Xana was nine years old when she passed away. Bone cancer took her on August 29, 2019, after five months of fighting.
Her father is Luis Enrique, the Spanish coach who now manages Paris Saint-Germain. The man who shouts from the touchline, the one who lifts trophies with a clenched fist.
But there is one phrase of his that has nothing to do with football: “I consider myself fortunate, I am very fortunate”.
He said it thinking of his deceased daughter.
He did not say it to minimize the pain. He said it because, for him, having had nine years with Xana weighs more than the way she was taken from him.
In his home, there is no silence around her name. They talk about her. They remember her things. They include her in important dates, as if she were at the table.
His own mother took time before she could keep photos of her granddaughter in sight. Luis Enrique was the one who encouraged her to take them out, to look at them, not to keep Xana in a drawer.
He himself has said that there are hard days, dates that hit hard, memories that bring back the full pain. Strength, for him, is not about not crying. It is about not letting those days cover up everything else.
In May 2025, when PSG became champions in Munich, he dedicated it to her. The fans unfurled a tifo with her name.
Xana did not come back. But in the Martínez Cullell home, she never completely left.