Luis Enrique under fire after Joao Pedro incident in Club World Cup final

Joao Pedro’s magical nighttime successful nan Club World Cup last was meant to beryllium a ceremony of Chelsea’s rebirth nether Enzo Maresca, but nan joyousness quickly turned sour aft a fiery altercation involving PSG’s caput coach Luis Enrique.

Pedro, who arrived from Brighton successful a £60 cardinal [$80m] woody earlier this month, capped disconnected a superb squad move pinch a delicate spot that sealed Chelsea’s 3–0 triumph aft 2 objective strikes from Cole Palmer had already floored nan French champions.

The consequence not only made Chelsea nan first English nine to assistance nan trophy doubly but besides underlined really acold they’ve travel successful conscionable 5 weeks nether Maresca’s command.

But arsenic nan last whistle went and players were hugging and crying, tempers flared up adjacent nan halfway statement which started erstwhile Pedro reportedly stepped successful to shield teammate Andrey Santos erstwhile PSG players approached him.

Moments later, Luis Enrique appeared to suffer control. Video footage showed nan PSG coach charging toward Pedro and seemingly striking him, causing nan guardant to fall

Speaking aft nan incident, Pedro downplayed nan chaos but hinted astatine PSG’s frustration.

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“Everyone wants to win. In nan end, they mislaid their heads,” he told reporters. “We request to bask it because we won nan tournament. That’s it,”

Tension astatine nan last whistle arsenic Chelsea hit PSG 3-0 to triumph nan #FIFAClubWorldCup pic.twitter.com/Oll9eZekkc

What did Luis Enrique opportunity and what problems he could perchance have

Luis Enrique, facing increasing disapproval aft PSG’s 2nd consecutive conclusion successful a awesome final, defended his actions successful beforehand of reporters.

The 54-year-old insisted his intent was ne'er convulsive and claimed he entered nan segment only to defuse nan confrontation.

“What happened astatine nan extremity of nan lucifer was a business that everyone could person avoided,” he said.

“I tried to abstracted nan players, location was tension.

“We should person each prevented nan business from escalating. I person nary problem speaking up.

“After nan match, location was a batch of tension. Everyone pushed and shoved players, a consequence of nan tension.

“I saw Maresca push players, and group pushed him. These are situations we should each avoid. What I did was abstracted nan players,” Enrique concluded.

But Enrique’s mentation whitethorn not beryllium capable to get him retired of problem pinch FIFA who will reappraisal nan video grounds that shows him making interaction pinch Pedro earlier he fell to nan ground.

The governing assemblage has strict rules connected head behaviour during and aft games, particularly successful tournaments they big and they will apt motorboat a general investigation into nan incident astatine full-time.

Earlier this twelvemonth Ligue 1 leader Paulo Fonseca was fixed a 9 period prohibition for confronting a referee, truthful Enrique could beryllium successful a akin aliases moreover worse position.

If FIFA deem his actions arsenic convulsive aliases provocative, Enrique could beryllium banned from world nine competitions aliases nan touchline altogether.

Paris Saint-Germain news and related links

• Luis Enrique reveals 'Barcelona motivation' arsenic PSG extremity Real Madrid's Club World Cup challenge
• Luis Enrique backs caller Real Madrid leader Xabi Alonso aft PSG's Club World Cup triumph
• Xabi Alonso outlines plans for Real Madrid revival aft 'painful' PSG defeat