Who is Luis Enrique, the man behind PSG's run to Champions League final?

Al Jazeera

3 days ago

When Luis Enrique leads his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) team out to play Inter Milan in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final, the coach will be seeking to win the European continent's top prize for the first time for the French side and reverse years of fan frustration at the Parc des Princes.
This is the club which, until recently, boasted superstar players the caliber of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr, but failed to win any European silverware since the third-tier UEFA Intertoto Cup way back in 2001.
Since his arrival in 2023, Enrique has changed PSG radically, overseeing the high-profile exits of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, and transitioning from a team of ageing galacticos into one of the most exciting attacking sides in Europe.
Whether Enrique's method is the best may ultimately be judged by what happens in the Champions League final in Munich.
Away from events on the pitch, who is the real Luis Enrique who has presided over this radical transformation at PSG?
The 55-year-old began his football career in 1988, playing in the midfield for his local side, Sporting Gijon, a team in the Spanish Segunda Division.
In 1991 he was signed by mega club Real Madrid where he helped Los Blancos win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Super Cup. On an individual level, Enrique did not perform up to expectations, which was mostly attributed to playing out of position on the wing and in more defensive roles.
Bitter rivals FC Barcelona snapped up an out-of-form Enrique in 1996, where he reverted to his favoured central midfield role. It paid dividends for the Catalan giants and Enrique went on to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup trophies with Barca.
After retiring as a player in 2004, he went into management, reportedly at the invitation of current Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Enrique started his coaching career at FC Barcelona 'B', before moving to AS Roma in Italy's Serie A for the 2011-2012 season. The Spaniard was sacked at the end of the season, with a year still remaining on his contract, after Roma finished a disappointing seventh in the premier domestic competition.
His next move was to Spanish La Liga side Celta Vigo – but he also departed from that club after just one year. It was then that Enrique received his career-altering managerial opportunity, returning to Barcelona as manager of the first team.
His four-year reign at the Nou Camp was crowned by Barca's victory in the Champions League final in 2015 against Juventus, with the 'Big-3' of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar leading the attacking line, completing a rare treble for the club: Spanish League (La Liga), Spanish Cup (Copa del Rey) and European (Champions League) titles.
If PSG win the Champions League final on Saturday, Enrique will make history be becoming the only man to ever achieve a treble on two occasions.
When Enrique was named team coach of Spain in 2018, he entered a new world of international football.
Before the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Spain was fancied as possible winners. However, after a crushing round of 16 loss to underdogs Morocco, Enrique announced his resignation from the national side.
Incessant media speculation linked Enrique's next managerial job with a move to England's Premier League.
He was interviewed by Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea – but it was PSG, to the surprise of many, who secured his signature.
Perhaps it was the unique challenge of winning the Champions League with one of only two European super clubs never to have achieved the milestone – Arsenal being the other – which made him head to Paris.
Or perhaps it was a desire to show off his vision of attacking football by rebuilding a club his way.
A recent three-part documentary, produced by Zoom Sport Films, provided an intimate portrait of the coach who allowed the cameras into his private life for the first time, despite Enrique's well-known animosity towards the media.
No Teneis Ni P*** Idea (You Don't Have Any F****** Idea) reveals a driven man who is as passionate about football as his family – and keeping fit.
Viewers see Enrique arriving at PSG speaking only a few words of French. Nevertheless, he imposes his character on the club from the start.
Known by his nickname, Lucho, Enrique brings a Spanish-speaking coaching staff with him and addresses the players in his own language, with the aid of a French translator.
As relations with his biggest star – Mbappe – appear to worsen, viewers are treated to Enrique giving the star player what former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson used to call the 'hairdryer treatment', or a huge telling off.
But, as this is France, Enrique calls it 'C'est Catastrophique (It's catastrophic)' on a big presentation screen to the striker. The Spaniard is referring to Mbappe's apparent refusal to defend at all after PSG were beaten 2-3 at home by Barcelona in the quarterfinal of the Champions League in April last year.
Despite the manager-star player bust-up, PSG would move on to the semifinals, where they were ultimately beaten by Borussia Dortmund. A year on, Enrique's post-match comments may turn out to be prophetic:
'Now it's a sad moment but you have to accept sometimes sport is that way. We have to try to create something special next year and win it.'
Curiously for a football manager, he spends much of his day studying his team on a series of computer screens. This is interspersed with workouts. 'You must move every half an hour,' he says. In the documentary, Enrique is seen, in his plush Parisian house, regularly doing various strenuous exercises or cycling.
At the PSG training camp, he mixes team talks with plunges into his ice pool. It pays off, as the manager is fit. But when he walks around the pitch, it is always barefoot as he believes in 'grounding' or getting back in touch with nature.
The documentary mixes moments from Enrique's illustrious career, from the Real Madrid and Barca days, as well as the Spain role – the good and the bad. Not surprisingly, the lowest point is when Morocco upsets Spain and knocks the bookmaker's favourite out of the World Cup.
Away from football, we also see a tender side to Lucho when the documentary touches on his close relationship with his youngest daughter, Xana, who died at the age of nine from osteosarcoma, a bone tumour, in 2019.
Enrique set up a foundation in her name with his wife, Elena Cullell, to try to help other families who are stricken by the same condition.
Graham Hunter, a producer on the documentary and a football journalist who is friends with Enrique, described his personality as 'demanding and inspirational'.
'As a footballer, he was exceptional. A Spanish Roy Keane. His ability to play everywhere on the pitch slightly cut how good he was because managers used him all over the pitch. He was trophy-laden at Madrid and Barca,' he says.
'He did not want to be a coach originally. [He] Accepted an invitation from Pep [Guardiola] I think to coach Barca B. Although he clashed a little bit with Messi and Luis Suarez but that [2015] Champions League victory, it was unbelievable. They won the treble.'
Hunter believes Enrique changed the playing style of the Spain team during his managerial tenure, introducing young talent like Pedri.
'He built what has become a winning franchise and he carries a huge amount of credit to him,' he said.
Hunter says Enrique did not just go to PSG to win the Champions League.
'He went to PSG to imprint his brand of football and to convince the players, the fans that it was a brilliant, modern way to play football and to do that, you have to win the Champions League. For him, he is as interested in how people see his football as attacking and inspirational as winning trophies.'