Luis Enrique, the manager of Paris Saint-Germain, accused Chelsea forward João Pedro of exaggerating their clash after the Club World Cup final on Sunday.
The match, which Chelsea won 3-0, was marred by a dramatic on-field altercation involving both teams’ players and personnel.
Chelsea dominated the first half, with Cole Palmer scoring twice and assisting Pedro for the third goal.
The victory cemented the Blues’ place in history as the inaugural winners of the new-format Club World Cup.
Late in the game, João Neves received a straight red card for tugging Marc Cucurella’s hair, resulting in heightened tensions and a full-fledged altercation after the final whistle.
Enrique appeared to be at the centre of the post-match brawl, as shown on camera making contact with Pedro’s face, causing the Chelsea player to collapse.
Enrique was later filmed telling his employees, “I’m stupid. [Pedro]’s standing there; he pushes me, I touch him, and he throws himself,” as reported by SPORT.
During his post-match press conference, Enrique insisted that he had no hostile intentions and was only attempting to de-escalate the situation.
“What happened at the end of the match was a situation that everyone could have avoided,” he said. “I tried to separate the players; there was tension. We should have all prevented the situation from escalating. I have no problem speaking up.”
Enrique continued, “After the match, there was a lot of tension. Everyone pushed and shoved players, a result of the tension. I saw [Enzo] Maresca push players, and people pushed him. These are situations we should all avoid. What I did was separate the players.”
Supporting his manager, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said, “We have the most disciplined and respectful coach in the world. He went to separate the ball and got pushed. You have to have respect for your coaches, too.”
However, João Pedro, who scored Chelsea’s third goal, offered a different perspective, claiming PSG lost their composure after being outplayed. “I went to protect Andrey [Santos],” he told Sportv.
“I saw the players surrounding him. Like a good Brazilian, I went to protect a friend. A lot of people were arriving, and in that mess, I ended up getting shoved. It’s part of it. They didn’t know how to lose, I believe. It’s part of it. Now it’s time to celebrate. It’s part of it. They didn’t know how to lose, I believe. It’s part of it. Now it’s time to celebrate.”
