Real Madrid forward Marco Asensio has missed the entire season with a serious knee injury but the time away from the pitch paid unexpected dividends when he was crowned champion of LaLiga's FIFA 20 video game tournament on Sunday.
With Spanish soccer on hold along with most live sports while the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, players traded the pitch for PlayStation in an online tournament organized by eSports commentator Ibai Llanos and endorsed by LaLiga.
Over 170,000 people watched Asensio, playing as Real, beat Aitor Ruibal of Leganes 4-1 in the final, the culmination of a weekend of action involving 18 LaLiga sides. Barcelona and Real Mallorca were not allowed to take part in the tournament as their clubs are sponsored by Konami, the creators of FIFA 20's main competitor Pro Evolution Soccer.
@marcoasensio10 sealed it with his second goal to make sure of the trophy!
The final ends @CDLeganes_en 2-4 @realmadriden. #LaLigaSantanderChallenge pic.twitter.com/8gyCIBFAzW— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) March 22, 2020
#WearetheChampions !! @realmadrid pic.twitter.com/w75OJj4ww6
— Marco Asensio (@marcoasensio10) March 22, 2020
The tournament, which was also broadcast on Spanish television, raised $149,212 to fight the deadly COVID-19 virus, which has claimed over 13,580 lives worldwide and more than 1,720 in Spain.
The tournament built on the success of last week's FIFA 20 version of the Seville derby between Real Betis' Borja Iglesias and Sevilla's Sergio Reguilon, also organized by Llanos to fill the void left by the derby which had been postponed.
The Spanish sports media enthusiastically covered the online tournament, with leading newspapers MARCA and AS broadcasting the matches on their websites as well as publishing match reports and live blogs of the games. LaLiga commentator Miguel Angel Roman joined Llanos in presenting the matches, while players gave interviews afterwards in another move to replicate the feel of a real life match.
@BorjaIglesias9's most controversial post game interview.
We don't know if he's still friends with @SergioCanales, @joaquinarte and, especially, @MarcBartra.@LaLigaEN#LaLigaSantanderChallenge #BetisEnCasa #QuédateEnCasa pic.twitter.com/82i2cEe17s— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis_en) March 23, 2020
