Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique insists he was playing peacemaker despite grabbing Joao Pedro by the throat at the Club World Cup.
The Blues were deserved 3-0 winners at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey thanks to first half goals from Cole Palmer and Pedro.
Enrique aimed for Pedro’s throat in wild scenes
At full-time, both sets of players clashed on the pitch although it’s still not clear what sparked it.
However, replays show a furious Enrique reaching out to Pedro and seemingly aiming for his neck in shocking scenes.
“My intention was clear. I ran over to separate the players. I didn’t want the situation to get any worse,” Enrique said on the incident.
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was also involved in a heated confrontation with the Chelsea man, who fell onto the turf.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca was seen in discussion with Donnarumma while dragging away his fellow Italian from the chaos.
But Maresca is still seemingly none the wiser in what sparked the confrontations despite being in the thick of it.
“After the final whistle, I approached Luis to talk to him and I saw that something was going on. I don’t know what happened really,” Maresca told journalists.
The Blues didn’t let the drama spoil their celebrations though, with many of the squad wearing ‘World Champions 25’ shirts.
Palmer put Chelsea ahead with 22 minutes played courtesy of his left-footed finish into the bottom corner.
The 23-year-old sensation scored an almost identical goal soon after as the west London side began to put their opponents to the sword.
He then assisted Pedro for the third and final goal of the match as Chelsea had the result all but sealed at the break.
PSG went down to ten men late on as Joao Neves was dismissed for a pull on Marc Cucurella’s hair following a VAR review.
Chelsea held onto their three-goal lead until full-time, with the on-pitch brawl commencing on moments later.
The Blues have won their second trophy of the season, 46 days after their UEFA Conference League triumph in Wroclaw.
Like PSG, they had lost just once throughout the tournament before the final.
And despite European champions PSG being the favourites, Chelsea swept them aside in a dominant performance.
Chelsea are now two-time Club World Cup winners, and the first side to win the revamped 32-team format.
Maresca told DAZN after: “I have no words for the players. They all deserve this and it’s a good moment.”
“For me, we won the game in the first ten minutes,” he added.
“We set the tempo and we were very good at pressing them. The conditions made it hard to keep going but the boys did well.”
