Paris. The dispute between Neymar and Cavani over penalty kicks caused a lot of controversy a few days ago. Although the president and head coach of Paris have announced that the two have reconciled, at least as far as Batistuta knows, Neymar is still a little dissatisfied.

Walker was in a good mood after learning the result of the draw. He poked Batistuta in the face with a sly smile and said jokingly: "That's good. You can keep your thoughts until the quarter-finals or semi-finals when we play Real Madrid and Bayern, oh, or Besiktas and Paris."

"Tsk, they are the same. They are all tool teams that helped us become champions." Batty rolled his eyes and dodged Walker's finger. "Just understand, the reason I chose Bayern and Real Madrid is not because I like them, but-"

"Everyone! Hey! Check the group message!"

At this moment, the translator Sam Eli rushed in, shouting excitedly. In the puzzled eyes of everyone, he rushed to the seat and carried Battie out.

Batty: ?
"What's going on?" He grabbed Sam's thinning hair and jumped down while he was in pain. "Talk nicely and don't use your hands. Just because I haven't fought for a long time doesn't mean I'm not as good as I used to be, baldy!"

whoosh-

Several arrows pierced the chests of several bald gentlemen in the screening room.

"My fault, my fault." Sam Eli calmed down a little, and did not blame Batty for what he did to his hair. He said excitedly: "You are nominated for Batty! European Golden Boy Award, Puskas Award, and most importantly - the Golden Ball Award!"

Wow!

Amid the exclamations, Batty blinked.

Sam thought he was too excited to speak, so he went forward and gave him a hug. "Oh my God, I just heard it too, I can't believe it! Uh, I mean... the Golden Boy Award must be given to you, and the Puskas Award too. The goal you scored against Barcelona last season when you dribbled past 6 players was really beautiful! But the Golden Ball Award, wow - you actually made it into the top ten!"

"Wait, Sam, I thought the Ballon d'Or and FIFA awards were separated this year." Batty pushed Sam away and asked, "Isn't it?"

"Yes, they are separated." Sam replied, "So you are going to attend two award ceremonies, the Ballon d'Or on the 11th and the FIFA on the 23rd. That's great. This is a good opportunity to enhance your personal image and the reputation of your club. I will prepare a press release for you, don't worry!"

It will take two more trips. Batty smoothed his hair and lowered his eyelids to hide his indifferent expression.

It's no wonder that he won't win the 2017 Golden Globe Award. It's just a nomination, nothing to worry about.

As for Puskas and the Golden Boy Award.

Weren't these two awards already decided since he appeared? There was no suspense at all.

And even so, he still had to make two trips. In the season, during this important period of the championship, it was really very, very——

trouble.

"What are you thinking about, Barty?" Seeing that he didn't respond, Sam snapped his fingers twice in front of Barty and teased, "What's wrong? Didn't expect to be nominated? Are you stupid?"

Barty shook his head slightly and licked his lower lip.

"Can I not go?"

(End of this chapter)