Eight most memorable moments from Andres Iniesta’s legendary career

Andres Iniesta’s retirement comes as a tough pill to swallow for Barcelona fans across the globe.

At 40 years of age, his retirement was always coming especially given that most of his peers had already called it time on their professional careers.

Yet, such was the midfielder’s love for the game that he pushed his body through until the very end and is now calling it time after it became clear that he was slowing down.

Since his debut for Barcelona in 2002, he made close to 700 appearances for the club and established himself as one of the biggest legends in the team’s history.

Iniesta’s career is filled with iconic moments with both club and country and here are eight such moments that will go down in history as the best of Iniesta.

#8. A legendary Euro campaign

Of all of Andres Iniesta’s legendary campaigns, his run at the UEFA Euro 2012 will go down as one of his finest.

The Barcelona legend ran the show in midfield for La Roja right from the curtain-raiser against Italy where he was named man-of-the-match. From there, there was no stopping Iniesta.

The Spain icon participated in two of the team’s four goals against Ireland, set up a late winner against Croatia and even played a key role in the buildup to Xabi Alonso’s opener against France in the quarterfinal. 

He scored his penalty in the shootout win over Portugal and walked home with the man-of-the-match in the resultant finale against Italy and the Player of the Tournament award.

#7. Sextuple 2009

Barcelona’s sextuple under Pep Guardiola in 2009 laid the foundation for the Golden Generation in the years ahead. 

Winning every competition they participated in that season, the Catalans walked home with six trophies of which Iniesta was a key pillar all through the way.

Despite playing more as an attacker that year than a midfielder, he was a critical component of the tiki-taka the team endorsed alongside Lionel Messi, Xavi, Carles Puyol and others and it remains one of the most special moments of his glorious career.

#6. 2015 UCL final

Barcelona have not enjoyed much success in the UEFA Champions League in recent years and it is no surprise that they required Iniesta’s magic the last time they took home the crown.

Playing against Juventus in the final of the 2015 edition, the magical midfielder stole the show with his prowess in the middle of the park and his connection with Lionel Messi.

In fact, he even assisted Ivan Rakitic’s early goal on the night and set the tone for Barcelona’s 3-1 win over the Italians.

#5. 2018 Copa del Rey final

What makes the 2018 Copa del Rey final against Sevilla a little more special than the other moments on this list is the mere fact that it came towards the end of his Barcelona career when he was close to 34.

Playing in his twilight years with the European elite, the magician lit the park up and ran the show as if he were ten years younger. 

Apart from his pulling the strings on the field and dictating play as usual, he scored a sublime goal grounding the goalkeeper and slotting the ball past him and was the best player on the field in the finale as Barça won 5-0.

#4. Standing ovation at Bernabeu

El Clasico is still the biggest game in world football and thus houses the greatest rivalry in the sport. Barcelona and Real Madrid, over the years, have seen a massive divide between fans not only for sporting but political and cultural reasons. 

Este vídeo resume a la perfección quien es Andrés Iniesta como jugador y como persona. El Santiago Bernabéu, máximo rival, en pie aplaudiéndolo. pic.twitter.com/n891QUQJ75

— Filosofía Johan Cruyff (@ADN_Cruyff) October 8, 2024

Andres Iniesta, to this day, remains one of the very few Barcelona players to receive a standing ovation at Santiago Bernabeu after he scored and assisted in the team’s 4-0 win over Real Madrid in 2015. 

It is clear why his legacy is greater than the club divide in football.

#3. Sitting at Camp Nou grass photo

After 22 long and special years at Barcelona, Iniesta bid farewell to the club of his life in 2018. As he walked off the field one last time at Spotify Camp Nou, he was met with an umpteenth standing ovation by the fans and a guard of honour from his teammates on the field.

What hit the heart, however, was what followed later on the evening as Iniesta made his way to the centre of the field alone after the lights went out at the glorious stadium. 

Sitting in the middle all alone on the grasses of Camp Nou, he soaked up all his emotions and the photo, to date, triggers a series of emotions in the minds of the Barcelona faithful.

#2. Stamford Bridge drama

A large part of Pep Guardiola’s greatness at Barcelona is down to Iniesta’s moment of magic in the semifinal of the UEFA Champions League 2008/09, for the team was on the brink of elimination and losing the momentum that took them to a sextuple.

Barcelona were staring at elimination in the 93rd minute of the second leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, moments away from a gutting defeat. 

Collecting a Lionel Messi pass, however, Iniesta fired the ball past Petr Cech from outside the box and sent Catalonia into tango, marking one of the most iconic moments in modern UCL history.

Barcelona would go on to face Manchester United in the final where a relatively straightforward win awaited them.

#1. World Cup winner

At a time when Spain had never won the FIFA World Cup and the pressure was highest in the finale against the Netherlands, it was only the pearl called Iniesta that could handle that responsibility.

Foraying into the final third in the 116th minute, he kept his composure at the most important moment in his career to volley the ball comfortably and give Spain their first, and only World Cup title to date. An icon for the nation.