Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique Martínez García (born 8 May 1970), known as Luis Enrique, is a Spanish football manager and former player.

He is the manager of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain.

A versatile player with good technique, he was capable of playing in several different positions, but usually played as a midfielder or forward, and was also noted for his temperament and stamina.

Starting in 1991 and ending in 2004, he represented both Real Madrid and Barcelona with both individual and team success, appearing in more than 500 official games and scoring more than 100 goals.

He appeared with the Spain national team in three World Cups and one European Championship.

He was also a member of the gold-winning squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and made his debut for the main side on 17 April 1991, featuring for 22 minutes in a 0–2 friendly loss to Romania in Cáceres.

Luis Enrique played for Spain in three FIFA World Cups: 1994, 1998 and 2002 (as well as UEFA Euro 1996), and scored 12 goals while gaining 62 caps.

In the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, Enrique scored his first international goal, in the round-of-16 3–0 win over Switzerland in Washington, D.C. In the 2–1 quarter-final defeat against Italy at Foxboro Stadium, Mauro Tassotti's elbow made contact with his face to bloody effect, but during the match the incident went unpunished – Tassotti was banned for eight games afterwards; when Spain met Italy at Euro 2008 on 22 June, to battle for a place in the semi-finals, Luis Enrique reportedly called for the team to "take revenge" for the 1994 World Cup incident by beating Italy.

Tassotti, an assistant coach with A.C. Milan at the time, told the newspaper Marca that he was tired of always being reminded of this incident, and that he had never intended to hurt the Spaniard.

He then spent most of his playing days with the two biggest Spanish clubs: first Real Madrid for five seasons and, in 1996, after seeing out his contract and notably scoring in a 5–0 home win against Barcelona in January 1995, stating later he "rarely felt appreciated by the Real Madrid supporters and didn't have good memories there", he moved to their fierce rivals at the Camp Nou on a free transfer.

The Catalans' supporters were at first hesitant about their new acquisition, but he soon won the hearts of the culers, staying eight years, eventually becoming team captain and scoring several times in El Clásico against his former employers; he passionately celebrated at the Santiago Bernabéu, where he grabbed his jersey after a 25-yard strike that beat the opposing goalkeeper.

Luis Enrique netted 46 La Liga goals in his first three seasons with Barcelona, with the side finishing runner-up in 1996–97 and subsequently winning back-to-back domestic championship accolades.

Furthermore, he was named Spanish Player of the Year by El País in the following campaign.

He also scored the opening goal in the 1997 UEFA Super Cup, a 3–1 aggregate triumph against Borussia Dortmund.

During his final years in Barcelona, Luis Enrique was often injured, and did not want to renew his contract.

He had been offered a deal by his first club Sporting, which he, however, declined, stating that "he wouldn't be able to reach the level he demanded of himself" and that "he wouldn't be doing Sporting much of a favour by going there."

At the 1998 World Cup, Luis Enrique played a major role in a 6–1 rout of Bulgaria in the last game of the group, scoring and assisting once and also winning a penalty, but the Spaniards were eliminated nonetheless.

On 5 June of the following year he netted a hat-trick, in a 9–0 win in Villarreal over San Marino in the Euro 2000 qualifiers.

On 23 June 2002, Enrique retired from international football, in order to give the younger players more playing time and focus only on his club.

Having occupied several positions, Luis Enrique was most noted for his exceptional versatility and consistency.

He was capable of playing anywhere in midfield or along the front line, and was fielded in all positions on the pitch throughout his career, except those of central defender and goalkeeper.

A strong, courageous, energetic and hard-working team player, with good technical skills, flair and notable stamina, his usual position was as an attacking midfielder in the centre of the pitch, due to his ability to link-up the forwards and the midfield, or as a right winger, but he was capable of playing anywhere along the right flank, and was often deployed as an attacking full-back or wing-back, or even as a left winger on occasion.

Due to his keen eye for goal and ability to make attacking runs into the box, Enrique frequently played as a forward, either in a withdrawn role as a second striker behind the team's main goalscorer, or even as an out-and-out striker or centre-forward – he was also used in deeper midfield roles.

In addition to his playing abilities, he also stood out for his commitment, temperament, determination and leadership.

His concerns about his level and fitness made him retire on 10 August 2004 at the age of 34, and he finished his professional career with league totals of 400 games and 102 goals, being named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March.

Luis Enrique started working as a manager in 2008 with Barcelona B, before moving to Roma three years later.

On 26 May 2008, Luis Enrique returned to Barcelona, taking over the reins of the B team, renamed Barcelona Atlètic for that season.

As he succeeded long-time Barcelona teammate Pep Guardiola, he stated: "I have come home", and "I finished playing here and now I will start coaching here."; in his second season he found success, helping the club return to Segunda División after an absence of 11 years.

In mid-March 2011, Luis Enrique announced he would leave at the end of the campaign, despite still having two years left on his contract.

He led the side to the playoffs, but they were ineligible for promotion.

On 8 June 2011, Luis Enrique reached an agreement with Italian Serie A club Roma to become the Giallorossi's new head coach.

He signed a two-year contract, being joined by a staff of four members, including Iván de la Peña who played two years for crosstown rivals Lazio, as technical collaborator.

Roma was eliminated from the UEFA Europa League by Slovan Bratislava, amid great discussion of the substitution of legendary Francesco Totti for Stefano Okaka.

The capital-based side also lost their first game in the domestic league against Cagliari, making it just the third time that they lost the opener in 18 years.

Even though he still had two years remaining on his contract, Luis Enrique decided to leave Roma at the end of the season after failure to qualify for any European competition.

In the 2013–14 season he managed Celta, before returning to Barcelona and winning the treble in his first year and the double in the second; in 2018, he was appointed Spain head coach for the first time before resigning for family reasons in 2019.

On 8 June 2013, Luis Enrique became Celta's new manager, replacing former national teammate Abel Resino.

He led the Galicians to the ninth position in his only season, highlights including a 2–0 home win against Real Madrid that ended the opposition's possibilities of winning the league title.

He reassumed the position the same year and subsequently led the team to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and the second place in the 2020–21 Nations League, resigning at the end of the 2022 World Cup.

Luis Enrique was born in Gijón, Asturias, and began his career with local Sporting de Gijón, where he gained the nickname Lucho after Luis Flores, a Mexican forward in the team.