Chelsea's Joao Pedro claims PSG 'lost their minds' after Club World Cup thrashing!
Chelsea striker Joao Pedro asserts Paris Saint-Germain "lost their heads" in heated post-match confrontations following Chelsea's dominant 3-0 Club World Cup final victory. Pedro, who scored the third goal, described the on-field skirmish, which involved PSG manager Luis Enrique, as a byproduct of intense competition, urging focus on Chelsea's historic win.
The glittering spectacle of the Club World Cup final quickly devolved into a chaotic scene of flared tempers and confrontations, according to Chelsea striker Joao Pedro. The 23-year-old Brazilian, who scored Chelsea's third goal in their commanding 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium, stated that the Parisian side "lost their heads" in the aftermath of Sunday's showpiece event.
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Dramatic footage captured moments where Pedro found himself on the ground amidst a skirmish that reportedly involved PSG manager Luis Enrique. The incident occurred as tensions boiled over between the two sides following Chelsea's resounding win, which saw them claim the inaugural expanded Club World Cup title.
Addressing the fracas, Luis Enrique later downplayed the severity, attributing the scenes to the "result of the pressure of the match." He insisted his "intention was to separate the footballers so the situation didn't become worse."
However, Joao Pedro offered a more direct assessment of PSG's conduct. "I don't need to talk about them. Everyone wants to win the game and, in the end, I think they lost their heads," he commented. "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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The full-time confrontations were preceded by a flashpoint in the closing minutes of the match, when PSG's Joao Neves was shown a red card for pulling the hair of Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella, further indicating the rising frustration within the PSG camp.
Luis Enrique, whose side were aiming to cap their domestic treble and Champions League victory in the 2024-25 season with Club World Cup success, reiterated his stance on the post-match events. "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," he explained.
"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."
Pedro's dinked 43rd-minute finish, adding to Cole Palmer's two earlier strikes, sealed Chelsea's historic victory in the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup. While the on-field celebrations were joyous for Chelsea, the off-field tension provided a fiery conclusion to a memorable final.
