This Saturday evening, Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter Milan 5-0 (video highlights PSG/Inter Milan) in the final of the Champions League 2024-2025 at Munich’s Allianz Arena. In a poignant post-title interview with Sky Italia, Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique, 54, spoke of the indelible memory of his daughter Xana. The Spaniard spoke of the strength this absence gives him, far beyond any sporting victory.
Luis Enrique “My daughter Xana is still with me since she left”.
“My daughter Xana has been with me ever since she left. She’s no longer there in body, but she’ll always be there in spirit. It’s certainly not a C1 victory that will make me feel closer to her; in defeats I feel her even more. I always feel it, a victory doesn’t change anything. I want to live remembering all the good things my daughter has given me in my life.”
Behind the image of the rigorous coach of Paris Saint-Germain, Luis Enrique hides an intimate wound that shapes his daily life and his vision of soccer. The death of his daughter Xana in 2019 remains a living scar, but also a constant source of inspiration. For him, no trophy, not even a Champions League, can fill the void or strengthen the spiritual bond that connects him to her.
On the contrary, he explains that he feels her presence even more acutely in moments of difficulty or failure, proof that parental love transcends the boundaries of sport. This confession sheds new light on the Parisian coach’s career, reminding us that behind every victory or defeat lie human stories far deeper than the score on the board.
