Chelsea unexpectedly comfortable winners came out in the final of the Club World Cup and beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0. The PSG side, used to winning lately, did not indicate the defeat well.
With less than 10 minutes to go, Joao Neves was sent away for pulling the hair from Marc Cucurella, before the tensions rose again at the last whistle. While the temperature between players flared up, both coaching staff were also involved. When Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi, Andrey Santos and Joao Pedro disputed, Luis Enrique Pedro paid in the neck area, after which the Brazilian went down, which could have serious consequences for the former Spain, Barcelona and Celta Vigo Manager.
After cooling, Luis Enrique spoke with the press and gave his version of events to Cadena Cope.
“I'm stupid. He stands there, he pushes me, I touch him and he throws himself down.”
“At the end of the game there was a situation that I think was completely avoidable, of everyone. My goal and intention, as always, was to try to separate the players, so there would be no more problems,” he said in a press conference.
Luis Enrique repeated, without a shortage of irony, that he tried not to escalate things.
“There was a lot of tension, a lot of pressure. From that moment there was a series of pushing competitions from many people, whom I think we should all avoid and should not happen again. But I repeat, my intention, as always, was to avoid every situation that escalated.”
In the meantime, the Chelsea Forward gave as few mistakes, but did not give it much meaning. Unlike to send a stabbing Barb to PSG.
“I went to protecting Andrey (Santos). I saw the players around him. As a good Brazilian I started to protect a friend. Many people arrived, and I was pushed in that mess. It is part of the game. It is part of the game.
That said, FIFA can get a much more vague view. Although the next proposed Club World Cup is not for another four years, Cadena SER explained that he could still have consequences than being suspended for games in the competition.
He can be confronted with a time -based suspension, which could include a prohibition of full coaching instead of just games. Jose Maria Gimenez from Atletico Madrid was a FIR game ban, community service and a fine of € 21.5K after he entered the crowd after a Uruguay match to defend his family against local supporters. In the meantime, ex-Barcelona man Luis Suarez was banned from football for four months after biting Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.