Andres Iniesta and Fernando Torres departures the 'end of an era', says Guillem Balague

In his latest column, Guillem Balague pays tribute to Andres Iniesta and Fernando Torres as they leave La Liga, gives an update on Unai Emery to Arsenal plus hands out his end of season awards...

After Barcelona's game on Sunday, Iniesta stayed at the Nou Camp until 1am, taking pictures and reflecting on the pitch, sitting on the grass. He actually finished the season as a regular starter, not just a veteran, but as someone who was crucial to Barcelona this season. Finally, Spanish football are giving the homage to the people that deserve it. Until now, it was a bit of a send-off in the last game and that was it, but the likes of Iniesta, Torres and Xabi Prieto at Real Sociedad, they have got the sending off they deserve.

Iniesta was the best midfielder for Barcelona this season and that's an important point to make because there is still Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique who looked for him so if you take that out, and suddenly, the midfield of Barcelona becomes very weak. Arthur Melo, who may or may not arrive in the summer, is not the solution and neither is Philippe Coutinho who is more of a forward as I have been saying all along.

Are Barcelona going to become, like with Neymar and especially after the arrival of Antoine Griezmann if it happens, a team parted in two? The only person who can sort that out is not a new midfielder coming in but Messi becoming more of a midfielder like this season.

Josep Maria Bartomeu dreams of a Barcelona like Bayern Munich with Carlos Puyol as director of football, Xavi as manager, Iniesta as more of an ambassador and Gerard Pique as president - quite clearly, this is where they are trying to work towards that this generation that made Barcelona the best team ever will stay on in different roles from now on. First, Iniesta will announce in the next day or two where he is going. It looked like China but now it seems like it will be Japan, but in any case, it is the end of an era.

So is the departure of Fernando Torres. He was fantastic in his speech, if you got the opportunity to listen to it, he said things like what his grandfather gave his was the opportunity to be an Atletico Madrid fan, he thanked his coaches for allowing him to make mistakes - of course, he has learnt from them - and he also said thank you for so much and apologies for so little in terms of how little he feels he has given to the club considering how much he got from them. His return almost filled the Calderon during his presentation and the departure was what everyone was looking forward to - they wanted to be part of the wonder.

Torres and Iniesta are the beginning and the centre of that climax of the new Spain. Torres scored the winning goal that won the Euros in 2008 and Iniesta scored the World Cup-winning goal. Even though they represented two different ways of understanding football - Iniesta with more possession and Torres being more direct - they represented our football in a wonderful way. They are both great people, great personalities, great leaders and it is a reminder that as a footballer, you shouldn't forget that you have to be respectful and you are an idol for kids - neither of them forgot that.

via Sky Sports