The fans, young and without the affiliation of conventional football, went crazy as the three games approached: semi-finals and final. Before, however, he played a bit of a show. Piqué, accompanied by the four finalist presidents, landed by helicopter outside Camp Nou. Arriving like everyone else, on a day like today, was not an option. With the protagonists on the grass, the atmosphere was increasingly deafening, typical of a special evening. Expectation was rising, proportional to the nerves to see the players on the grass. Many of them, used to playing in regional fields, had never dreamed of anything like this.
Maybe that’s why the two semis took a while to get going in terms of gameplay. My legs were shaking a little. The first duel, including a comeback by Troncos (2-2), ended up being decided in a penalty shootout. The performances of the two goalkeepers, Pol Lechuga and Dani Pérez, prevented defeat for their team. It wasn’t until the sixth kick that the game was decided, with Nadir’s goal giving victory to Juan Guarnizo’s Anniquiladores. They wouldn’t get that far in the second game, between Saiyans and El Barrio. The team presided over by Adri Contreras got the passport to the final (4-2) with two goals at the end of the match. Not even TheGrefg, president of Saiyans, could prevent it, and he scored the first president’s penalty of the day (penalty shot by team presidents once during the match).
In the final, El Barrio, who got there almost without rest but with adrenaline through the clouds, set his triumph on the fast track. First Adri Contreras, with a penalty kick, the first to score in the competition, and then Martín Mantovani, with a header, faced the final in their favor. Neither Fran Hernández, one of the best players of Anniquiladores, nor the 3 against 3 brought about by the league card managed to destabilize El Barrio, which completed a perfect final. In the 38th minute, with Aniquiladores obsessed in the attack, Mantovani settled the duel (3-0). Nobody expected this final, nobody expected to see El Barrio champion. He was eighth in the regular phase.
Over two million spectators at the Kings League final
The first edition of the Kings League has shaken up Latin-speaking entertainment and sports. It was already seen when none other than Ronaldinho played for Ibai Llanos’ team. But even in the wildest ideas of Piqué and Oriol Querol, CEO of the competition, there was no way to fill the Camp Nou to the brim. The audience that came to the stadium was joined by those who saw the event through the networks, more than two million people, a record figure for the season. Pere Aragonès and Joan Laporta, presidents of Catalonia and Barça, respectively, did not want to miss it on site. In fact, the Barcelona manager can celebrate that the box office shared with the Kings League will leave more than 2.5 million in the coffers of Arístides Maillol.
Not everyone can boast of such an event, uniting sport and entertainment, with dedicated fans who did not stop cheering and celebrating an occasion as special as this one. “You wouldn’t change a magical night at the Camp Nou for anything in the world”, Piqué said at the beginning of the afternoon. Lionel Andrés Messi, who was not forgotten by the fans, was given a standing ovation during the day despite not being present. Who knows if the next magical night the Camp Nou experiences will be with him dressed as a Blaugrana.
