Sergio Busquets leaves as he lived – in silence and in greatness

Sergio Busquets

Later tonight, under the pastel lights of Florida at Fort Lauderdale, FC Barcelona’s once-unshakable pivot will play his final professional game as a footballer.

Sergio Busquets, the man whose calmness on the ball, instinctive positioning and silent intelligence shaped a footballing generation, will hang up his boots.

Somewhere beneath the fervour of the cup final, as Inter Miami chase their first MLS Cup title in their short history, Lionel Messi will still soak up the cameras, Jordi Alba will hide his own goodbye behind a grin, while Busquets will quietly tie his laces and line up as a pivot for one last time.

In a world where flair often outshines function, ‘Busi’, as he is fondly known, reminded us throughout his illustrious career why the pivot is the heartbeat behind the glamour on a football field.

From Badia to the base of the dynasty

Before Sergio became the quiet heartbeat of a 90,000-seat stadium, he was just another lanky teenager in Badia del Vallès, watching his father fly around goalposts that looked too big for the family name.

In 2008, when Guardiola took over a struggling Barcelona first-team side, he plucked a tall, unknown midfielder from Barça B, a kid who grew late physically, was never the flashiest in his age group, and looked fragile compared to the other established stars.

However, Pep saw something else: a mind that moved faster than the game, feet that were not spectacular but secure, and a player who made teammates better by being in the right place.

In many ways, one can assume that the legendary manager saw himself in a young Busquets.

Within a year, the lanky midfielder had made a leap from Segunda B pitches to a Champions League final in Rome.

By the end of the season, he was a treble winner. By the end of the next, he was undroppable. By the time Xavi and Iniesta lifted a World Cup and a Euros with Spain, Busquets had become an irreplaceable third point of the midfield triangle.

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque summed it up best: “You watch the game, you don’t see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game.”