Andres Iniesta has been and still is a special footballer.The Spanish maestro spent 16 incredible seasons in Barcelona's first team between 2002 and 2018.He established himself as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation during his time at the club.Iniesta put in countless incredible performances for Barcelona, but arguably his greatest came against Real Madrid in 2015.Barcelona travelled to Real Madrid on November 21, 2015 with a three-point lead at the top of the table.And they managed to double that lead with a dominant performance at the Bernabeu.Barca inflicted a 4-0 demolition over their La Liga rivals, with Iniesta the best player on the pitch.The legendary midfielder bagged an assist for Neymar and then got himself on the scoresheet in the second half.
No matter how hard Real Madrid's players tried, they simply could not get the ball off Iniesta, who dictated play and ran the show with style.His performance was so good that he was given a standing ovation by the Real Madrid fans when he was substituted off in the 77th minute.Watch his highlights from the game below:
In his post-match interview, Iniesta made sure to thank the Real Madrid fans for their actions.
"I am grateful for the applause," he said, per the BBC.
"We wanted to win by the highest goal difference possible and the bigger the distance the better.
"Our lead is six points but it is not decisive. There's a long way to go."
Iniesta became just the third Barcelona player to be given a standing ovation at the Bernabeu.
Diego Maradona became the first in 1983, while Ronaldinho was also treated to one in 2005.
Not one Barcelona player has been given an ovation by Real Madrid fans since that day almost five years ago.
That just speaks volumes about how good Iniesta was.