Enrique Setién Solar is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder, and the current manager of FC Barcelona. Nicknamed El Maestro, he was best known for his Racing de Santander spells, starting and finishing his 19-year professional career at the club and amassing La Liga totals of 374 matches and 58 goals over 15 seasons. In the 2000s, Setién started a managerial career, going on to coach several teams including Racing.
Playing career
Club
Born in Santander, Setién made his La Liga debut in 1977, with his hometown club Racing de Santander. However, during his first spell with the Cantabrians, although used regularly, he was not yet an undisputed starter, and missed the entire 1982–83 season as well as suffering two top-flight relegations. Afterwards, Setién represented Atlético Madrid for three years. He enjoyed a good first two seasons, but appeared rarely in his last after some spats with elusive club chairman Jesús Gil. Setién then moved to lowly CD Logroñés where, after a slow start, he was essential in helping the Riojans retain their top-tier status. The 34-year-old returned to Racing in 1992, and scored a career-best 11 goals in the first year in his second spell as the side returned to the top level. He played three more years with the latter, and retired in June 1996 at nearly 38 after featuring for Levante UD in the third division play-offs, which also ended in promotion; he appeared in almost 600 official matches in nearly two decades of play, totalling 95 league goals. In 2001, Setién was voted by Racing's fans as their best player of all time.
Setién began working as a manager on 5 October 2001, succeeding the dismissed Gustavo Benítez at a Racing side that had started poorly following relegation to Segunda División. He took the team from 17th to promotion as runners-up to Atlético, but left at the end of the season due to pressure and handed the reins to his former teammate Manuel Preciado. For the 2003–04 campaign, Setién returned to the second division with Polideportivo Ejido. He was dismissed on 17 November, with the team in the relegation zone. In 2005, Setién was appointed assistant coach to the Russia national beach soccer team. For three months during the following year, he was in charge of Equatorial Guinea. After that he moved to another team he played for, Logroñes in division three, being relieved of his duties midway through the 2007–08 campaign. In June 2009, Setién became CD Lugo's coach. He led the side to promotion to the second tier in his third year, a second-ever for the Galicians; in the following three years they managed to stay afloat, ranking between positions 11th and 15th. On 19 October 2015, following the dismissal of Paco Herrera, Setién became the new manager of UD Las Palmas in the top flight. He arrived with them in the relegation zone, and led them to 11th place in his first season. On 18 March 2017, he announced that he would leave the Canary Islands club at the end of the campaign due to disputes with the board. On 26 May 2017, Setién was appointed manager of Real Betis on a three-year deal. He led the team to the sixth place in his first year, with the subsequent qualification to the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. Setién was linked with a move to FC Barcelona in January 2019, but it did not materialise. On 19 May, he announced that he would leave the Estadio Benito Villamarín. Setién eventually signed as head coach of Barcelona on 13 January 2020, replacing the dismissed Ernesto Valverde on a contract lasting to June 2022. In his first match in charge, six days later, he managed a 1–0 home victory over Granada CF.
Personal life
Setién's son, Laro, is also a footballer and a midfielder. His father-in-law José Antonio Lozano played in the Spanish second tier in the early 1960s, and all three relatives represented Racing. Setién is a keen chess player with a FIDE rating of 2055. He played matches against former world championsGarry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, of which the results were not made public. He mentioned the game as an influence on his football tactics, which prioritised possession and midfield domination.
