Former teammates of the Spanish national team and FC Barcelona, Luis Enrique and Pep Guardiola, both having managed the club successfully, are set to meet again on Wednesday in the Champions League clash between Paris SG and Manchester City.
Both teams come into this encounter in dire need of three points to avoid early elimination in the European competition.
Neither City’s Catalan coach nor his Asturian counterpart at PSG have ever been eliminated before the knockout stages of the Champions League.
However, this desperate quest for victory should not overshadow a friendship built on mutual respect between two men who spent years sharing a locker room and followed similar journeys on the bench.
“He is my friend,” Luis Enrique said of Guardiola in 2015, before their first duel as coaches, a Champions League semi-final between FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
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This feeling has remained unchanged over the years, the rivalry they will experience at the Parc des Princes being purely sporting.
Guardiola is a “former teammate and a great friend,” Luis Enrique said last Saturday after a 2-1 victory at Lens in Ligue 1. “We are going to see a great football match; his game ideas are wonderful, and mine… I love them,” smiled Luis Enrique in front of the cameras in Lens.
While there are nuanced differences, both coaches share a similar philosophy when it comes to possession football, with Luis Enrique’s approach being somewhat more flexible.
In 2019, shortly after the tragic death of Luis Enrique’s young daughter, Guardiola and Manchester City players wore black armbands in a show of solidarity during a Premier League match.
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-Olympic Champions
More than 32 years ago, unaware of the successes and challenges ahead, they first tasted glory by winning the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics.
Fate brought them together in the Catalan capital when Luis Enrique signed for Barça in 1996 from Real Madrid, where he played alongside Guardiola until 2001.
As Blaugranas, they played together in 127 matches, in addition to 26 appearances with ‘La Roja’. Furthermore, when ‘Pep’ took over the reins of Barca’s first team, Luis Enrique succeeded him as B team coach.
Six years later, Luis Enrique would have his chance at the helm of the Camp Nou, where, like Guardiola, he triumphed in the Champions League and came close to a sextuplet (losing the Spanish Super Cup to Athletic Club).
In the Champions League won by Barça in 2015, the current PSG coach beat Guardiola in the semi-finals during his second season at Bayern Munich.
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Two years later, with Pep now at City, they faced each other for the last time so far in the group stage, result: a 4-0 victory for Barcelona at the Camp Nou, followed by a 3- 1 in Manchester.
With two victories for both sides in their direct encounters, Luis Enrique’s subsequent career with the Spanish national team delayed this long-awaited rematch.
The Parc des Princes will once again bring together two friends whose destinies intersect as they fight for survival in the Champions League.
