Old soccer glories and confusing rules of the game… Gerard Pique launches the League of Legends
By decision, Gerard Pique is never short of ideas. Considering a return to service in the Spanish D2 with the Andorran club he owns, the newly retired presented his latest find in Barcelona on Sunday: the League of Kings.
We would like to tell you that the principle is simple, but in reality it is not. As explained in a long article from ESPN, this competition brings together 12 teams, each chaired by a celebrity from football or social networks. Iker Casillas, Sergio Aguero, Javier Hernandez or broadcaster Ibai Llanos are examples in the game.
Matches are played 7-on-7 with each team consisting of 12 players. The top 10 were chosen in December via a draw on Twitch, and anyone can sign up. The 11th and 12th players are professionals or former professionals, the former stays with the team all season, the latter can change from one week to the next.
“Golden cards” touch greatness
Matches last twice for twenty minutes, with fairly specific rules: the start is given in the water polo style, all players stand in a row at goal level, waiting for the whistle to rush to the ball in the middle. of the field. There are offsides, unlimited substitutions and temporary suspensions for yellow (two minutes) or red (five minutes) cards. If the decision is positive (as in tennis with Hawkeye) it is also possible to refer to the video for each match and team, with the possibility of maintaining this advantage. In the event of a tie, there is a five-second penalty shootout starting from the center circle.
are you watching Hang on, because here we get into the hard part. Each captain draws a “golden card” at random before a match, a bit like a board game where you draw a joker in your hand when you want to shake up the game. There are five different cards: instant penalty, steal the opponent’s card, withdraw the opponent player for two minutes, the goal in the next minute counts as double, and finally the “golden card”, which allows you to choose to use the option you want, the first four.
With this finding, as they say, suspense and twists are guaranteed. ESPN takes a cue from Sunday’s match between Casillas’ team and Aguero’s. 3-2 lead, the former took out the “golden card” to pay the penalty, but Kunisports had the card to steal the opponent’s card, they did to recover the peno. And whoop, victory 4-2.
“Some presidents were in favor of the cards and some were against it,” league general manager Oriol Querol told ESPN. That’s why we left the decision up to the fans. Because the competition is of course interactive, especially with the younger generation. In fact, the games are streamed on Twitch, reaching 800,000 viewers, according to the league.
A 300-seat room soon?
This is currently the only way to see matches played in the industrial port next to Barcelona airport. Pike and his partners are planning a 300-seat venue for live shows in the future – and are already considering the launch of a women’s league next May.
The first was a success anyway, according to Chicharito Hernandez, who came specially from Los Angeles, where he still plays (for the LA Galaxy), to participate. “I was really surprised by the level, although what didn’t surprise me was the intensity and desire with which everyone played,” he said after his loss. Raúl Tamudo, Jonathan Soriano or Joan Capdevila had a beautiful canvas. And Xavier Saviola has been officially announced in Kun Aguero’s squad for the following day…
