It was a mid-summer day in 2015 in Berlin, when Mr. Barcelona himself, Xavi Hernández retired from football but it was a happy farewell. Winning a treble in his last year and leaving behind what seemed at that time, a perfect heir to his throne in Ivan Rakitic.
The top three of Lione Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar had broken all goalscoring records, Sergio Busquets was back to his best again and the defence of the slow and steady Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano was perfectly complimented by the ruthlessness and the pace of the wide men, Jordi Alba and Dani Alves.