Steven Gerrard’s farewell to Xabi Alonso may be the most beautiful of all

The end of an era.

Xabi Alonso is set to call time on his storied career as a professional footballer this weekend as Bayern Munich welcome Freiburg to the Allianz Arena. The 35-year-old has had a very envious career winning everything from the Champions League to the World Cup, as well as league titles in Germany and Spain. With his swansong drawing nearer, the tributes have begun flooding in, including this wonderfully light-hearted one from Pep Guardiola. Pep's Bayern Munich side won two Bundesliga titles with Alonso, before the manager made the move to Manchester City. https://twitter.com/iMiaSanMia/status/865337840430968832 For those of you who dislike subtitles, Alonso's former Liverpool midfield partner Steven Gerrard's tribute to the Spaniard may be the one for you. It gets off to a rocky start, with the Reds legend introducing himself, but it doesn't take long for him to get back on track.

"Stevie G... hope you're well, mate I just want to say a huge congratulations on your retirement." "What a special career, fantastic player. For me, probably the most enjoyable partner throughout my career as a midfielder. The best passer of a ball I've ever played with and you deserve all the accolades that you're getting, mate."

Gerrard then got a bit emotional, opening up about how envious he was of Alonso's success at club and international level, before adding that his departure from Anfield left him heartbroken.

"What a special career for club and country. I'm very jealous of you having a World Cup winners' medal, I'm very jealous of you having league titles in Germany and in Spain, but you deserve it, mate. As I've said, I couldn't ask for a better midfield partner and when you left, it broke me heart, but you'll always have a special place at this football club and you're always welcome to come and visit."

https://twitter.com/iMiaSanMia/status/865312030554771457