Will Gerard Pique get a medal for Barcelona’s La Liga title win?
Gerard Pique has logged more minutes on Twitch than on the pitch this season after retiring before the World Cup.
Nevertheless, his former teammate and Barcelona's current manager Xavi Hernandez extended an open invitation to the festivities ahead of the club's 4-2 victory over Espanyol which sealed the 2022/23 La Liga title.
"Pique is a special case because he retired," Xavi explained. "He didn't join another team like other cases. We have considered it, and we will inform him to invite him to celebrate the league with us."
It's all well and good for Xavi to offer an olive branch after ushering Pique into retirement but can the 36-year-old streamer, media mogul and diss-track subject officially be crowned La Liga champion again?
Will Pique get a medal for Barcelona’s La Liga title win?
There is no scenario that will end with a medal draped around Pique's neck. However, top scorer Robert Lewandowski, captain Sergio Busquets and even Xavi himself will not be wearing a weighty necklace in celebration.
In fact, no one at Barcelona will receive a medal for winning the 2022/23 title because La Liga do not hand out medals. Unlike their counterparts all over the continent, the Spanish top flight do not individually recognise players for their role in a league championship.
La Liga champions do partake in the familiar trophy presentation, with the silver cup hoisted aloft by the club captain in front of his gathered teammates and a burst of fireworks. It remains to be seen whether Pique will attend this event. Speaking ahead of Barcelona's triumph at Espanyol on Sunday, the former centre-back refused to comment on his participation, only offering: "I'm very calm now."
Pique's former colleagues were not so calm when they were chased into the tunnel at Espanyol's Cornella after the final whistle. Disgruntled pitch invaders made up of fans from the home side, who just so happen to be Barcelona's city rivals, rushed towards the Barcelona players who were conducting an impromptu celebration in the centre circle.
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Will Pique be considered a 2022/23 La Liga champion?
Pique's final appearance for Barcelona, coasting through a 2-0 win at home to Almeria in November, was his sixth of the league season and his fourth start.
As many as 19 players made more La Liga appearances and played more minutes for the Catalans than Pique this season but his contribution was more than enough to ensure that he can officially be considered a Spanish league champion for the ninth time in his trophy-laden career.
Arsenal's Thomas Partey was an official La Liga champion in 2021 despite making just three league appearances for Atletico Madrid before joining the Gunners at the start of the season.
Only three players in the history of the Spanish top flight have ever won more editions of La Liga than Pique. Real Madrid icons Paco Gento (12) and Pirri (ten) both cracked double digits while Lionel Messi also amassed ten titles before he was forced out of the club in 2021.
Why did Pique retire halfway through the season?
Before the season even began, Xavi warned Pique "it was going to be difficult for him to play", as the entrepreneurial spirit explained to Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos in November.
With Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia and even Marcos Alonso preferred to Pique at centre-back, the veteran World Cup winner was deemed surplus to requirements. Although, a glut of defensive injuries in autumn forced Xavi to give Pique the minutes that ultimately earned him champion status.
With the World Cup-enforced hiatus on the horizon and Barcelona's treatment room emptying, Pique took matters into his own hands and called time on a glittering career that is still earning him honours six months into his retirement.