In his last match at the Catalan stadium, the defender was captain and left with a standing ovation with 7 minutes left in the 2-0 defeat against Almería. Xavi’s team took two points from Real Madrid at the top.
The last show by Gerard Piqué at the Camp Nou was attended by 92,605 spectatorsseasonal record in a hit Barcelona. The farewell to the 35-year-old Catalan central defender came on 5 November, two days after announcing his retirement from football. And it came with a win, 2-0 over Almería, in a temporary leading team of the Spanish League and with him as captain of the circle that formed him and to which he promised to return, even if from elsewhere.
seven minutes they still had a match that the team of Xavi dominated from start to finish despite only managing to score two goals on goal, when the match was stopped and Barsa’s last substitution arrived. Andrea Christensen He had been preparing for some time to come in and give Piqué the ovation he deserved.
When the electronic sign marked the exit of the “3”Piqué was shown excited for the first time tonight. He took off the captain’s tape that his friend Sergio Busquet he had given it for this special occasion and greeted each of his teammates who approached him to hug him on the pitch.
Then, then, he raised his arms, thanked the audience who filled the Camp Nou to greet him and applauded. Outside, Xavi, his former teammate and now DT in his professional finals, was waiting for him. and Busquets – who had already left – on the reserve bench to surround him with affection.
After some complicated seasons, with institutional problems and consequent poor results in sport – in addition to the unexpected departure of Lionel Messi-, Piqué had the pleasure of leaving Barcelona as league leaders, even if only by two points (34 to 32) on a Real Madrid team that will visit Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
He was struck by the elimination of the Champions League in the group stage. There was more talk about him off the pitch – due to the break with Shakira, the mother of children Sasha and Milan, who went out with him on the pitch at his farewell – and inside he could not find stability.
His 8 league titles, his seven Copa del Rey titles, his 6 Spanish Super Cups and his 3 Champions League in 15 seasons were over. a symbol of the golden age of Barcelona and that this Saturday they rewarded him with a tribute that began with all the companions who wore a shirt with the surname Piqué and the number 3 on the number and the legend Simp3 on the front.
He could have retired, perhaps, from scoring a goal but in the 6 ‘ gave Robert Lewandowski the execution of a penalty who charged the VAR for Kaiky’s hand. The Pole, however, makes a mistake, deflecting it when he wanted to secure the ball on the left post.
Yes, he was able to retire with a zero goal and his mission as a defender was accomplished. Because, after an overwhelming dominance and an unfair 0-0, the second half came with goals, Dembélé on a pass from Busquets and Frenkie de Jong, careful in the game, came out of offside and took advantage of the rebound the shot of the newly entered Ansu Fati at 17 minutes.
“In life you realize that sometimes to love is to let go“He said as he stood in front of the whole crowd in midfield and burst into tears.
“I think that with so much love between me and Barca, it was time to leave us some space, some air, and I’m sure that in the future I will be back”, he declared to the cry of “president, president”-. This is not goodbye, I already said that when I was 16 when I went to Manchester United and came back. As my grandfather told me, I was born here and will die here. Long live Barça! “.
Now, on the other side of the white line, only time will tell how he gets back to the club that was his home.
