Luis Enrique has revealed he was “very emotional” after Paris St Germain fans paid tribute to his late daughter, following the French club’s record Champions League final victory.
PSG secured the trophy for the first time after they routed Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich. Desire Doue’s double, as well as goals from Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu, secured a historic treble for the French league and cup winners.
Following the game, PSG supporters unveiled a tifo in tribute to Enrique’s daughter Xana, who died in 2019 at the age of nine from cancer.
Enrique 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.”
Enrique joined PSG last July and has overseen the development of a brilliant young team following the departure of star striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid.
It was the 55-year-old’s second treble as a manager after winning the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey at Barcelona in 2015.
The Eiffel Tower was lit up in the red and blue of PSG to mark their first Champions League triumph, and only the second by a French club after Marseille in 1993.
Enrique said: “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.
“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.
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“Every player improved this season, and so did the team.
“A coach needs to control their emotions – you need to deal with the pressure in order to help the players.
“We prepared the final with the necessary calm to put the excitement in the right place. Now we can enjoy it; we can take the trophy back to Paris.
“We had a great start to the game, dominating from the beginning. But I wanted them to keep pushing, scoring, to ensure we won the game.”
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.”
