Euro 2020: Who did Luis Enrique play for and what position did he play?

Luis Enrique
(Image credit: Getty)

Spain coach Luis Enrique was one of his generation's most versatile players, capable of operating in midfield or up front, with superb technique - and he won a lot throughout his playing career.

He first broke through with local side Sporting Gijon, where he played for a couple of seasons before attracting the attention of Real Madrid. Enrique moved to the capital in 1991 and a year later, he was part of Spain's gold medal-winning squad at the Olympic Games in Barcelona. 

Despite having a mixed time at Real Madrid, Enrique won the Copa Del Rey in 1993 and a La Liga title in 1995 before moving on a free transfer to rivals Barcelona in 1996. Enrique delivered 46 La Liga goals in his first three seasons with Barca and was part of the iconic team that swept the Cup Winners' Cup, Copa Del Rey and Super Cup in 1997 under Bobby Robson and Jose Mourinho.

In 1998 and 1999, Enrique won back-to-back La Liga titles, as he was named Spanish Player of the Year by El Pais in the former campaign. Over the course of his career, Enrique played in virtually every position on the field - except centre-back and in goal - using his discipline and ability to make late runs into the box to turn his hand to any role he was given. Often, he would be deployed as a second striker or in midfield. 

Enrique retired from football in 2004, with exactly 300 La Liga games under his belt. He was a part of Spain's tournament squads in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2002 but never won a major tournament with La Roja. 

The Spaniard began coaching at Barcelona B, assuming Pep Guardiola's position as manager after Guardiola was promoted to the first-team Barca job. There, Enrique learned the ropes for three years before managing Roma in Italy. Enrique signed a two-year contract but departed after just a season, after failing to qualify for Europe.

In 2013, Enrique returned to Spain to manage Celta Vigo, leading the side to ninth in the league, before taking the reins at former club Barcelona in 2014. There, Enrique led the club to a treble, building one of the most devastating counter-attacking sides in Europe around the talents of MSN (Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar). 

Luis Enrique took the Spain job in 2018, following a disastrous World Cup campaign in which Julen Lopetegui was sacked on the eve of the tournament for agreeing to join Real Madrid while still contracted to Spain. Enrique left his national post in 2019 in tragic circumstances, when his daughter, Xana, died of cancer.

Enrique returned to the role the same year, guiding La Roja to Euro 2020. 

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Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.