Paris St Germain manager Luis Enrique tried to play Chelsea, Chelsea Vooruit Joao Pedro in an almost fight between players and coaching staff after the dominant 3-0 victory of Chelsea in the club World Cup final on Sunday.
The incident burst out when PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma argued with Joao Pedro, before Luis Enrique seemed to his hands to the face of the Brazilian.
Joao Pedro hit the deck and the PSG manager was quietly led away in remarkable scenes in which players from both parties clashed.
“At the end of the game there was a situation that I think everyone could have been avoided,” said Luis Enrique during a press conference after the game.
“My goal and my intention, as always, is to try to win the players, so that there are no more problems. There is a lot of tension, a lot of pressure.”
The Spanish coach acknowledged the seriousness of the incident and added: “And from there there is a series of many people, whom I think we should all avoid and that should not happen again.”
However, when it came to the game, he was left without answers after a brutal thrashing by Chelsea in a collision of the most powerful and richest clubs in European football.
It was a surprising crooked affair when Chelsea -midfielder Cole Palmer collapsed two goals in eight minutes in the first half and striker Joao Pedro helped before the break.
Fans expected much more from the European Cup and the French competition champions that were once unstoppable, along Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-final of the extensive tournament of 32 teams.
They ended the game with 10 men after Joao Neves was shown a red card for violent behavior in the 85th minute.
“Football – that's how it is. Can't explain everything,” said Luis Enrique.
“I believe that they really started the game very, very well with a lot of pressure and we made it difficult for them. And then I believe they had opportunities to score, but it didn't happen.”