Luis Enrique admits being impressed by Brendan Rodgers, names three Celtic players who worry him

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Enrique’s Barca host Celtic in the Champions League group opener on Tuesday night.

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has voiced his admiration of what Brendan Rodgers has done so far at Celtic and admitted, via the Scottish Sun, that there are three Bhoys players who worry him and his side.

Barca host the Hoops at the Nou Camp in the Champions League group-stage opener on Tuesday night, where Celtic will be hoping to recreate their former famous triumphs.

The Glasgow side have enjoyed a couple of notable recent victories over the European giants, winning 1-0 on aggregate in the 2003-04 UEFA Cup knockout round and securing a famous 2-1 home win in the Champions League group stage in 2012.

Though the Catalan side will again undoubtedly be favourites this time around, Celtic head into the game in the best possible way, having just thrashed Old Firm rivals Rangers 5-1 at Celtic Park on Saturday.

The match was the finest display so far this season of their new brand of football under Rodgers, and Barca boss Enrique admits that he is a big admirer of the Scottish manager.

The former Spain star also went on to name the three players that he was worried about having to deal with in Tuesday’s clash, singling out Saturday’s hat-trick hero Moussa Dembele and wingers Scott Sinclair and Patrick Roberts.

Enrique said, as quoted by the Scottish Sun: “I like Brendan Rodgers’ philosophy and you can already see his influence at Celtic.

“I like him as a coach. I like his ideas. He is a lover of good football and I like coaches who prefer to attack, to take the burden of the initiative.

“I’m worried about some of their players – Dembele, Sinclair, Roberts – they can give us some problems. To beat Celtic we must be strong in defence, be aggressive and be quick. We will see a Celtic side similar to the one we faced in pre-season. They will push us.”

Both of Celtic’s aforementioned previous victories over Barca have come in Glasgow, and they undoubtedly face a mountainous task just to avoid defeat in Spain this week.

However, if anything will have given the players and fans confidence that it can be achieved, it will be the demolition of their arch-rivals at the weekend.