FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Jordi Alba has done a lot in his career, but never this.
He has changed clubs, emotionally leaving places that had become home. He has changed positions, transitioning from winger to left back many years ago. But now he is stepping away from the sport he loves, the game that became his career.
“I can’t tell you how the experience will be because I’ll live it in the moment,” Alba said ahead of Inter Miami CF hosting Vancouver Whitecaps FC on Saturday for MLS Cup 2025 presented by Audi (2:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV; FOX, FOX Deportes; TSN, RDS).
“My last game with Barcelona was very emotional, exciting, because I knew it was the last time I’d wear that shirt that gave me so much. But this is everything. It’s not about going from one team to another. It’s leaving soccer. Obviously, it’s a bigger step.”
Legends depart
Alba won’t take that step alone.
Inter Miami midfielder and fellow Spanish legend Sergio Busquets will also play his final professional match Saturday, wrapping a career that similarly began in Catalonia. While at Barça, the defensive midfielder won the FIFA World Cup and a trio of UEFA Champions League titles. Alba was there for the Champions League run in 2014-15, as well as six LaLiga trophies and the 2012 European Championship with Busquets.
Now, Alba and Busquets are hoping to ride off into the South Florida sunshine with a trophy that has so far eluded their North American journey: MLS Cup.
It would be the perfect ending to the final chapter of their soccer stories, Alba said, having arrived at Inter Miami in July 2023 alongside Busquets and Lionel Messi. They sought to elevate the club that began play in 2020, and thus far have won Leagues Cup (2023) and Supporters’ Shield (2024) titles with the Herons.
“It was a different but nice experience. I linked up with old teammates again. The club has experienced important growth, that’s thanks to all the workers, the owners, the teammates we had before now,” Alba said. “It took a lot for us to get here to a final, which is historic for the club.
“Personally, I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of finals, but this one is special for everything it means. It’s going to be my last game, very emotional, and we’re going to face a very tough opponent.”
Rematch ahead
The opponent will, indeed, be tough.
MLS Cup provides a rematch of the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals with Vancouver, though both teams have changed significantly since the Whitecaps’ 5-1 aggregate victory over two legs in the spring. Vancouver added a World Cup winner of their own, with Thomas Müller joining the Canadian club in August from Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Miami signed World Cup champion Rodrigo De Paul on loan from Atlético Madrid and acquired forward Mateo Silvetti from Argentine side Newell's Old Boys.
Players on both teams already have plenty of motivation to push for an MLS Cup win, but Inter Miami’s young players feel they have just a bit of extra juice, hoping to send off the two legends with one more piece of hardware.
“They give us peace more than anything,” Inter Miami goalkeeper Rocco Ríos Novo said Thursday. “Obviously, their presence also makes us calm.
"We know they’re players with experience, and we’re going to try to close things out as well as possible. I’m enjoying being able to share the field with these ‘animals’ – two of whom are playing their last match. We’ll enjoy that. It’s special for them and for us, and we have to give our all.”
On his terms
Alba is such an 'animal' that the 36-year-old said he could continue his career, feeling good physically and knowing his legs would take him through another campaign or two. But as he reflected on where he came from as a child growing up outside Barcelona to where he is today, he feels fulfilled with the standout career – fulfilled enough to be certain he will end it this weekend.
“At the end of the day, obviously there have been bad games, good games. I think excellent games,” said Alba, who announced his planned retirement in October. “That kid who dreamed of playing in the first division has achieved all his dreams, even more than I thought. I can’t complain at all – on the contrary, I’m very grateful for the career I’ve had, the teams I’ve been in, everything I’ve learned and enjoyed. It’s been a privilege.
“It’s a week with a lot of emotions, knowing it's going to be my last game. My decision is firm, ending my career on the best stage possible – a final – and hopefully it will go our way.”
Either way, Alba will experience something new: Coming off the field knowing his days as a professional player are behind him, that another challenge is in front of him and Busquets.
