“It has been a fantastic season and for us it is very important that we end it in the best possible manner,” Luis Enrique knew nothing would top off PSG’s Champions League triumph like winning the 2025 Club World Cup on Sunday. But it was only heartbreak that awaited him at the MetLife Stadium. In the first half of the CWC final, Chelsea netted three goals, a gap the Parisian club couldn’t manage to bridge. But fans weren’t very happy about how the storied soccer coach handled the defeat.

Wins and losses are part of the game; everyone knows that. With that in mind, you’d expect that a veteran coach like Enrique would be the one to help his squad deal with the blow to the gut. However, as fate would have it, Enrique was far from the pacifier he was expected to be when a fight broke out in the middle of the pitch following the final whistle. Naturally, the fans were left flabbergasted.

When Chelsea were celebrating their victory, a number of PSG players could be seen confronting Joa Pedro, who, having already netted a couple against Fluminense, added a third goal to his CWC tally. Before long, Enrique joined the scuffle and seemed to shove the forward, who immediately went down clutching his face. Following the physical altercation, Enrique could be seen being restrained by one PSG staff member, who promptly took the coach away from the scene. Meanwhile, PSG’s goalie, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was also part of the altercation, was pacified by Enzo Maresca.

But this wouldn’t be the first time that Luis Enrique struggled to contain his emotions after a defeat. Back in 2017, when the Spaniard was the head coach of Barcelona, it was PSG who were at the receiving end of Enrique’s wrath. Following a 4-0 defeat to Paris in the first leg of the Champions League’s Round of 16 that year, Enrique snapped at a reporter when the latter suggested that he didn’t make any tactical tweaks to get the team out of the ditch they had dug for themselves. “You can tell that you didn’t watch the game,” Enrique said before storming out of the interview.

Then, in 2024, Luis once again lashed out at reporters when asked about the reason behind the decision to substitute star forward Kylian Mbappe against Marseille. “It’s the same music every single week, the same music… it’s so boring. I am the manager, I make the decisions,” Enrique wasn’t too subtle in his attempt to shut down the questions flying at him.

Naturally, the whole scene from tonight’s match once again left a poor impression of Luis among soccer fans. “Luis Enrique being a sore loser? No one is shocked,” sneered one fan, who seemed to think that everyone should have been prepared for something like this going down. Many others also didn’t hold back on their jeers.

Fans tear into Louis Enrique’s controversial deed

While it is unclear as to why exactly the altercation broke out in the first place, the frustration of the Parisian side became apparent a little earlier when Joao Neves was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair in the 84th minute. It was really an unwelcome end to an event that was slated to be memorable, with even the U.S. President Donald Trump in attendance.

Whatever the reason was for Enrique’s actions, fans weren’t on board. “HEFTY FINE AND SUSPENSION. EMBARRASSED SORE LOSER,” one fan hoped that the PSG coach would face the music for his handiwork on Joao Pedro. “@FIFAcom ban this thug,” another fan tried to draw the attention of the international soccer apex body to the matter.

Others felt like the loss at the CWC shouldn’t have irked Enrique so much. After all, the 2024-25 season has been more than bountiful for the coach and his team. “All over a preseason tournament? Did this man forget he won the UCL?” one fan was genuinely bamboozled. “Very unprofessional of Coach! Absolute misconduct of a leader. He should be fined!” the digs kept coming at the 2x Champions League-winning coach.

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