Emotions ran high following Chelsea’s emphatic 3-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium, culminating in a heated exchange that saw PSG manager Luis Enrique shove Chelsea forward João Pedro to the ground.
The post-match scuffle broke out at midfield as Chelsea players rushed to celebrate their dominant victory, which saw them take a three-goal lead before halftime and hold PSG scoreless through the final whistle.
With both teams still on the field, a confrontation ensued between Pedro and PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
As tensions escalated, Enrique stepped in, apparently trying to intervene and pushed Pedro away, striking him in the face and neck and knocking him down.
The incident sparked further shoving between players from both sides before things eventually settled.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Enrique addressed the fracas and maintained that he had only intended to de-escalate the situation.
“This was completely avoidable at the end,” he said, via translation. “My goal and my objective is always trying to separate the footballers to avoid greater problems.
“There’s a lot of tension, a lot of pressure, and there was a whole bunch of pushing that was going on by many people. I think that we should all avoid doing so, and it should not happen again. I reiterate, my intention has always been to avoid any type of situation to get even worse. That was my goal.”
Enrique went on to attribute the altercation to the emotional toll of the final.
“I have no problem expressing my feeling at the end of the game,” he continued. “There’s a high level of pressure. It’s very stressful for all of us. That is rather logical.
“I’m going to make it possible to avoid that my footballers don’t go to the extreme. So everybody was involved. I’m telling you, this is not what was best, and this was just the end result of the pressure from the match. And I do not have anything else to add.”
It remains unclear if a particular moment sparked the confrontation, but PSG’s frustrations were evident after a lopsided defeat.
João Pedro, having played a pivotal role in Chelsea’s commanding performance, appeared to be at the center of the tension.
