Andres Iniesta bowed out of Barcelona on Sunday as the impish midfielder brought the curtain down on his Blaugrana career in a 1-0 win against Real Sociedad, as the Catalans bookended a fine season, having won a domestic league and cup double.
A massive mural created by the fans as the teams took to the field read ‘Infinit Iniesta’ and the 34-year-old has left a lasting impact on Barca fans throughout his 16-year career in the famous claret and blue shirt.
A magnificent 32 major trophies have been collected during a glittering career as a Catalan Galactico. Iniesta lifted nine La Liga titles (2004/05, 2005/06, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2017/18) – including fittingly in his swansong season.
He also won a sixth Copa del Rey as part of the 2017/18 double and can also boast being part of four all-conquering Champions League-winning teams.
He also won it all at international level of course too, memorably scoring the winning goal as Spain won a maiden World Cup in South Africa eight years ago, beating the Netherlands 1-0 in extra-time. He was also part of back-to-back European Championship-winning teams in 2008 and 2012
Here, for one final time, we analyse the performance of one of the finest players ever to call the Camp Nou home.
A legend departs and his legacy begins#infinit8iniesta pic.twitter.com/AEpefaJQVv
— FC Barcelona 🏆🏆 (@FCBarcelona) 20 May 2018
STATS
Goals – 0
Assists – 0
Shots – 1
Dribbles – 3
Passes – 79
Key passes – 0
Pass Accuracy – 89.9%
Touches – 88
Aerials Won – 1
👥 Today's crowd, 84,168 at Camp Nou. Thanks, fans! 👏👏 #BarçaRealSociedad pic.twitter.com/Jc00LSmTA3
— FC Barcelona 🏆🏆 (@FCBarcelona) 20 May 2018
PLAYER WATCH
3rd minute: Iniesta almost gets his send-off away to a perfect start, nearly setting up a goal inside three minutes as he picks up possession in his own half and sprays a cross field ball on his weaker left foot out to Ousmane Dembele. A sumptuous ball, but nothing comes of it.
10th minute: He’s certainly in the thick of the action early on. Allowed to cut in from the left, he drives a fierce effort goalwards that has Miguel Angel Moya scrambling across, but it ripples the side netting.
12th minute: Iniesta chips a ball through to the lively Ousmane Dembele who’s deft first-time cross is punched clear by Moya.
18th minute: Iniesta’s involved again as another link-up with Dembele sparks a Barca attack and leads to a corner from which Gerard Pique really should score, but sidefoots a tame effort right at Moya.
61st minute: Iniesta advances and attempts to squeeze a through ball to Luis Suarez but Real Sociedad cover it off and regain possession.
64th minute: Nearly a glimpse of goal for the veteran playmaker as he plays a near one-two in the box with Rakitic but as he attempts to shimmy past the last defender he is tackled.
80th minute: And that’s it. The end of a mesmeric era for a magician of the game. A pretty tame performance from both team and crowd in Iniesta’s final game, with Barca hardly giving their home fans too many reasons to cheer. That all changed with 10 minutes to go as the Camp Nou rose in unison to salute one of the favourite sons, Iniesta symbolically passing the captain’s armband to Lionel Messi as he left the field after embracing every teammate and coach Ernesto Valverde, taking a seat on the bench while he has already assured a seat in club folklore.
Final whistle: Not a dry eye in the house as the man of the moment, already an emotional wreck on the sidelines, treads onto the hallowed Camp Nou turf for the final time to lap up the love from the crowd, as well as both sets of players. Then it’s back off to the changing rooms as the stadium is plunged into darkness as Barca prepare to pay a final farewell. The lights are switched off in the stadium, fittingly encapsulating Iniesta closing the door on a quite magnificent club career.
