Luis Enrique regrets scuffle with Joao Pedro
Luis Enrique said he regretted getting involved in a scuffle with Joao Pedro after Paris Saint-Germain's defeat to Chelsea in the FIFA Club World Cup final.
Chelsea shocked the European champion 3-0 at MetLife Stadium after an incredible performance from Cole Palmer, who scored twice and assisted the other goal.
After the full-time whistle, PSG’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi were in a heated argument with Chelsea’s Joao Pedro and Andrey Santos.
PSG boss Luis Enrique got involved in the scuffle and raised his hands to Joao Pedro’s face, with the Brazilian hitting the deck in response.
The PSG head coach regretted the altercation and hopes to avoid similar situations in the future.
“At the end of the match, there was a situation that I believe could have been avoided by everyone," Luis Enrique said.
“My objective and my intention, as always, is to try to win over the players so that there are no more problems. Internally, there is a lot of tension, a lot of pressure.
“And from there, there is a series of shoves from a lot of people, which I think we should all avoid and which should not happen again.”
Palmer scored twice in an eight-minute spell in the first half before assisting Joao Pedro for Chelsea’s third just ahead of the break.
PSG, which was reduced to 10 men after Joao Neves pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair, was the heavy favourite heading into the final after big wins over Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in the tournament.
“Football – that's the way it is. Can't explain everything," Luis Enrique said.
“I believe they actually started the game really, really well with a lot of pressure and we gave them a hard time. And then after that I believe they had opportunities to score but it didn't happen.”
