It has been ten years since Luis Enrique won the Champions League with Barcelona. If he were to repeat Feat with Paris Saint-Germain, only Ernst Happel and Jupp Henyckes would have endured a longer reception to raise the famous trophy for the second time.
The victory would exalt Luis Enrique in an elite club. But there is a more specific statistic that raises an intriguing question about his legacy: PSG has already completed more dribbling in a champions league season that in turn in Barcelona a decade ago.
Is this a clear Luis Enrique idea? It seems very coincidentally that both teams with more dribbling can be managed by the same man, many years away and with completely different staff. She suggests something special about his style.
There is no doubt a freedom for his PSG that masks a impressive trained outfit. They boast of a premature goalkeeper who come to an age, complementary centers, flying with full protection and a threesome in midfield now seeing their reputations grow in accordance with their broad talent.
The speed in front of them stands out, a fluidity of movement that seems to come so naturally to its ambipedal attackers. Ousmane Dembele is spending the season of his life. Bradley Barcola and Desire dotecit. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has made them better.
This is football that is somewhat accurate in its passage, but freakishly quickly at the same time. “He is playing with a fake No. 9 to create superiority and create those overloads in midfield,” says Oscar Garcia Heavenly. Is the way Luis Enrique.
“He likes his team to play their football in half of the opposition with short passions, with everyone involved in the construction and with everyone pressing when the team loses the ball. It is a fantastic team to see. You can see THIS The PSG team is a Luis Enrique team. “
There is a highlight by a man who knows him well, a former Barcelona team, but also someone who realizes that it was not always so in PSG. Oscar was the main coach of Stade Reims when Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe ruled the rooster in Paris.
“At that time, we were playing against the three fantastic players and when you have those players it is clear that most people talk about them, the chances they create, the goals they mark and what they make as individuals than as a team.”
Oscar, like Luis Enrique, played with Brazilian striker Ronaldo in Barcelona. He realizes that exceptions can be made. “You can’t handle all the players alike. There are one or two you can handle in a different way because they can put games for you.”
He adds: “In Barcelona, ​​he won titles with those players.” This is a reference to the fact that Messi and Neymar were part of Luis Enrique’s Barca in 2015. “There is not only a way to win. But the most important thing is for a coach to build a team.”
To put it another way, Luis Enrique lost Mbappe during the summer – finally left for Real Madrid in a long move and, for now, at least, unsuccessful transfer – but he found something else in the process. “Surely, he prefers this team,” Oscar says, smiling.
“Because you can see that it is Luis Enrique’s team. He’s enjoying it much more. Now there is no big star. The star is the team, the star is the coach. Sure, the better your players, the better the options, but you still have to build a team.
“If you don’t build a team and you have only individuals, it’s much harder to win titles because during a game you have to work as a family. I work for you and you work for me. If there are players who don’t work for the team then it’s much harder.”
Oscar and Luis Enrique became teammates when the latter joined Barcelona from Real Madrid. He did not confront the vitriol levels that teammate Luis Figo would endure later when he went to the other side – think of Pig head in the field – but was tense.
Luis Enrique spent five years in Madrid, even scoring a famous 5-0 victory over Barcelona, ​​but would later claim that he had no good memories of his time there. He felt unrecognized, even unresponsive, just by really blooming in a Barcelona shirt.
In Catalon, he spoke to come home, becoming a adopted boy in the region. “When he arrived, he seemed to be there for a long time,” Oscar recalls. “He became an idol for people.” He scored five times against Real Madrid and celebrated the lottery.
She reveals something about his personality: “He has a great character, a strong character. Now, as a coach, he is similar. He is very positive, brings a lot of energy. Previously, he was with his teammates. Now, he is with his team. He trains while playing. Very intense.”
Luis Enrique celebrates the Barcelona note against Arsenal in Wembley in 1999
Comparisons with Pep Guardiola are natural given their career trajectories. “Possession is fundamental,” Luis Enrique once said, though, in the field and outside, the PSG man is seen as bolder. Guardiola calls it direct, honest and workers.
“I think their team styles are very similar,” says his old teammates Oscar. “The main philosophy is the same.” Now, Luis Enrique has added a familiar twist, additional intensity in attack – with and without ball – that can be done his trademark.
The victory over Arsenal, a team that defeated them in the group stage in October, clearly illustrated it. “I reviewed that game and saw how far our game has come,” said the PSG chief of this first meeting. “We’re better now. We’re a fuller team.”
And more a Luis Enrique team in that.
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