NO LOVE LOST. Luis Enrique returns to the Santiago Bernabeu for the first time as Barcelona boss on Saturday, but the reception will be anything but cordial for the Asturian coach.
A promising player with hometown club Sporting Gijon, Luis Enrique signed for Real Madrid in a deal worth 250 million pesetas (around €1.5m) in 1991. But after five seasons at the Bernabeu in which he never truly won over the support of the madridistas, the former forward did the unthinkable and moved to Barcelona on a free transfer.
A versatile footballer who could operate all over the pitch, Luis Enrique started out as a striker but often played as a full-back for Madrid. He was targeted by the Bernabeu boo boys in a turbulent time for the club as Barcelona were the more successful side, claiming four titles in a row during the Dream Team era.
In 1994-95, Madrid did win La Liga and Luis Enrique scored in a 5-0 victory over Barca. He celebrated by pulling down his shirt and stretching it in front of the fans to emphasise his affections. But years later, a similar celebration incurred the wrath of those same supporters.
Approaching the end of his contract in 1995-96, the Spain international was growing frustrated at his lack of appearances. Initially left out of a squad to face Albacete by Madrid coach Jorge Valdano in October 1995, he told journalists: “I don’t play and I don’t play. This is clarifying my future and I’ll talk to my agent. Rest? At this rate I’ll be rested so much that I’ll be able to play until I’m 60 or 70!”
Sporting were ready to re-sign their former hero by that time, but Barcelona had also made their interest known to the player’s representatives. Valdano, meanwhile, was gone by late January amid a sporting crisis which saw Madrid finish in sixth spot and miss out on a place in European competition altogether.
Luis Enrique asked the club for a pay rise and a new contract, but Madrid were reluctant in an uncertain time for the club and the player decided to sign for Barca instead. Fabio Capello later arrived as coach in the summer of 1996 and asked the Real board to keep the Asturian, but by then the 26-year-old had made his mind up.
“I had a player, Luis Enrique, who never connected with the fans at the Bernabeu,” said his agent Gines Carvajal later. “Real Madrid said they were not going to renew his contract, so we looked for a new club. When everything was agreed with Barcelona, Madrid signed Capello and they asked us if there was any way of reaching an agreement with Luis Enrique. They said that, with Capello, he wouldn’t be booed. But it was too late.”
At the press conference of his unveiling as a Barca player, Luis Enrique told reporters he had never liked looking at pictures of himself wearing Madrid’s white shirt. “I feel better in azulgrana,” he said.
But it was on the pitch where he really upset his former fans and in his second season as a Barca player, he scored his first goal against Madrid. He stretched his shirt with pride in front of the ultras in an exact replica of the previous celebration – only this time he was wearing Barca colours and provoking the home support instead. “I do not care what these people think,” he shrugged afterwards.
“I remember when he scored that goal and celebrated by beating his chest,” former Barca left-back Sergi Barjuan told Goal. “On the coach and in the dressing room we laughed about it afterwards because there was such expressiveness in his celebration.” “He gives everything and the fans [at Barca] could see that – and they connected with him immediately,” former Blaugrana player and coach Carles Rexach told Goal. “But the Madrid fans saw him giving everything for Barca and they didn’t like it…”
In total, Luis Enrique scored five goals for Barca against Madrid and celebrated with rage on each occasion. He also wound up the Bernabeu by refusing to acknowledge the fans as his team-mates applauded them before the game, keeping his arms by his sides. He was involved in several skirmishes and ugly exchanges with Madrid players as well, including Zinedine Zidane.
“My time at Real Madrid doesn’t bring me good memories,” the Asturian coach once said, while he described Barca’s 6-2 win at the Bernabeu in 2009 as a “football orgasm” and only last weekend said the ideal scenario for his side would be for “Madrid to have no points” in La Liga.
“In the Real Madrid dressing room we saw his transfer to Barcelona as an individual situation,” former Barca and Real midfielder Luis Milla told Goal. “You want what is best for your club, but there are times when you can’t get in the team. We knew there was that uncertainty, that he wasn’t in the best state of mind to play or perform at his best.”
Come kick-off on Saturday at the Bernabeu, however, Madrid fans are unlikely to be so understanding.
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer
