Luis Enrique

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. 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 scored 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…

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 earning 62 caps. 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. In the 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, Luis 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 the Foxboro Stadium, Mauro Tassotti's elbow made contact with Luis Enrique's face to bloody effect but the incident went unpunished during the match – Tassotti was banned for eight games afterwards; Tassotti later stated he had instantly and deeply regretted his actions, describing them as "stupid" but not premeditated and purely instinctive since his shirt had been pulled by Luis Enrique, and the former personally apologised to the latter. Nonetheless, 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 AC 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. At the 1998 World Cup, Luis Enrique played a major role in a 6–1 rout…

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. 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, Luis 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.

Barcelona B

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". He found success in his second year, helping the club return to Segunda División after an absence of eleven 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.

Roma

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 and was joined by a staff of four members including Iván de la Peña, who played two years for crosstown rivals Lazio, as a technical collaborator. Roma were eliminated from the UEFA Europa League by Slovan Bratislava, amid great discussion of the substitution of 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.

Celta

On 8 June 2013, Luis Enrique became Celta de…