Joao Pedro slams PSG after being hit by Luis Enrique – ‘They lost their heads’

Chelsea and PSG’s clash in the Club World Cup final descended into a brawl involving Luis Enrique and Joao Pedro as the Brazilian accused the French side of failing to control their emotions

Chelsea star Joao Pedro, a scorer in the Club World Cup final success over PSG, claims the French side “lost their heads” as tempers flared in New York with Luis Enrique central to the scuffle.

The Blues shocked the Champions League winners, owing to a stellar first-half display which saw Pedro among the goalscorers. But later the Brazilian found himself on the ground. Tempers boiled over in the closing stages and the French side saw Joao Neves sent off for pulling the hair of Chelsea ’s Marc Cucurella.

Both benches then rushed onto the pitch with Pedro and Enrique clashing. The manager claimed he was trying to separate players and prevent a heated situation from escalating. Pedro, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi were all involved in a confrontation before Enrique jumped in, but he appeared to raise an arm which saw Pedro hit the deck.

The Brazilian, who recently signed for Chelsea from Brighton, said: “I don’t need to talk about them. Everyone wants to win the game and, in the end, I think they lost their heads.

“But this is football. This has happened. Now we need to enjoy it because we won the tournament, that’s it. I don’t want to talk too much about them because you know how it works. Football is this.”

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PSG had been hot favourites come into the contest, dispatching of Real Madrid with ease in the semi-finals, but were outclassed by Chelsea as the Premier League lifted the trophy at the MetLife Stadium. Enrique defended his actions come the end and maintained he was trying to keep the peace.

He said: “I have no problem expressing my feelings at the end of the game in a high level of pressure. It’s very stressful for all of us. It is going to be impossible to avoid that. Everybody was involved. It was not what was best and the end result of the pressure of the match.

“I have seen (Chelsea manager Enzo) Maresca. I saw he had pushed others and we had to separate all the players and I do not know where that pressure came from. But this is a situation we must all avoid, that goes without saying. My intention was to separate the footballers so the situation didn’t become worse.”

After the melee Chelsea lifted the trophy, but in a bizarre series of events captain Reece James found himself alongside US President Donald Trump, who was snapped in the middle of the celebrations. Cole Palmer, scorer of two goals in the final, was named Player of the Tournament.

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