Luis Enrique set for his first Champions League campaign as a coach
Wednesday will be the Luis Enrique's first Champions League game as a manager.
The Barcelona coach has played in many international games as a player, as well as Champions League fixtures, but this is the first time he will coach in the continent's showpiece event.
He is a young manager, at 44, and has so far only taken charge of Barca B (2008-11), Roma (11-12) and Celta Vigo (2012-13).
BAD EXPERIENCE
To make matters worse, his only experience in a continental competition was with Roma and not a good one. His team were surprised by Slovan Bratislava in the qualifying play-offs.
After being beaten 1-0 away from home, Enrique seemed to have everything in shape, but then Perotta scored in the 11th minute, capitalising on a defensive error.
However, Peter Stepanovsky struck the equaliser in the 82nd minute, leaving little time for Enrique to get his team back in front.
Things are quite different now and it seems very unlikely that APOEL Nicosia will be able to stun Barcelona, especially not at the Camp Nou.
Even if they did, Barcelona would still have five games to recover.
As a player, Enrique featured 49 times in the Champions League, notching 20 goals.
He won a Cup Winners Cup in 1996-7 with Barca, and also a European Super Cup the following year.
Now, his challenge is to expand his resume by lifting the Champions League. The challenge begins on Wednesday.
