Football weekend | Luis Enrique says he’s leaving Barcelona at end of season

The Luis Enrique era at Barcelona will end this season.

The coach said he will leave the Spanish champions to get some rest after three years in charge.

He made the surprise announcement following the team’s 6-1 win over Sporting Gijon in the Spanish league.

“I need to rest,” Luis Enrique told the post-match news conference. “I won’t be the coach of Barcelona next season.

“It was a very difficult decision for me, very well-thought out,” the 46-year-old former Spain international said. “The reason clearly had to do with the way of life I need to have in this profession, constantly having to find solutions, constantly trying to improve my team. That means very little time to rest, very little time to disconnect. After this season it will be good for me to get some rest.”

The news was first given to the players in the locker room after the game at the Camp Nou.

“He told us about his decision and we have to accept it,” midfielder Ivan Rakitic said. “We want to finish the season with victories and enjoy what’s left of it.”

With this win, Barcelona moved into first in La Liga, one of the leading soccer leagues in Europe. Here’s what to watch out for in the Spanish and other major leagues this weekend:

SPAIN

This weekend, the two-time defending champions play Celta Vigo, the last team that defeated them in the league before embarking on an 18-game unbeaten run.

Celta’s 4-3 win in October wasn’t a rare blip for Barcelona against the northwest team. Celta, sitting in 10th place, has beaten Barcelona three times in the last five games, but only one of those victories was at the Camp Nou, where the Catalan club routed Celta 6-1 last year.

Real Madrid, having surrendered the lead for the first time since October but still with a game in hand, now visits Eibar on Saturday. Seventh-place Eibar has won four of its last six matches, including the last three at home. And don’t discount third-place Sevilla from the title race, with a home match on Monday against mid-table Alaves.

ENGLAND

Liverpool and Arsenal have dropped out of the Premier League title race since the turn of the year. Now they face a struggle to stay in the four Champions League qualification spots. The teams meet at Anfield on Saturday for the standout match in England with Arsenal in fourth place and Liverpool one point and one place behind.

With in-form Manchester United just behind them and at home against relegation-threatened Bournemouth on Saturday, either Arsenal or Liverpool could be in sixth place by Saturday night.

Chelsea, the leader by 10 points, is already looking like the champion-elect and heads to West Ham on Monday. Second-place Tottenham hosts Everton and third-place Manchester City is at last-place Sunderland.

GERMANY

Two coaches tasked with avoiding relegation are in the spotlight.

Darmstadt’s Torsten Frings is returning to former club Werder Bremen for the first time as a coach and Andries Jonker makes his debut at Wolfsburg.

Jonker, who was coaching in Arsenal’s academy until this week, starts off at Mainz on Saturday. Wolfsburg is two points above the relegation zone, with Darmstadt 10 points further back in last place.

Relegation rivals Ingolstadt, Hamburger SV and Bremen are sandwiched in between. Ingolstadt visits fourth-place Hoffenheim and Hamburg hosts fifth- place Hertha Berlin on Sunday.

Bayern Munich, which routed Hamburg 8-0 last weekend, visits Cologne on Saturday, while second-place Leipzig plays at Augsburg today.

FRANCE

The French title race is increasingly seen as a straight fight between free-scoring Monaco and defending champion Paris Saint-Germain. But against all expectations, Nice still has a great chance.

Nice was tipped to fade away by now but the team is level on points with PSG and three behind Monaco.

While PSG and Monaco are chasing domestic trebles and are involved in the Champions League, Nice has only the remaining 11 league games to focus on. Nice’s hopes, however, rest largely with the unpredictable Mario Balotelli.

With top scorer Alassane Plea out for the rest of the season, Nice needs Balotelli at his brilliant best rather than his erratic worst. The impulsive Italian striker returns from another suspension as Nice travels to play Dijon tomorrow, where Balotelli hopes to score his first away goal of the campaign.

PSG faces struggling Nancy at home tomorrow, while Monaco is at home to mid-table Nantes on Sunday.

ITALY

Napoli and Roma will both have to put poor Italian Cup results behind them when they meet in Serie A.

Roma lost at city rival Lazio 2-0 in the first leg of the semifinals on Wednesday, while Napoli was defeated 3-1 by Juventus the previous night.

Roma is second in the league, five points above Napoli. Second place in Serie A secures direct entry to the Champions League while the team which finishes third has to go through the playoffs.

Napoli lost for the first time in 14 league matches last weekend when it was beaten 2-0 by Atalanta.

League leader Juventus, which is bidding for a record sixth straight title, has a seven-point advantage over Roma and visits struggling Udinese. AP