Andres Iniesta, calling time on his Barcelona career after 22-years of service, took to the centre circle for one final moment of reflection within the surroundings of the coliseum he knows so well.
Earlier, the stadium DJ, who had spent ten minutes following the final whistle drowning out the Barcelona supporters, finally fell silent and the microphone was at last passed to the man of a million passes. Iniesta was in tears as a video of his greatest moments played on various screens around the Camp Nou stadium he has graced for 15 seasons.
'These have been 22 unbelievable years and it has been an honour to defend this club – for me the best club in the world,' he said.
'I want to thank every one of my team-mates and all of you in the stadium. I'm leaving aged 34 years and I just want to say that my heart will be here for ever.'
His team-mates promptly gave him the bumps out on the edge of the centre circle as around 90,000 inside the Nou Camp belted his name out one more time.
Iniesta's last coach Ernesto Valverde said: 'I will be able to say in the future that I was the Barcelona manager for the game that he left the club. He is someone who will never be repeated.Barcelona put on some light show to see him off. Once the glitter ticker-tape has been cleared off the Camp Nou pitch it will start to sink in that one of the greatest players to ever grace the surface has played his last game here in the famous red and blue shirt.
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