While PSG hung on for the full 90 minutes, the Club World Cup final was over in the first half. Cole Palmer and João Pedro traded goals and assists as the Blues buried PSG’s dreams with a 3-0 scoreline. What’s more? The dominant display caught the French powerhouse completely off guard, and after the match, reporters asked Luis Enrique how the team plans to deal with this massive blow.

Enrique, who’s well aware of the criticism that would come after Chelsea blanked them, explained what he feels the community’s reaction will be and what he expects from the fans. You see, after winning the Ligue 1 title, Coupe de France, French Super Cup, and the UEFA Champions League, PSG wanted to make history. Although the Chelsea defeat has hit them hard, the coach believes there’s more to come.

“I think that it’s difficult to be part of PSG because we know exactly who the fans are… Who the people are on the team and the people around the club,” Luis Enrique explained. While he believed that the fans would stand beside the club, there’s no shortage of people who’ll jump at this opportunity to hurl criticism. “They’re different people. And they always take advantage of this to criticize,” added the head coach. However, he isn’t too worried.

“That’s normal as far as I’m concerned. That’s not a problem,” the 55-year-old explained. Instead, Enrique is more worried about how the players will react and explained that the upcoming vacation will play a huge role in lifting morale. “What I think is important for ourselves is to enjoy the vacation. It’s short, very short. And I believe that we have to take advantage of that. That’s going to be important,” Luis Enrique said in the post-match interview.

After all, it was pretty clear that the PSG players didn’t take this loss lightly. Things got desperate as they made reckless tackles. In fact, João Neves earned a red card after pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair late in the game. An even more intense reaction came after the final whistle as agitated players stirred up serious chaos. What’s worse? Even Luis Enrique’s conduct came under scrutiny.

Luis Enrique commented on the post-match incident

The aftermath of the soccer match devolved into chaos as players started pushing one another while Chelsea looked to celebrate their win. Things took a shocking turn when the Blues’ goalscorer Joao Pedro brushed with the PSG coach. The 55-year-old appeared to push Pedro away and caught him in the face. As Pedro fell down, the soccer world exploded with controversy.

Many fans of the sport immediately sounded the guilty verdict in the court of social media. However, Luis Enrique defended his actions while chatting with the press. “This was completely avoidable at the end,” said the veteran coach, claiming that he simply wanted to calm things down. “My goal and my objective is always trying to separate the footballers to avoid greater problems,” he elaborated.

So, as per the coach, catching Pedro in the face was nothing more than an unfortunate outcome. “There was a whole bunch of pushing that was going on by many people. I think that we should all avoid doing so… Again, I reiterate my intention has always been to avoid any type of situation to get even worse,” the PSG head coach emphasized. Enrique even mentioned his Chelsea counterpart.

“I saw Maresca. I’ve seen him push other people, and we’ve had to separate all the players… My intention was clear. I ran to separate the players,” added Luis Enrique in the post-match presser. So, instead of harping on what went wrong, the coach and his players will now look to rest during their much-needed break. After all, Vítor Machado Ferreira had already complained about the “fatigue” after their semifinal win, and this vacation should help.