On Wednesday, Barcelona held Sergio Busquets’ official farewell ceremony at the Spotify Camp Nou, following the news that the 34-year-old will leave the club at the end of the season, once his contract expires.
Many people associated with Barcelona took the opportunity to pay tribute to Busquets, while former colleagues also chimed in, with one being Pep Guardiola, who gave Busquets his first team debut back in 2008.
“Congratulations on your career at the club, we love you so much. I know you’ll be a coach. I’ll wait for you on the bench. Know that I’ll beat you and take the ball away from you.”
❝T'espero a les banquetes i et guanyaré❞
Pep Guardiola desafia a Sergio Busquets 😏 pic.twitter.com/s9jS1LAuL9
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) May 31, 2023
It wasn’t just Barcelona alumni that offered words of congratulations to Busquets, with Emilio Butragueno, who is Director of institutional relations at Real Madrid, also paying tribute to the 34-year-old.
“Of course we had to be here to convey our recognition of an extraordinary career. For Real Madrid, he has been a great rival, both in attack and defence. He has been key to Barca’s successes.”
👏👏 Genial gesto del Real Madrid con Butragueño acudiendo como representante del equipo blanco en el homenaje a Busquets pic.twitter.com/x30RcF1S8I
— MARCA (@marca) May 31, 2023
Busquets holds the record for most appearances in El Clasico fixtures, and there is clearly a lot of respect towards him from Real Madrid, which underlines how good of a player he has been for Barcelona.
