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FC Barcelona With A Nice Gesture For Jordi Alba After He Confirmed He Will Retire

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Tom Vinall | Last updated Oct 7, 2025 5:35 PM ET

Highlights

Player announced retirement earlier on today
Barcelona have kind words for him
Tributes flooding in from everywhere

On Tuesday afternoon, Inter Miami's Jordi Alba confirmed he will retire from football upon the conclusion of the 2025 MLS season.

He joins team mate and fellow Barcelona legend Sergio Busquets, who too announced in the last fortnight that he will be retiring when the MLS season ends. A true end of an era in so many ways.

Tributes have flooded in on social media to a true modern great of the game. Alba joined FC Barcelona in the summer of 2012, after being a crucial part of the Spain team that won Euro 2012 - scoring in the final vs Italy.

He won it all with Barcelona, most notably the famous treble in the 2014/15 - playing a big part in the early opening goal against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League final. Outside of that season, he won five La Liga titles, five Copa Del Reys, four Supercopa de Espanas, and a Club World Cup.

Meanwhile, Alba won 93 caps for Spain, with his final ever appearance coming in the 2023 UEFA Nations League final, which his side won on penalties against Croatia for a second international trophy, 11 years after his first.

That game would prove to be the left-back's final appearance in Europe, as he soon touched down in South Beach to join amigos Busquets and Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. A few months later, Luis Suarez joined the club, to make it four players from the treble winning team now in Miami.

Then, the next year, Javier Mascherano would take over as manager - meaning half the side that started the Champions League final against Juventus were all at Inter Miami in some capacity.

During Alba's time at Barcelona, he scored 27 goals and provided 99 assists in 459 appearances. He was most known for his famous cutback to Messi, who would curl in a left footed finish. The best example of this was in the final seconds of a Clasico away to Real Madrid, where Messi made it 3-2.

A certified club legend, in every sense of the phrase. As a result, his former employers took to Twitter to pay tribute to the Spaniard, saying: "A full-back like no other. Wrote his name in Barca's history. Thank you, Jordi."

This may seem pretty simple, but less is more. The key detail - "wrote his name in Barca's history". No doubt about that at all - Alba will always be a club legend, and part of one of the most successful periods in the club's history.

Honestly, if you told someone a few weeks ago that Busquets and Alba would retire before Suarez, you would have probably found it hard to believe, especially with the striker being older than both of them.

As a result, only the Uruguayan, Messi, and Marc-Andre Ter-Stegen have not retired from those that started the Champions League final against Juventus. And you feel like the former two are not too far off now.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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