CHELSEA striker Joao Pedro has accused Paris St-Germain of losing their composure in the aftermath of last night’s FIFA Club World Cup final.
The 23-year-old Brazil forward, who joined Chelsea in the middle of the tournament from Brighton, ended up on the floor during an incident involving PSG manager Luis Enrique, as tempers flared between the two sides following the Blues’ 3-0 victory at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, United States of America.
Luis Enrique said afterwards those scenes were the “result of the pressure of the match” and that his “intention was to separate the footballers so the situation didn’t become worse”.
Joao Pedro, who scored Chelsea’s third goal, 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.”
The confrontations at full-time came after PSG’s Joao Neves was sent off in the closing minutes for pulling the hair of Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella.
Luis Enrique, whose side were bidding to follow up their domestic treble and Champions League victory in 2024-2025 with Club World Cup success, 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.”
Meanwhile, Chelsea earned the most money from the 32-team tournament, taking home a staggering £84 million, according to estimates.
PSG were paid £78m, Real Madrid £66.5m, Brazil’s Fluminense £50.4m and Bayern Munich £42.7m.
According to football finance website Swiss Ramble, Borussia Dortmund got £38.4m, Manchester City £37.8m, Palmeiras £37.1m, Inter Milan £26.3m and Al Hilal £25m, rounding off the top 10 earners.
With agency reports