Luis Enrique On Euro 2020: Spain Can Be Champions

Luis Enrique believes Spain can go all the way in this summer’s European Championship.

Just one month ahead of the tournament, the former Barcelona boss is confident that his squad have the ability to be champions.

“We remain a powerful brand in the world of football,” he told the Spanish Football Federation’s official channels.

“Now, what are we aiming for? To draw from, and be able to, imitate those who were unique at the time and achieved something that we [Spain] had never achieved, from a position in which the players are conscious that we can be champions, of course we can.

“If we are at the level we are supposed to be – and we can even surpass it – and we keep repeating the things we know, and the level of confidence generates an upward trajectory of performance, we have the chance to achieve everything. There is no doubt.”

He stressed that in terms of quality and mentality, he is “even surprised” because he did not “expect to be at this level”.

Luis Enrique also praised the younger players who have added great value to the team while stressing that there is still “lots of potential to grow” and assured that he had no problem with being considered among the favourites.

“I am not afraid to face that challenge [of being labelled favourites], but we must evaluate what we are trying to do, what profile of players we have, a young team that wants to grow, that is hungry, that plays football well, that defends well…” said Luis Enrique.

He admits that he “would have loved for Bilbao to have been [Spain’s] headquarters [in the European Championship], like everyone else, but once it was not feasible due to the medical measures that were imposed could not be met” the fact that their base will instead be Seville also pleases him.

“For me [Seville] is the city that, as a player, I featured in the most with the national team at home, and it is a place where the fans are intense, which is what we need,” he said.

“We are going to be backed and supported. They can be that much fabled ’12th man’ that we all speak about.”