GiveMeSport
·9 January 2023
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsGiveMeSport
·9 January 2023
La Liga impressed football fans with a futuristic post-match interview involving Barcelona head coach Xavi on Sunday night.
Xavi’s side recorded a 1-0 win away at Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano thanks to Ousmane Dembele’s first-half goal.
The result leaves the Catalan giants three points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Real Madrid dropped points on Saturday, losing 2-1 away at Villarreal, which provided rivals Barça with the opportunity to create a gap at the top of the table. It’s an opportunity they took with both hands.
La Liga TV’s pundits interviewed Xavi after the match. All pretty normal so far, right? But the manner of the interview took viewers by surprise.
Rather than cutting to Atletico’s stadium on a screen, like we’d usually see with televised manager and player post-match interviews, a hologram of Xavi was instead beamed into the studio.
As Xavi discussed tactics with the panel, it appeared as if he was really there explaining how his team had beaten Diego Simeone’s team.
Welcome to the future!
La Liga have led the way with technological experimentations in recent seasons.
On previous occasions, football fans have expressed their amazement at the quality of footage that is sometimes seen during his live broadcasts.
Whether we’ll eventually see holograms of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp beamed into the Sky Sports and BT Sport studios remains to be seen, but La Liga have at least shown the Premier League and other top leagues what’s possible.