Final whistle fury: Luis Enrique caught in Chelsea-PSG scuffle

Dubai: The Club World Cup final may have ended in a convincing Chelsea win, but the drama didn’t stop at the final whistle. Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique found himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons after being caught in a post-match scuffle — one he insists was simply an attempt to defuse tensions.

Tension and pressure

Television footage showed Enrique raising his arm toward the neck of Chelsea’s Joao Pedro, who had scored the final goal in a 3-0 win after Cole Palmer netted a brace for the Premier League side at the MetLife Stadium.

“There was pushing and shoving, a lot of tension and pressure. The situation obviously should have been avoided,” Enrique told reporters later. “My intention was clearly to just try to separate the players.”

The result denied PSG a dream clean sweep of silverware this season, having already won the UEFA Champions League along with the French league and cup double. Chelsea, meanwhile, claimed their first global title under new manager Enzo Maresca.

Deserving winners

“I think over the course of the game, they deserved their win. They played very well,” Enrique said. “I said beforehand that Chelsea were a very good team, and they deserve their victory and the trophy.”

Sunday’s final concluded a demanding 11-month season for PSG, who played a staggering 65 matches across all competitions. The players will now take a short break before returning in August for the Uefa Super Cup clash against Tottenham Hotspur.

“I think it’s important for us to enjoy our holidays. They will be very short, but we need to make the most of them,” said Enrique.

Real top-level competition

Thanks to their Champions League triumph, PSG will return to the Club World Cup in the next expanded edition, set for 2029.

“I think this tournament was born out of the need to know who the best team in the world is. It’s an interesting format and could become a real top-level competition,” the Spanish coach noted.

“There is just the difficulty of finding space for it in the current calendar, but we had the chance to win it — and there was another team who were simply better than us in the final.”

— With inputs from AFP