Barcelona start the new campaign hoping to reclaim the league title with a home match against Elche. However, new manager Luis Enrique will be without star summer signing Luis Suarez since the forward is suspended until the end of October. Enrique has previously been disappointing in his managerial jobs, but there is confidence within Barcelona that he will be a success at the Catalan outfit since he knows the club from the top to bottom. Enrique came through the ranks at Barcelona and went on to captain the club during an immensely successful period. In many ways, he is similar to the club’s former manager Pep Guardiola.
After having managed to work with a number of star names like Lionel Messi and Neymar in the last few weeks of training, Enrique says that he is confident ahead of the new season. The club has had an indifferent from in the pre-season friendly matches after starting with a 1-1 draw against French club Nice. However, they have since recovered to show good form towards the end of the pre-season preparations. The match against Elche will represent a soft introduction to life as a Barcelona manager for Enrique. Ahead of the season opener, the former Barcelona captain has spoken about a number of issues like Messi and Suarez.
“I’m delighted by the motivation and ambition shown by the players in training. That makes me very optimistic…These session have been more intense and tougher than I expected because of their capacity for sacrifice. I’m 100% optimistic the fans will enjoy what we do. Neither I nor the Club accept that the squad is complete. The Club should always be looking for reinforcements. He’s [Messi] such a good reader of the game so we mustn’t close off any opening that he sees on the pitch,” said Enrique.