How 'genius' Luis Enrique can secure place among greatest coaches of all time as PSG look to retain UEFA Champions League against Arsenal

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Luis Enrique hopes to become just the second head coach to successfully defend the UEFA Champions League when his Paris Saint-Germain side meet Premier League winners Arsenal in Budapest on Saturday.

The story of 'genius' Enrique - 'Probably the best coach in the world'

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Twelve months ago the Spaniard masterminded a mauling of Internazionale in Munich, easing to a 5-0 win as PSG won the competition for the first time.

Now Enrique will look to become the first head coach since Zinedine Zidane and his three-peat with Real Madrid between 2016 and'18 to retain the trophy.

But another triumph for Enrique would not come as a shock to Spanish football expert Graham Hunter.

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"In many ways, Luis Enrique Martinez is a genius," Hunter tells TNT Sports before the showdown with Mikel Arteta's team. "I would put him up there with the real changers of football alongside Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola."

Indeed, Hunter believes that Cruyff arguably influenced Enrique more than any other manager. "The number one coach, I think, that’s influenced him above anybody is one he didn’t play for," he added.

"He believed in, he endorsed, the Johan Cruyff brand of how you play football, with technique, with intelligence, the use of space, what the ball should do for you, how much of a friend the ball should be to you."

Luis Enrique will aim to lift the Champions League trophy again this weekend.

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La Liga expert Phil Kitromilides echoes Hunter's feelings on Enrique. "I think he’s one of the best coaches in the world at the moment," he told TNT Sports. "He’s one of the best managers in the world at the moment as well in terms of the football his teams play. It’s fantastic to watch."

'Pantheon of greats'

Going back-to-back in the UEFA Champions League would be one of his greatest achievements.

In the expanded format, it has become even harder to come out on top in Europe's elite club competition. To reach a second successive final is a feat in itself. If they defeat The Gunners, then he has every right to be considered one of the greatest managers of all time.

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Or at least that's according to French football specialist Julien Laurens.

"I think if he wins this game and he goes back-to-back, it would cement his place among the greatest of all time," the TNT Sports analyst said. "If you do your top three greatest coaches of all time, he has to be there."

'It crept into his brain'

It is all the more impressive when you consider that a managerial career did not initially cross his mind when at Barcelona.

"He didn’t want to be a coach. He didn’t think he was going to be a coach," Hunter says. "It just crept into his brain, gradually.

"He was tapped on the shoulder, partly by his friend Pep Guardiola, and partly by the club. They said: ‘Look, come and coach the B team’. He’d done his badges, but he really wasn’t sure."

In 2008, Enrique took his first steps into management with Barcelona B as Guardiola made the step-up to the senior side. He guided the club back to the Segunda Division for the first time in 11 years after his second season and to the play-offs in his third, though they were ineligible for promotion.

Then, in 2011, Enrique took on his first senior role as he took over the Roma reins. He returned to Spain with Celta Vigo in 2013 before taking over from Gerardo 'Tata' Martino as Barcelona head coach.

It was back at Camp Nou that Enrique really began to make waves in football. Granted, he was able to call upon Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez but the Bluagrana were unstoppable, both domestically and on the continent. Barcelona won the treble in Enrique's debut season.

Enrique stood down as Barcelona head coach in 2017 and, after a brief spell out of the game, he succeeded Fernando Hierro as Spain boss. A 2022 World Cup last-16 exit at the hands of Morocco resulted in Enrique's exit and in 2022, he returned to club management with Paris Saint-Germain. The rest, as they say, is history.

'He had full freedom'

"Luis Enrique at PSG was just the perfect match," Laurens says. "They gave him the key, and they said: ‘This is your club now. Your team. Do whatever you want. Just win us the UEFA Champions League. Whatever it costs, whoever you want to sign, do it. Whatever you want to do, whatever way you want to play, do it.’

"He had full freedom."

What followed was a period of - although expected - domestic dominance. Paris Saint-German have won the title in his three seasons at the club. However, it was the Champions League success last season that saw him write his name into the club's history books as the French side went the distance for the first time.

"Nobody is talking about anybody who was at PSG before Luis Enrique," Laurens continued. "This is what he built. I think that kind of legacy means a lot to these kinds of guys, more than anything else."

Luis Enrique was handed the keys to PSG.

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Managing a team of Paris Saint-Germain's stature and expectations takes a special kind of individual. One who is not afraid to stick to his philosophy regardless of whether it will rub someone up the wrong way.

It is a quality that he honed during his playing days, as Kitromilides outlines: "Luis Enrique’s been defined as having a strong personality, right from the start of his playing career.

"And we saw it when he left Real Madrid to join Barcelona. Real Madrid wanted him to continue. They offered him a contract renewal, they doubled his wages, and he said: ‘No, I don’t want to stay here. I want to go and play somewhere I’m going to play regularly and I’m going to play in a position that I want to play in.’

"And where did he go? He went to Barcelona of all places and that really shows. He has the strength of his convictions to do what he believes is right."

'They call him one of the best'

The praise for Enrique is as effusive from his players as the pundits. "He’s an amazing person," Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia tells TNT Sports. "I’ve never seen a coach have a relationship with the players like this.

"I am lucky that I came here. I chose the best choice in my life and I’m really happy that I play for him. He’s an amazing coach. That’s why they call him one of the best in football history."

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Midfield lynchpin Vitinha, meanwhile, spoke of the importance of "control" with Laurens, adding: "It will be important to win the duels and the battles that we are going to have in the middle and I hope we can do it.

"It’s always about control. You want to have control of the game. Always have control of the ball, of what happens in the game, but we need to be prepared for everything."

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