Ten years have passed since Luis Enrique won the Champions League with Barcelona. If he is to repeat the feat with Paris Saint-Germain, only Ernst Happel and Jupp Henyckes would have endured a longer wait to lift the famous trophy for a second time.
Victory would elevate Luis Enrique into an elite club. But there is a more specific statistic that poses an intriguing question regarding his legacy: PSG have already completed the most dribbles in a Champions League season since his Barcelona side of a decade ago.
Is this a distinctly Luis Enrique idea? It seems too much of a coincidence that the two teams with the most dribbles could be managed by the same man, many years apart and with completely different personnel. It suggests something peculiar to his style.
Luis Enrique’s PSG close in on a dibbling record held by his Barcelona of a decade ago
There is certainly a freedom to his PSG that masks an impressively coached outfit. They boast a precocious goalkeeper coming of age, complementary centre-backs, flying full-backs and a midfield trio now seeing their reputations rise in line with their vast talent.
The speed ahead of them stands out, a fluidity of movement that seems to come so naturally to his ambipedal attackers. Ousmane Dembele is having the season of his life. Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue excite. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has made them better.
This is football that is somehow both precise in its passing but freakishly fast at the same time. “He is playing with a false No 9 to create superiority and to create those overloads in midfield,” Oscar Garcia tells Sky Sports. It is the Luis Enrique way.
“He likes his team to play their football in the opposition half with short passes, with everyone involved in the build-up and with everyone pressing when the team loses the ball. It is a fantastic team to watch. You can see this PSG team is a Luis Enrique team.”
It is a pointed remark from a man who knows him well, a former Barcelona team-mate but also someone who understands it was not always so at PSG. Oscar was the head coach of Stade Reims when Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe ruled the roost in Paris.
“At that time, we were playing against three fantastic players and when you have those players it is obvious that most people speak about them, about the chances they create, the goals they score, and what they do as individuals rather than as a team.”
Oscar, like Luis Enrique, played with the Brazilian striker Ronaldo at Barcelona. He understands that exceptions can be made. “You cannot treat all players the same. There are one or two you can treat in a different way because they can decide games for you.”
He adds: “At Barcelona, he won titles with those players.” That is a reference to the fact that Messi and Neymar were part of Luis Enrique’s Barca in 2015. “There is not only one way of winning. But the most important thing is for a coach to build a team.”
To put it another way, Luis Enrique lost Mbappe in the summer – finally departing for Real Madrid in a long mooted and, for now at least, unsuccessful transfer – but he found something else in the process. “For sure, he prefers this team,” says Oscar, smiling.
“Because you can see it is the team of Luis Enrique. He is enjoying it a lot more. There is not one big star now. The star is the team, the star is the coach. Of course, the better your players, the better the possibilities, but obviously you still have to build a team.
“If you do not build a team and you have only individuals, it is much more difficult to win titles because during a game you need to work like a family. I work for you and you work for me. If there are players not working for the team, then it is much more difficult.”
Oscar and Luis Enrique became team-mates when the latter joined Barcelona from Real Madrid. He did not face quite the levels of vitriol that team-mate Luis Figo would later endure when going the other way – think pig’s head on the pitch – but it was tense.
Luis Enrique spent five years at Madrid, even scoring in a famous 5-0 win over Barcelona, but would later claim he had no good memories of his time there. He felt unappreciated, disrespected even, only truly blossoming in a Barcelona shirt.
In Catalonia, he talked of coming home, becoming an adopted son of the region. “When he arrived, he looked like he had been there for a long time,” recalls Oscar. “He became an idol for the people.” He scored five times against Real Madrid and celebrated the lot.
It 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 lots of energy. Before, it was with his team-mates. Now, it is with his team. He trains as he played. Very, very intense.”
Luis Enrique celebrates scoring for Barcelona against Arsenal at Wembley in 1999
Comparisons with Pep Guardiola are natural given their career trajectories. “Possession is fundamental,” Luis Enrique once said, although, on the pitch and off it, the PSG man is seen as the more pugnacious. Guardiola calls him direct, honest and hard-working.
“I think the styles of their teams are very similar,” says Oscar of his old team-mates. “The main philosophy is the same.” Now, Luis Enrique has added a familiar twist, the extra intensity in attack – with and without the ball – that could become his trademark.
The win over Arsenal, a team that beat them in the group stage in October, illustrated that clearly. “I reviewed that game and seen how far our game has come,” said the PSG head coach of that first meeting. “We are better now. We are a more complete team.”
And more of a Luis Enrique team at that.
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