Luis Enrique plays it cool as Barcelona’s expectations soar

Barcelona are heading into Saturday’s Champions League final against Juventus with optimism at sky-high levels among blaugrana fans, as a season which at one point seemed set for crisis looks increasingly likely to end in glorious historic success.

With expectation mounting in Catalonia that Barca are set to win just a second ever ‘treble’ of Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey trophies, there was a relaxed mood at Tuesday’s official UEFA media ‘open day’ at Barca’s Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training ground.

Asked if he felt a victory on Saturday would help him prove wrong those pundits who had criticised him heavily at low points earlier in his first season in charge, Barca coach Luis Enrique said he and his staff were preparing for the game more or less like any other.