Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said he was “just trying to separate the players” after being caught up in a scuffle on the pitch at the end of his team’s 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.
Television footage showed the PSG boss raising his arm to the neck of Joao Pedro, who had earlier scored Chelsea’s third goal following a Cole Palmer brace at the MetLife Stadium.
“There was pushing and shoving, a lot of tension and pressure. The situation obviously should have been avoided,” Luis Enrique told reporters. “My intention was clearly to just try to separate the players.”
He admitted that Chelsea were deserved winners as he urged his team to enjoy a short summer break at the end of a remarkable campaign.
Defeat for PSG denied them what would have been a stunning clean sweep of trophies as they failed to add the Club World Cup to the UEFA Champions League and French league and cup double they claimed in May.
“I think over the course of the game they deserved their win. They played very well,” Luis Enrique said. “I said beforehand that Chelsea were a very good team and they deserve their victory and the trophy.”
A historic season for PSG ends after 11 months and 65 matches, and they now have exactly one month before returning to action in August – there will be another trophy on the line in their next game, against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup.
“I think is important for us to enjoy our holidays. They will be very short. But we need to make the most of them,” he said.
PSG’s victory in this year’s Champions League also means they will have another crack at winning the Club World Cup when they participate in the next edition, which is due to take place in 2029.
“I think this tournament was born out of the need to know who the best team in the world is. I think it is an interesting format and I think it could become a real top-level competition,” said the Spaniard.
“There is just the difficulty of finding space for it in the current calendar, but I think it is an interesting tournament – we had the chance to win it but there was another team who were better than us in the final.”
