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Luis Enrique 'emotional' after PSG unveil banner in tribute to late daughter

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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.

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MUNICH, GERMANY - MAY 31: Fans of Paris Saint-Germain display a banner in tribute to Xana Martinez, Daughter of Luis Enrique, who passed awa © Getty

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.

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.

Xana
Image: Xana, Luis Enrique's daughter, waves a flag after Barcelona won the 2015 final

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.

MUNICH, GERMANY - MAY 31: Fans of Paris Saint-Germain display a banner in tribute to Xana Martinez, Daughter of Luis Enrique, who passed awa
Image: Fans of Paris Saint-Germain display a banner in tribute to Xana, daughter of Luis Enrique, who passed away in 2019

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."

Luis Enrique holds his winners medal
Image: Luis Enrique holds his winners medal

'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."

Inzaghi: Inter will return stronger from this defeat

Inter Milan's head coach Simone Inzaghi with his runners-up medal after his side lost 5-0 to PSG in the Champions League final
Image: Inter Milan's head coach Simone Inzaghi with his runners-up medal after his side lost 5-0 to PSG in the Champions League final

Inter boss Simone Inzaghi promised his side would bounce back from their Munich mauling, when they conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes and never recovered.

"We need to learn from defeats and come out stronger," said Inzaghi.

"This hurts like the Istanbul final (2023 defeat to Manchester City).

"It's a heavy defeat because it comes in a final. We can come out stronger from this defeat, like we did in 2023 and then won the league the following season.

"Paris deserved to win this game and the trophy. We're disappointed, but the path to this point was great.

"The game, of course, wasn't good enough on our part.

"I thanked my players for what they did this season. We didn't win a trophy, but I am proud to be their coach."

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.

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