Luis Enrique's plan: this is how the 'Luchoneta' ran over the almighty Italy

Luis Enrique has become accustomed to receiving his critics at the gayola door, who are many and they go with the knife between their teeth. There is no comfortable press conference, nor analysis clearly in its favor. Even in victory he plays in the opposite field.

The coach is not uncomfortable in that scenario. He considers himself superior, he does not hesitate to forgive how many journalistic lives are needed and if he has to shield himself against the arrows, he will. Between napalm it is better handled than between perfume , and once again against Italy he showed that his plan is successful. The victory against the current European champion , whom he already put on the ropes a few months ago and led to penalties, is nothing more than the vindication of an idea that he will defend until the sporting death of his project.

In the same eleven he already brought out his intentions. What do you criticize for taking Gavi ? He makes him a starter at 17 years and 62 days, breaking another record for precocity . What does not have a pure '9'? He trusts everything to Ferrán Torres , who is not '9' nor does he need to have 11 goals in 21 games . What is doubted about Koke's capabilities ? He becomes Jorginho's shadow and dries him up.

All that and more he did from the bench. Luis Enrique's idea is clear: constant pressure and possession as maxims, but creating chances . And if it can be opened in bands, better than in the center. Proof of this is how the goals came: Oyarzabal's center, Ferran's goal . And bis. Associative football as an epilogue, argument and an inalienable goal.

Luis Enrique's claim comes at a critical moment. Injuries have allowed him to try other players, even with doubts, and that plan 'B', which is nothing more than an evolution of 'A', turned out well.

"We have once again generated a lot of danger, to pressure them very well," recalled the Spaniard as soon as this game ended. Courage is presupposed, like bullfighters, and few more thrust forward than the coach: he has already won the tactical game against Roberto Mancini (37 games without losing put the trembling in the body of any rival) in the Eurocup and he returned to do it in San Siro. The difference is that this time it was suffered without reaching penalties. 

The expulsion of Bonucci , without detracting from the victory, choked the thousands of transalpine throats that were raved about by the always exciting ' Fratelli D'Italia' . And that he also knew how to read.

The hug with Gavi

Taking Gavi out could have gone badly or badly. Luis Enrique was well aware that showing a child in the coliseum implied that the journalists' teeth and feathers were sharpened greedily, but far from not complying, he did it in a big way. And covering his idol, a Marco Verratti who found a 17-year-old boy looking at him from you to you.

In his first international meeting, Gavi showed an improper maturity . He faced men like Chiellini , who made his first debut just a few months after he was born in Los Palacios. That is why the hug that was given to Luis Enrique at the end of the meeting has a much broader reading: mutual gratitude and the certainty that they will meet again. 

"Of Gavi we speak of an unusual case. He is playing like in the patio of his house. It is the future and the present of the selection", said the selector about a player, using his words, "absolutely abnormal" but that adapts perfectly to what he wants. The same could have been said of Yeremi Pino, Bryan Gil or Ferrán himself , footballers born after 2000 who are destined to be the nucleus of the Spanish team, if they are not already.

Now it's time to reach the goal successfully. The ' Luchoneta ' still has a place for those who still do not believe, including many journalists who according to the coach know less than him. The rival, be it Belgium or France, will measure whether it is a Formula 1 or stays on a simple scooter. Because football, like sport and life in general, is based on results. Or is this Spain very different from the one that lost to Sweden just over a month ago ?