Luis Enrique vs. Pep Guardiola: Breaking Down the Camp Nou Dugout Battle
Luis Enrique welcomes Pep Guardiola back to Camp Nou for an epic Champions League semi-final clash between Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Naturally with it being his first competitive game back at Barca, the narrative in the lead-up to this match has been written extensively by Guardiola.
The thought of being dumped out of European football's premier competition by one of their own won't be something Barca's fanbase will wish to contemplate but at this point it remains a possibility.
The Catalans are playing as well as at any time since Guardiola left but if there is one team and one man that can stop Enrique's juggernaut in its tracks, it's Pep's Bayern side.
Both managers appear happy with the outcome of the draw with Lucho particularly pleased at Bayern's comeback win against Porto, per Pete Jenson of the Daily Mail:
"I am happy that he (Guardiola) has got through.
Lots of people wrote him off and look what happens. With all the injuries they score six. I am always pleased when a friend does well.
"
Will we witness one of the great Champions League matchups or could this turn into a chess game to rival the Garry Kasparov vs Anatoly Karpov series?
Whatever the outcome we can be assured of a fascinating and absorbing 180 minutes of football.
Let's delve a little deeper into the Camp Nou dugout battle.
Styles of Management
As has been seen readily on the touchline, Pep Guardiola is fastidious about every single detail. Almost to the point of insanity.
Both on and off the pitch he leaves absolutely nothing to chance and such an all-encompassing strategy has won many trophies and admirers but it doesn't always sit well with the people around him.
The demands he places on everyone is legendary and even just recently, Bayern's renowned club doctor Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt walked out after an alleged difference of opinion with the Catalan.
Ex-Bayern midfielder Stefan Effenberg told Bild via The Guardian that:
"Now you have to watch out so that Guardiola doesn’t get too much power and also decides who is going to make up the new medical staff. That could be dangerous for the future of Bayern.
It could have a negative effect on the upcoming games in the next days and weeks.
It must have been pretty serious things in order for Müller-Wohlfahrt to stop working [for Bayern]. Someone like him doesn’t give up easily.
"
Effenberg's words paint a different picture of life under Guardiola, however with just about the best managerial record in history it's hard to argue against Pep's philosophy.
Luis Enrique could also be regarded as an aggressive, but progressive coach. A hard-liner, the current Barca squad has been left in no doubt as to who is the boss.
Where the Catalans appeared lethargic and to stagnate under Tata Martino, they're now full of running and purpose. Their freshness has to be directly attributed to Enrique and his team.
David Cartlidge of FourFourTwo noted the same:
"Lucho is a believer in the physical and mental sides of the game leading to success, and he brings with him a coaching team that can revitalise even the most disbelieving of individuals.
[...] A leaner, meaner, tougher Barça will be the directive from day one.
"
His biggest success has to be the solid integration of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez in the same side, something that even Johan Cruyff, in his De Telegraaf column via Marca, thought was impossible. A hundred and eight goals between them to this point requires no further comment.
As innovative as Guardiola when required, Enrique is a problem-solver and will use every tool at his disposal to gain appropriate results.
Styles of Play/Tactics
For the most part, Enrique has stuck fairly rigidly to a typical Barca style of playing high up the pitch with an intense pressing of the ball.
The Blaugrana still play their pretty passing triangles when possible but also seem to have recaptured the urgency that has been missing from their game for the last couple of seasons.
Defending from the front is more evident with Suarez's work-ethic in this regard particularly noticeable.
One thing that Enrique has changed markedly from his predecessors is a preference in-game to change up styles as necessary.
For example, there have been matches this season where we have seen the Catalans playing on the counter-attack, unheard of before Enrique's tenure.
Barca have been razor-sharp in their verticality at times, with the pass-pass-pass element of "tiki-taka" dispensed with when required, in favour of a more incisive, direct and ultimately successful style.
In general terms, the typical Barca 4-3-3 has been applied but as we saw against Paris Saint-Germain in the first Champions League group game, if a 3-5-2 or otherwise is called for, Enrique isn't backward in applying the same.
Guardiola remains the master thinker and no matter the opposition, very rarely has Pep been outwitted tactically. Some idea as to his flexibility can be seen over Bayern's last half-dozen games.
Per WhoScored, since April 15 Bayern have played with a 3-4-2-1 formation, a 4-3-3, a 3-4-3 and a 4-3-1-2.
Luckily for him, Guardiola has playing staff with the intelligence to morph into any one of those particular setups. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that one of football's great pioneers will mix it up during a game if the Bavarians aren't getting the better of their opponents.
It remains one of Pep's greatest gifts. Not to be constrained by one particular way of playing allows so many more computations as to what is possible on a football pitch.
Achievements
There's barely a comparison to be made here.
No manager in modern football can match the feats that Guardiola has achieved since starting out in his senior managerial career just seven short years ago.
During that first season, while Pep went on to win an unprecedented treble, Luis Enrique would take the reins from his contemporary at Barca B.
A season of consolidation followed before Lucho took the youth side to promotion from Segunda B to Segunda A in the 2009/10 season. Not for 11 years had the B team been so highly placed but Enrique would go one better.
By the end of 2010/11 a record-points score was achieved along with a best-ever finish of third. Some of that record-breaking side now ply their trade occasionally in the first team: Marc Bartra, Sergi Roberto and Martin Montoya.
Only LFP rules meant that promotion to La Liga was out of the question.
With nowhere left to go, Enrique would take up the offer of management at AS Roma in Serie A, an appointment that ended in disappointment.
Celta Vigo was another 12-month stop off before taking the top job at Barca.
Guardiola's list of honours in the same time frame is, frankly, unbelievable.
Fourteen trophies in total over four years is, by far, the best haul of a Barcelona manager and unlikely to be beaten.
After a year off to recharge batteries, he managed to claim the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in his first season with Bayern and a second successive German title gave him his 19th title as a manager.
Although a disastrous penalty shootout saw Bayern lose on penalties to Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup, should Bayern ultimately triumph in the Champions League this season, it will leave Pep just won trophy short of effectively having won three trophies per season for every season of his senior managerial career.
That's just insane!
So far this season...
Enrique has gone one better than Guardiola and now holds the record for most games won in his first 50 as manager. Forty-two from 50 is five better than Pep managed in 2008/09.
A hundred and five goals scored and 19 conceded gives Barca a goal difference of +86 at this stage. That compares extremely favourably with Bayern's 77 goals scored and 15 conceded, albeit the Bavarians have already claimed the Bundesliga title.
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