Luis Enrique felt “emotional” after seeing Paris Saint-Germain supporters pay tribute to his late daughter, Xana, during the celebrations of their Champions League final win.
Xana died at the age of nine in 2019, a few months after she was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer.
Xana had celebrated with her father when he led Barcelona to the Champions League in 2015, famously carrying a huge Barcelona flag onto the pitch in Berlin at full-time.
Xana, Luis Enrique’s daughter, waves a flag after Barcelona won the 2015 final
Before this final, Luis Enrique revealed he had thought of the potential celebrations, visualising planting a Paris Saint-Germain flag onto the pitch in Munich as tribute to Xana.
After watching his team dismantle Inter Milan 5-0, the PSG fans answered the call from their manager and unveiled a huge tifo inside the stadium featuring his late daughter.
Luis Enrique holds his winners medal
He said: “I’m very happy. It was very emotional at the end with the banner from the fans for my family. But I always think about my daughter.
“It means a lot. It’s so nice but I don’t need to win the Champions league to remember my daughter.
“My daughter is always with us, especially when we lost.
“With my family, enjoying everything and trying to get the positives, even in the bad moments.
“I tried to keep the pressure down for a club that had never won the competition. Inter are a great side but we were fantastic in our pressing. Every player improved this season and so did the team.
“We prepared very well for this game to be at that level. The team was excellent; we pressed with high intensity. Ousmane Dembele pressured their defenders and goalkeepers constantly.
“Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies and Paris had never won the Champions League. We did it for the first time. It’s a great feeling to make many people happy.”
‘Champions League win means everything’
PSG midfielder Vitinha to TNT Sports:
“It means everything.
“The fans are the main reason we wanted to win this trophy but we wanted it for a lot of reasons.
“It’s our dream, it’s my dream and I’m glad we made it.
“The win says a lot about this group of players. It’s a very good team and the result is not by magic.
“Now we are going to celebrate.”
Sky Sports to show 215 live PL games from next season
From next season, Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage will increase from 128 matches to at least 215 games exclusively live.
And 80 per cent of all televised Premier League games next season are on Sky Sports.
