{"id":13307,"date":"2025-09-30T14:29:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/?p=13307"},"modified":"2025-09-30T14:29:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:29:29","slug":"sergio-busquets-to-retire-at-end-of-mls-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/?p=13307","title":{"rendered":"Sergio Busquets to Retire at End of MLS Season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The world of football is preparing to say farewell to one of its most intelligent and decorated midfielders. <strong>Sergio Busquets<\/strong>, the former <strong>Barcelona<\/strong> and <strong>Spain<\/strong> star, has officially announced he will retire at the end of the <strong>2025 MLS season<\/strong>, closing the curtain on an extraordinary career that redefined the role of the defensive midfielder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcd6 A Career of Brilliance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Busquets, now <strong>37<\/strong>, rose from La Masia to become the heartbeat of Barcelona\u2019s midfield. Making his first-team debut in <strong>2008<\/strong> under Pep Guardiola, he quickly established himself as an irreplaceable part of the club\u2019s legendary <strong>tiki-taka era<\/strong>, playing alongside <strong>Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong> and <strong>Andr\u00e9s Iniesta<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Known for his vision, composure under pressure, and ability to dictate tempo, Busquets played a pivotal role in Barcelona\u2019s most successful period. His defensive intelligence and tactical awareness allowed creative players to flourish, while his understated brilliance often went unnoticed outside the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udfc6 Honours and Achievements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout his career, Busquets accumulated an enviable collection of silverware:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>3 UEFA Champions League titles<\/strong> (2009, 2011, 2015)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>8 La Liga titles<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>7 Copa del Reys<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2010 FIFA World Cup<\/strong> winner with Spain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2012 European Championship<\/strong> winner with Spain<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>He also earned over <strong>140 caps for Spain<\/strong>, becoming one of the country\u2019s most reliable and consistent performers across more than a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Final Chapter in the United States<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2023, Busquets joined <strong>Inter Miami<\/strong> in Major League Soccer, reuniting with long-time friend and former teammate <strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong>, along with Jordi Alba. While his arrival brought glamour to MLS, Busquets continued to display the same calm authority and positional mastery that defined his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite solid performances in Miami, Busquets admitted the physical intensity of modern football influenced his decision to retire:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cFootball has given me everything. I have lived dreams I never imagined as a boy. Now it is time to step aside, spend more time with my family, and enjoy the next chapter of life,\u201d Busquets said in his retirement statement.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcac Reactions from the Football World<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Tributes quickly poured in from former teammates and coaches:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lionel Messi<\/strong>: \u201cPlaying alongside Sergio was one of the greatest joys of my career. He made everything easier.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Xavi Hern\u00e1ndez<\/strong>: \u201cBusquets is unique. There has never been another player with his intelligence on the pitch.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Spain FA<\/strong>: \u201cGracias, Sergio. A World Cup winner, a European Champion, and a true leader.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udccc Legacy of a Midfield Maestro<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Busquets will be remembered not for flashy goals or highlight reels, but for his football brain \u2014 the ability to anticipate play, intercept danger, and recycle possession with elegance. He turned the defensive midfield role into an art form, inspiring a generation of players worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As his final season in MLS winds down, fans across the globe will have one last chance to watch a true legend before he takes his final bow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world of football is preparing to say farewell to one of its most intelligent and decorated midfielders. Sergio Busquets, the former Barcelona and Spain star, has officially announced he will retire at the end of the 2025 MLS season, closing the curtain on an extraordinary career that redefined the role of the defensive midfielder. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,152],"tags":[95,150,153,156,157,155,66,154],"class_list":["post-13307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-legends","category-retirement-news","tag-barcelona","tag-football-legends","tag-inter-miami","tag-lionel-messi","tag-mls","tag-retirement","tag-sergio-busquets","tag-spain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13309,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13307\/revisions\/13309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}