sport news Where are Pep Guardiola's iconic 2010-11 Barcelona team now? trends now
It is no understatement to call Sergio Busquet's summer exit from Barcelona the end of an era.
The Spanish midfielder and Blaugrana captain has spent 15 years at the Camp Nou, and his move away from Catalonia marks the final exodus of the stars who featured in Pep Guardiola's reputation-defining third season in charge of the storied club.
The 2010-11 campaign not only saw Barcelona secure their second Champions League title under the Catalan manager, but built upon their domestic success in the previous season by winning LaLiga.
The side that beat Manchester United in their home European final at Wembley was described by Sir Alex Ferguson as 'the best team I ever faced'. Over a decade later, and as if to further enshrine its mystique, Guardiola has yet to win another Champions League title, despite leading Bayern Munich and Manchester City to untold domestic glory.
But as Busquets prepares for a guard of honour at the Camp Nou, Mail Sport investigates where the other members of Guardiola's squad are now, 12 years on from that glorious season.
Sergio Busquets (right) is set to leave the Camp Nou after 15 years spent playing for Barcelona
The midfielder is the final member of Pep Guardiola's Champions League-winning 2011 side to leave the Catalan club
The now-Manchester City manager has not yet followed up the European success of that night at Wembley with either City or previous club Bayen Munich
Victor Valdes
Valdes became one of the best goalkeepers in the world during his 12-year tenure at Barcelona, where he won 20 trophies before his departure in 2014. But his move to Manchester United was far less successful.
Unwilling to play understudy to his compatriot David De Gea, Valdes is said to have fallen out with then-manager Louis van Gaal when he refused to play in a reserve side. Valdes later saw out spells at Standard Liege and Middlesbrough before his retirement in 2018.
Since, Valdes has seen out a number of lacklustre coaching spells as he seeks to forge a managerial career. He briefly coached Barcelona's under-19 team and the city's third-division side UA Horta, and was later floated as a goalkeeping coach, but chose not to return to the Camp Nou in a managerial capacity.
Victor Valdes was unable to replicate his success in Catalonia with his move to Man United
Dani Alves
The most decorated player in history with 43 senior titles, Alves sandwiched his two stints at Barcelona with seasons spent at Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Sao Paolo. After leaving the Camp Nou in 2022, the defender signed for Mexican outfit UNAM.
But the club terminated his contract in January after Alves was remanded in custody in Barcelona following allegations of sexual assault committed in December 2022.
Alves had his request for bail rejected a second time on May 9 due to the 'high risk' that the Brazilian player might leave the country, and he remains in Brians 2 prison in Barcelona.
Gerard Pique
The grandson of former club vice-president Amador Bernabeu has Barcelona running through his veins, starting for his boyhood club in 2008 after a brief sojourn at Manchester United.
The 36-year-old would continue to feature as a regular starter for the next 13 years, before his retirement in November 2022.
Pique later shared he had intended to retire ahead of this season, but stayed on until the World Cup due to an injury crisis in defence. He now focuses on his increasingly successful Kings League seven-a-side league – who hosted their March 'Final Four' event at the Camp Nou – as he seeks to expand the competition beyond Spain.
(Bottom to top) Gerard Pique, Dani Alves and Carles Puyol saw unlimited success at Barca
The 36-year-old retired earlier this season, whilst being coached by his former team-mate Xavi
Carles Puyol
Almost all Puyol ever knew was Barcelona: he joined La Masia in 1995 and left the Camp Nou 19 years later. Under his belt was a wildly successful captaincy that spanned ten years and nearly 500 appearances in blue and garnet.
The connection to the club ran so deep that after retirement Puyol went behind the scenes, becoming the assistant to Andoni Zubizarreta, the then-sporting director. But the appointment was brief, and Puyol stepped down after Zubizarreta's sacking in 2015.
After turning down the top sporting director job in 2019, the defender has been an unofficial ambassador for the club, but made headlines for all the wrong reasons in late 2022 after making a 'bad joke' on Twitter alongside national team-mate Iker Casillas that appeared to mock the LGBTQ+ community.
Xavi
The 43-year-old spent almost the entirety of his playing career at Barcelona after joining La Masia at the age of 11, but eventually left three years after Guardiola's final season in charge when he joined Qatari side Al Sadd in 2015.
Retiring from playing in 2019, Xavi stayed on to manage the club for two more years before responding to the siren song of Barcelona.
The club legend became its first team manager in 2021, and this year Xavi is set to win his first LaLiga title at the helm of the Blaugrana. Next on the agenda? Convincing his former team-mate Messi to return.
Xavi is poised to win his first LaLiga title at the helm of Barcelona at the end of this season
Xavi has been outspoken about his desire to coach his friend and ex-team-mate Lionel Messi
David Villa
The scorer of the third goal in Barca's Champions League final, the Spaniard had just two years left in Catalonia before leaving to spend a season at Atletico Madrid in 2013. His time at the Camp Nou was largely cut short by the lengthy recovery time the player had to endure after breaking his leg ahead of the 2011-12 campaign.
In 2014, Villa was the first player signed to newly-created MLS side New York City, where he played until joining Vissel Kobe for a reunion with team-mate Andres Iniesta in 2018.
After retiring in 2020, Villa has reinvented himself as a sporting executive, investing in soon-to-be-launched USL side Queensboro FC and acquiring CF Benidorm under his DV7 Group.
The group owns a string of international football academies as well as operating as a player agency, and Villa is also head of Global Football Operations at Indian Super League side Odisha FC.
Andres Iniesta
One of the greatest midfielders to ever lace up a pair of boots, the World Cup winner looked set to be the definition of a one-club man – after joining La Masia in 2001 and rising through the ranks to don the captain's armband and make a barely-believable 674 appearances for the side – until an unexpected move presented itself.
In what should have been the twilight of his career, Iniesta moved to Japan with a new lease of life to play for Vissel Kobe, and the decorated player has continued to show off commanding performances, even as he reached his 39th birthday this year.
As his time in the J1 League comes to an end this year, Iniesta is set to play his last match in a Vissel shirt against his former club when Barcelona travel to Japan for a post-season friendly in early June.
Andres Iniesta is the captain of Vissel Kobe but at the end of the season, the 39-year-old will look for a starting spot elsewhere
Iniesta was later joined in Japan by his Barcelona team-mate David Villa (pictured in 2020)
Bojan
Only two months ago, Bojan announced his retirement from playing at the club closest to his heart: Barcelona.
The La Masia product wore the team's colours for 12 years in total, first pulling the storied jersey on at the age of nine. Promotion to the first team came in 2007, when Bojan was 17, but finding himself increasingly overlooked in favour of Pedro and David Villa, the player made the move to Roma at the end of the 2010-11 campaign.
Bojan later returned to Barca for a single season in 2012 before being quickly loaned to Ajax. In 2014, he plumped for a move away from the Camp Nou, and joined Stoke. Before retiring at the relatively-youthful age of 32, the player joined his former team-mate Iniesta at Vissel Kobe.
Jeffren
The Venezuelan-born winger was 16 when he was scouted by Barcelona playing for CD Tenerife's youth side.
Jeffren spent a year playing for Guardiola in Barcelona B before joining the promoted manager in 2009. But the following year, Jeffren had fallen out of favour, and the player
