Barça Bids Farewell to a Legend

The La Liga title was wrapped up long ago, but Barcelona still had a reason to circle the season's final match on its calendar.

Their captain, Andrés Iniesta, had announced that match would be his last for the Blaugrana.

He'd achieved the status of legend at Camp Nou, which was evident prior to kickoff.

That's when around 90,000 fans paid tribute with a mosaic saying his legacy would be was infinite after 22 years of service for the club.

 

Nothing like animation to preserve a memory. Interesting choice, Barça.

Anyway, with nothing else on the line, the home boys engaged Real Sociedad in what looked like a summertime friendly.

Or something.

 

By the time the second half rolled around, Brazilian Philippe Coutinho added a bitta in-game fireworks with a stunning shot from outside the box:

 

1-0 is how the match ended.

Just after the hour, Iniesta was subbed-off, passing the Catalan club's captaincy to five-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi.

Iniesta vowed to the fans that he'd keep you in my heart forever and prepared to ride off into the sunrise.

As in Land of the Rising Sun, where socks are clearly optional:

 

Thus, Barça's legendary No 8 will take a career victory lap in the J-League with Vissel Kobe to the tune of $30million a season for three years.

Think of it as a footballer's equivalent of going out to stud.