Ever since coming onboard, Luis Enrique has done justice to his role as manager of Spain. They were so close to winning the UEFA Nations League and are playing great football recently. But his former allegiances with FC Barcelona mean that he was often called an anti Real Madrid man. He selected a team for the Euros which had zero Real Madrid players and it added fuel to the fire.
But recently Real Madrid star Dani Carvajal rubbished all these calls against Enrique. He dismissed the notion of the Spanish boss holding something against players from his club.
During his playing days, Luis Enrique swapped the Real Madrid shirt to join Barcelona and for that, the Blancos fans hold a different kind of anger for him. But he became a legend at Camp Nou as a player and later as a manager. He guided Barcelona to two La Liga titles.
That rivalry has now crossed boundaries and reached the national team. It escalated when Enrique exclude Sergio Ramos from the Euros squad. People were accusing him of holding bias against Barcelona players mainly because of his prior association.
“When I have heard that opinion I try to explain that nothing could be further from the truth,” Carvajal told Marca when quizzed on his Spain boss’ supposed anti-Madrid bias.
“The coach tries to call up the players he thinks are going to help achieve what he wants, whatever team they play for.
“That is his method, his philosophy and plan. I thank him [for always picking me], and for what he said about me at his press conference. I hope things continue this way.”
Only two matches remain in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers and Spain have not yet confirmed their qualification for the next year’s World Cup. They are two points behind group leaders Sweden and will have to win the next two matches to secure that direct qualification slot. Or else they will play the playoffs something which everyone wants to avoid.
However if La Roja win their next two matches against Greece and Sweden then nothing can stop them from direct qualification, something which Carvajal is aiming for right now.
