As Paris Saint-Germain lift their second consecutive Champions League title, getting past Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 in regulation, Luis Enrique is putting himself into extremely good company. In the Champions League Era, he’s now the second manager, after Zinedine Zidane, to win back-to-back UCL titles, after already accomplishing quite a feat last season, becoming only the second manager to win the treble with two different clubs.
With Pep Guardiola stepping down as manager of Manchester City, there’s a strong argument to be made that Enrique is the best current manager in soccer, and if he keeps up this pace with his budding dynasty, there will be a case to be made that he’s the best manager ever. Capturing his third Champions League title, Enrique now enters a three-way tie for the second most Champions League titles by any manager, trailingonly Carlo Ancelotti.
Of course, it’s not only about results, but also about what tactical contributions a manager has made to the game as his success becomes emulated. One recent example is that to start games, Enrique’s teams kick the ball long or out of bounds in order to start the match pressing their opponents. Its an unconventional move that other teams began copying. It’s just one example of how the manager continues to tweak his game to stay ahead of others. That’s easier to do when you have one of the best midfields in the world, but that’s also where the Spanish boss shows his skill at player development and balancing a squad.
He has been able to reinvent this PSG squad from one that was star-heavy in attack during the times of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Neymar into a balanced unit. They still have their global stars in Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but these are stars who will get involved in the totality of the match, making it easier for Enrique to get his tactical vision across. Where Luis Enrique reall stands out is in youth development. Four players under the age of 25 started the Champions League final for PSG, and they’ve all improved massively under Enrique’s leadership. Even people like Warren Zaire-Emery have picked up new positions to add to PSG’s flexibility when they take the pitch.
Players have talked about how their manager is firm but fair, and it’s clear that they’d run through a wall for him due to his care for the squad. All of these are things that matter holistically for a manager to have staying power. Teams won’t want to consistently press for a manager that they don’t enjoy playing for, but when managing stars, he’s been excellent about keeping egos in check and developing a style to keep them playing well.
Both that and longevity have been why Enrique is the only active manager outside of Jose Mourinho to win multiple Champions League titles. PSG players not needing to play major minutes in league play does say one thing about the strength of Ligue 1, but it also shows how well Enrique is able to rotate and prepare his squad to have them ready for moments like this one. There are plenty of managers who only prefer using players in their prime, and for Enrique to be flexible in his approach is something that sets him apart.
He’s dominated a league that has appropriate challengers with Barcelona and also produced one of the lasting moments in Champions League history in 2017 when his Barcelona came back from a 4-0 deficit to PSG in the famous “remontada” to come back and win that tie. He’s then kept it going, getting PSG to the top of the global game. Even when PSG had Kylian Mbappe, they weren’t able to do that, but Enrique was the man with the plan. A target on their back this season didn’t slow them down, scoring 45 goals in the competition, a tie for the record with 1999-2000 Barcelona.
This team checks all the boxes of dominance, and given the youth around the squad, their championship window will be open for some time to go, and if they can continue this pace, Enrique may stand alone as an architect of this dominant side.
