It’s the 80th minute at El Sadar Stadium on August 26, 2012.
Barcelona are in pursuit of a winner away to Osasuna, having trailed from the 17th minute and equalised in the 76th through Lionel Messi.
David Villa passes back, with Jordi Alba making the overlapping run.
Villa then runs to a central area as Xavi receives and finds Alba. Osasuna midfielder David Timor is monitoring Messi — in the middle of his historic 91-goal year — at the edge of the area.
As Alba looks up, Messi has escaped from Timor while the centre-backs are occupied with Villa and Alexis Sanchez. Barcelona’s No 10 puts his hand up for a pass.
Alba obliges and finds Messi.
You can imagine what comes next.
That was Alba’s first assist for Messi in just their second start together, and the birth of a two-man ploy that would leave opposition coaches scratching their heads for more than a decade.
Alba’s announced retirement at the end of the ongoing Major League Soccer season will bring an end to a prolific partnership with Messi, who he has played with 413 times.
Alba has assisted Messi 33 times in all competitions for Barcelona and Miami, the fourth-most among all of the Argentine’s team-mates. Messi, meanwhile, has returned the favour 15 times.
But the raw numbers do not do justice to the telepathic connection they share. “On the pitch, just by exchanging a look, we know what the other will do,” Alba told The Athletic in February.
Messi’s comment on Alba’s retirement post on Instagram read, “I’m going to miss you so much. After so much together, it’s going to feel strange to look to my left and not see you there… Who’s gonna give me back passes now?”
The importance of those “passes” was not evident consistently from the start.
Alba assisted Messi just six times across La Liga and the Champions League between the 2012-13 and 2015-16 seasons.
Alba and Messi celebrate a goal against Real Madrid in 2012 (Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
Fitness was a factor. Thigh and hamstring injuries led to Messi missing 12 games in 2013-14, with similar issues causing Alba to miss 20. A knee problem kept Messi out for 14 matches in 2015-16, too, while Alba missed time with injuries to his hamstring and neck. Neymar’s productivity from the left wing added more balance to Barcelona’s attack even without Alba’s signature overlaps.
There were promising glimpses when both were fit in the second half of the 2015-16 season, though. Alba set Messi up for an equaliser against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou in January 2016.
The following campaign surely provided the most iconic Alba-Messi moment.
Chasing a stoppage-time winner at the Bernabeu to keep their title hopes alive in April 2017, Alba overlaps Andre Gomes on the left. Messi is some distance away on the right.
Gomes finds Alba, and Messi instinctively runs to a central zone as Real Madrid’s defence opt to protect the box instead. It’s a fatal mistake.
Alba, as so often, cuts it back for the onrushing Messi to fire home and win the game.
The duo’s connection truly shone after Ernesto Valverde replaced Luis Enrique in the Barcelona dugout.
Valverde prioritised energy in midfield while encouraging Messi to roam into more central positions from the right wing. That placed the creative burden on the wider players and maximised the potential of one of football’s most unstoppable moves, as evidenced by the graph below showing the number of assists from Alba to Messi in each of their seasons together at the Camp Nou.
Valverde’s two full seasons in charge are the standout period.
Messi’s increased involvement in deeper central zones under the current Athletic Club manager unlocked another aspect of the partnership: the switch to Alba, bypassing several opposition players.
Celta Vigo suffered the brunt of the duo’s brilliance in the Copa del Rey in January 2018.
In the 13th minute of that round-of-16 second leg, Andres Iniesta lobs a pass for Alba to chase on the left, with Messi operating between the centre-backs. Luis Suarez is in a more withdrawn position.
Alba reaches the pass and cuts it back first time to Messi, with defenders unsure whether to close him down, move towards the open Suarez, or retreat.
Messi pounces on that indecision, scoring with a half-volleyed shot to the goalkeeper’s left.
Two minutes later, the Barcelona No 10 glides away from three players while Alba begins a sprint into wide open space on the left.
Messi finds him, with Celta’s defensive shape in disarray.
Alba cuts it back to Messi, who has jogged to the edge of the box and he scores across the goalkeeper again.
The final trick up their sleeve arrived in the 28th minute.
Messi drops deep to receive from Sergio Busquets and lofts a pass towards the sprinting Alba on the left. The weight and precision of the pass leaves Celta goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez unsure whether to advance out of his area. By the time he decides, Alba is on hand to divert the ball home from a narrow angle.
A month earlier, Valverde had summarised the importance of the partnership to his team in a press conference after a 2-0 win over Villarreal.
“The Alba-Messi connections are the life insurance for the team… It’s one of our weapons and we use it very well. The arrival of Alba is so unexpected by the rival,” he said.
The other match during Valverde’s reign that highlighted the partnership’s greatness was the Champions League group-stage encounter against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium in October 2018.
With the match delicately poised with Barcelona leading 2-1, Messi drove away from players to find Alba in space on the left.
As Alba prepares to cut it back, Messi sprints into the box, with Philippe Coutinho’s run dragging Davinson Sanchez away from Suarez.
The Uruguayan then dummies the ball as Toby Alderweireld attempts a tackle…
… allowing Messi to meet it unopposed and cushion a shot into the bottom corner.
The second minute of the match showed how the Alba-Messi connection benefited others, too.
As Messi picks the ball up near the halfway line, Alba begins a run (bottom left of first image). The Barcelona captain delivers an accurate ball over the top for his left-back.
Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris makes an error in coming out to close Alba down, allowing him to pass it to Coutinho, who scores.
Modern football is dictated by synchronised player movements that are practised repeatedly on the training ground. The Alba-Messi moves echo that but have retained their creative spontaneity.
“We all know Leo’s pass to Jordi in the world of football, but it happens again and continues to happen every game,” Enrique said before his Paris Saint-Germain team took on Inter Miami in the summer’s Club World Cup.
The revival of the Messi-Alba connection in Miami has come with similarities from their Barcelona days.
Alba has assisted Messi 10 times in all competitions. This goal against FC Dallas in August 2023 was a throwback to some of their most iconic combinations at Barcelona.
Another game. Another goal. Just Messi things. 🐐
After Video Review, his sixth goal in four matches stands! pic.twitter.com/SZLTppHm9D
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 7, 2023
Messi has assisted Alba five times too, with the best of those being this through-ball against New York Red Bulls in July.
As at Barcelona, others have benefited from Messi’s passes to Alba taking multiple players out of the equation, with the left-back setting up Suarez against St Louis in June 2024.
Beautiful build up results with a Luis Suarez goal. 👏
Messi to Jordi Alba to Luis Suarez. pic.twitter.com/XWBDsjOJgz
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 2, 2024
Alba’s time in Miami has seen his role evolve to utilise his quality on the ball without needing him to rely on his pace. He has created the most chances for Messi in MLS and as the map below shows, a few of those have come from central areas too.
Being on the same wavelength as Messi is a tall ask. Alba has matched his speed and clarity of thought as well as anyone for years.
Quite simply, as the Miami left-back told The Athletic: “We understand each other perfectly.”