Pep Guardiola backs Luis Enrique

Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola has backed Luis Enrique to be a success at the Catalan club.

After unsuccessfully having a spell under Gerardo Martino, Barcelona went back to their roots once again by appointingEnrique is the replacement in the summer. The former Barcelona captain had failed spell at Roma a few years ago, while he has not been at the top level of management since then. Despite this, he was not brought in as the new Barcelona manager. Even though results at the start of the season were extremely good, the form has plummeted of late.

A six-point advantage over Real Madrid at one point in the season has been converted into a two-point deficit. For his side of the argument, Enrique has been suffering from injuries to key players like Andres Iniesta during the last few weeks. After going eight matches without conceding a goal, Barcelona suffered a 3-1 defeat against archrivals Real Madrid and it has been downhill since then. Iniesta is not expected to return until a week after the international break. He recently stepped up his preparations towards returning to the starting line-up. Even though the 30-year-old has not been in the best of form this campaign, it is expected that this spell out of the team will help him recover it.

"He's going to be a success, but like all things in life, it'll take time. Football is a process. You can't just turn up and then expect to win everything by November. You have to give it time and work hard. Sometimes things are plain sailing, sometimes they are a bit tougher. I just hope we don't draw them in the Champions League,” said the former Barcelona manager. Barcelona return to league action with a home match against Sevilla, who have been one of the teams to beat this campaign.