The complex, brilliant and demanding coach of Paris Saint-Germain, Luis Enrique, who turned 55 on Thursday, wants to relive a poignant moment from the past in the memory if his daughter, Xana. It is a quiet, added motivation for PSG when they taken Inter Milan in the final of the UEFA Champions League on May 32.
At age 9, Xana passed away after as a result of osteosarcoma, a type of that attacks the bones and particularly affects children. Argentine publication Clarin while rooting for their man Lautaro Martínez who will wear blue and black of Inter, said that “it will be very difficult not to root a little for Luis Enrique, the coach who moved the world.”
Enrique, known as ‘Lucho’ in Spanish international media, is admired worldwide for his poised courage when dealing with the tragedy that struck his young family with Xana’s illness. Clarin says the Asturian coach managed to overcome his grief in 2019 by showing extraordinary and moving strength. Back when Xana was detected, Lucho stepped away from the national team for a while “for family reasons”.
In his autobiographical miniseries “You Have No F… Idea”, produced in Spain and currently playing on Prime Video, Lucho has looked back on the tough times around the death of his 9-year-old daughter.
He was already a champion with Messi’s Barcelona in 2015, and while seeking glory in Paris against Inter, he declared with a smile, that should PSG win in Munich, he will repeat the ritual from Barca win for his daughter.
“I have incredible memories, because my daughter loved parties, and I’m sure she’s still having them wherever she is,” he was quoted by Clarin. He continued: “I remember an incredible photo I have with her at the Champions League final in Berlin, after winning the Champions League in 2015, planting a Barcelona flag on the pitch. I wish I could do the same with PSG,” he added.
Barca of 2015 was the legendary MSN-era, of Messi , Suárez , and Neymar, who won everything they played in the 2015 season. Winning with PSG, no longer a side of Galacticos after Messi, Neymar and Mbappe left, but coherent with Donnarumma, Dembele and Fabi Ruiz, will also be an opportunity to pay tribute to his daughter.
Luis Enrique Martínez García, known and adopted by the football world as Luis Enrique, is described by Clarin as “a warrior on the pitch, as well as a fierce goalscorer, despite the fact that he stood out playing in the midfield with the shirts of Barcelona, Real Madrid and the Spanish national team , the only three he wore as a player, in addition to that of Gijón, his city. That imprint carried over into his career as a coach, and it is clear that it also guides his life.”
After eliminating Arsenal 3-1 aggregate by winning both matches in the semi-finals, Lucho hasa chance to become European champion again. Lucho also coached Qatar at the World Cup and surprised fans by running marathons and triathlons when he was considered the best coach in the world, as per Clarin.
Having played in three World Cups in the 1990s he went to Qatar 2022 as a coach, where he was known for his bike rides. His live streams gained a huge following for elucidating on his adventure in the Middle East, in a relaxed and cheerful manner despite the fact that he had to analyze his team’s inconsistent campaign, losingbin pre quarters.
In the miniseries “You Have No F… Idea”, Lucho looks back at Xana’s death: “I consider myself lucky, I am very lucky. My daughter came to live with us for nine wonderful years,” he expressed.
“We have a thousand memories of her, videos, incredible things. My mother couldn’t have photos of Xana. Until I came home and said to her, ‘Why aren’t there any photos of Xana, Mom?’
‘I can’t, I can’t…’ she would say.
“Mom, you have to put up photos of Xana, Xana is alive,’ I replied,” he recounts in his miniseries. “She’s not here physically, but she is here spiritually. Because every day we talk about her, we laugh and remember her. Because I think Xana still sees us. How do I want Xana to think that we lived through this…?”
Lucho’s time with PSG has been memorable beyond the persistetsuccess in Europe. His press conferences have endeared him to Parisians. In the first, he tried to learn French and mocked his difficulties, Clarin writes. Recently, he congratulated a journalist who was doing an internship for the question she had asked him. And in another moment, he spoke about a topic that is natural and everyday for him but that leaves a lump in his throat: his memory of Xana.
“My daughter won’t be there, she won’t be there physically, but she’ll be there spiritually, and that’s very important to me. I’m motivated to continue moving forward with what life gives me, sharing it with my family,” the Spaniard said recently.
Lucho, with his wife, Elena Cullel, and his two oldest children, Pacho and Sira, has committed himself to the fight against cancer and decided to create the “Xana Foundation” in March 2024. Its main objective is to offer comprehensive care and support to children and young people affected by serious illnesses and to provide support to their families. In addition, it has its own programs and collaborates with and funds external projects related to the cause.
On his Twitch channel, Clarin quoted him as saying, “The Xana Foundation was created with the purpose of helping all those people who, unfortunately, go through these experiences and do not have the resources to support their children. In our case, we were lucky enough to be able to leave our jobs and dedicate ourselves 100% to Xana in her process. We want to help these families and accompany them.”
