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 Seasons at the club:1996-2004
Games played:354
Goals scored:123
Trophies: 1 Cup Winners Cup (1996/97)
1 European Super Cup (1997)
Leagues (1997/98 and 98/99)
2 Copa del Rey (1996/97 and 97/98)
1 Spanish Super
Cup (1996)
2 Copa Catalunya
On Tuesday, August 10, 2004, Spanish football's Mr Versatile, Luis Enrique retired
from football, bringing to an end a 15-year career which saw him play for his country and its two leading clubs, FC Barcelona
and Real Madrid CF. The 34-year-old played 24 times as Barcelona finished second in the Primera División last season but was
not offered a new deal when his contract expired on 30 June.
"I have had plenty of offers to play abroad - from France,
England, Japan, Mexico and Qatar - but decided against accepting any of them for various reasons," he said. "I'm the only
one who knows how I feel and I think that the standards I demand of myself would just be unreachable.
A product of his local side, Real Sporting de Gijón, Luis Enrique starred for the club's youth teams before bursting
on to the scene in 1990, scoring 14 goals in his first season. He joined Madrid in 1991 as a striker but soon became known
as the Santiago Bernabéu's resident utility man - operating mostly as a left-winger or left-back. The rewards came with an
Olympic gold medal in 1992 and a league championship medal three years later. In 1996, however, he stunned the Merengues by
seeing out his contract and moving to Barcelona on a free transfer. Under Bobby Robson, he won the Copa del Rey and the UEFA
Cup Winners' Cup; under Louis van Gaal, two league titles and another domestic cup.
Luis Enrique was capped 62 times by Spain, first appearing in a 2-0 loss to Romania in April 1991, and played at the
1994, 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups and EURO'96™.
In June of 2008, Luis Enrique was appointed as coach of Barcelona's
B team as Guardiola's replacement.
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