Luis Enrique has become a name mentioned every single day in the Spanish media. The Asturian is leading La Roja at Euro 2020 in every sense of the word; in the absence of Sergio Ramos, the alpha-alpha of the Spanish game, Lucho’s in the driving seat.
But who is he? Everyone knows Luis Enrique from his time at Barcelona, especially, when he led the blaugrana to a historic treble in 2015. He harnessed the potent attacking trident of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez to devastating effect, and remains to this day the last Barcelona coach to deliver the Champions League title to Camp Nou.
Luis Enrique was also in charge during the remontada, that famous comeback victory over Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, although he left Catalonia at the end of that season. He took over from Julen Lopetegui as coach of Spain the following year, after that disastrous World Cup campaign in Russia.
His managerial career didn’t begin at Barcelona, however. Well, actually, it did. Lucho took charge of Barcelona B in 2008, replacing Pep Guardiola upon his promotion to the first team. He spent three seasons there before joining Roma in 2011, but only stayed in Italy for a year. It was the same story in Galicia, where he took charge of Celta Vigo for a solitary season immediately after his spell in Rome. He joined Barcelona from them.
Luis Enrique was also a decorated player, however. Born in Gijon, he came through the ranks at Sporting Gijon before joining Real Madrid in 1991, going on to spend five years at the Santiago Bernabeu before crossing over to Barcelona in 1996. He’d go on to spend the final eight seasons of his career at Camp Nou.
Lucho won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana as a player with both Madrid and Barcelona, as well as the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Super Cup with the blaugrana. He also won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games with Spain.
As a coach, Luis Enrique’s won La Liga twice, the Copa three times, the Supercopa, the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. In short, he’s a winner; he’ll hope to add Euro 2020 to his resume this summer.
