Jordi Alba, the indomitable owner of the left wing

Farewells follow one another at Can Barça. On Wednesday it was Sergio Busquets, today it was Jordi Alba's turn. The 34-year-old left-back has said goodbye definitively to the club of his life in an act at the 'Auditori 1899' of the Camp Nou surrounded by his teammates, management and family. Just like his friend Busi this week.

The one from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat leaves Barça after ten seasons being the king of the left wing. With the 18 on his back, he arrived in Barcelona from Valencia at the express request of Tito Vilanova, who had just replaced Guardiola on the Blaugrana bench and who would conquer the league of 100 points. "I want to remember a very special person who signed me in 2012. And it was Tito Vilanova", recalled an emotional Jordi Alba after playing his last game as a culé against Mallorca. Alba was trained in the Barça quarry, arrived at the Masia with nine years and after seven seasons he went to Cornellà. Then he would end up in the lower categories of Valencia, played on loan at Nàstic and when he returned to the team he won the trust of Unai Emery to become a fixture.

"I remember with great affection my beginnings in the quarry where I learned a lot. I will always remember proudly being chosen to lay the first stone of the sports city. Who was going to tell me that years later I was going to be here," Alba recalled yesterday.

But his real explosion, the place where Jordi Alba was introduced to the world of football, was in the Euro 2012, where Spain would revalidate the title of champion. It was one of the novelties of Vicente del Bosque in that European call-up, but more surprising was his ability to adapt to a team that had not changed its structure two years after being crowned world champions in South Africa. His speed allowed La Roja to breathe on the left wing and vary the game. He was the only one of the starters in the final against Italy (4-0) who was not in the 2010 World Cup. But it mattered little to Jordi that after a race of 80 meters he stood in front of Buffon to put the 2-0 of that historic final. "We have been very lucky to find Jordi. We have faith in him, he has not disappointed us and he has made an excellent championship, "said Vicente del Bosque as soon as he won the Euro.

With 23 years and a European Championship under his arm, Jordi Alba arrived in the Barça dressing room. In it you would find teammates such as Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Piqué, Fàbregas, Valdés or Pedro. However, it would be with Leo Messi that he would best connect both on and off the field. The Messi-Alba connection was key and constant throughout the seasons. The best monument of this union was Messi's goal in 2017 against Madrid in the last minute through Jordi Alba. "I always looked for him because all the ones he gave them I put in," Alba said today about the Argentine. This, through a video, wished him the best during the farewell ceremony.

With the departure of the Argentine star, the side lost his best partner. But, surprisingly, the first post-Messi season was the best in terms of assists (10) for L'Hospitalet. So, this last year an undisputed Jordi was expected until a surprising Balde (18 years old) appeared who snatched the title from the beginning of the season. Alba accepted with naturalness and professionalism his loss of prominence and transferred his influence from the field to the dressing room. The second captain next to Busquets has served as a leader in an increasingly rejuvenated squad. Alba and Busi, after Piqué's departure in November, became the most veterans of the Catalan team. "As a player for me it has been a luxury to have him as a teammate. The best left back of Barça and one of the best in history. And as a person he is a 10," Busquets said this afternoon.

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