Cole Palmer and surprise Chelsea star receive top marks from L'Equipe after Blues' Club World Cup win - as French outlet savage PSG players, with FIVE given 2/10 ratings in humbling loss
But Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was an unlikely recipient of praise following his heroics in the surprise 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
Blues boss Enzo Maresca masterminded a shock victory over the European champions on Sunday night and was equally as thankful for the contributions of two-goal Palmer as Sanchez, who produced a string of stunning saves.
The notoriously harsh markers handed Palmer a 9/10 for his match-winning display, while fellow goalscorer Joao Pedro received a 7/10 after another impressive outing for his new club.
The much maligned Sanchez, whose position as Chelsea's No 1 has been under threat ever since moving to Stamford Bridge in 2023, was awarded an 8/10 after making six saves and, according to the stats boffins, preventing 1.35 goals.
Only Palmer bettered the grade, while right back Malo Gusto also received an 8/10 for his impressive martialling of PSG winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Evidence of L'Equipe critical eye comes in their appraisal of the Parisians who endured an uncharacteristically off night which brought a sour end to historic campaign.
Kvaratskhelia was one of five Paris players to be handed a 2/10 after an anonymous performance in which he managed just one shot, one successful dribble and won just two of his seven duels.
Ousmane Dembele, Nuno Mendes, Lucas Beraldo and Joao Neves - who was sent off in the 85th minute for pulling Marc Cucurella's hair - were the other stars on the end of a hiding from the outlet.
L'Equipe's average rating for the PSG squad was a measly 2.9/10, marginally lower than the grade for the boss Luis Enrique, whose frustration spilled over at the end of the match at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.
The Spaniard appeared to strike Chelsea striker Pedro in the face during a heated post-match clash between both teams. Pedro was initially embroiled in a confrontation with Gianluigi Donnarumma and Achraf Hakimi - with Andrey Santos also on the scene - before Enrique marched over towards the situation.
But rather than defusing the situation, the Spanish manager made it physical, laying his hands on Pedro before being held back by his own player Presnel Kimpembe.
Pedro fell to the floor in dramatic fashion, clutching at his face.
Speaking on the incident, Enrique said: 'This was completely avoidable at the end, my goal was always to separate footballers, there was a lot of tension and pressure, there was a whole bunch of pushing that we should all try to avoid. My intention is to avoid it getting worse.'
In victory, the Blues became the fifth club - and the first from England - to win multiple FIFA Club World Cup titles, joining Real Madrid (five), Barcelona (three), Bayern Munich (two), and Corinthians (two).
The architect of the win, Maresca - who received a 9/10 from L'Equipe - said: '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 10 minutes. 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.
'Of course I am very excited [about the future] but I'm more excited that we have three weeks off.'
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Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN boss Luis Enrique faces a TOTAL coaching ban for his Club World Cup Final slap attack on Chelsea star Joao Pedro. Spaniard Enrique lost control after his side crashed 3-0 to Chelsea in New Jersey's MetLife Stadium. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Luis Enrique is facing a total coaching ban for his Club World Cup final slap on Joao Pedro Credit: AFP 3 Enrique lost his cool after the match and slapped him on the side of the head Credit: Alamy 3 The incident sparked a 20-plus brawl involving players and staff Credit: Reuters After squaring up to the Brazilian striker, the PSG chief slapped him once to the side of the head, before players rushed in to separate the duo. The incident sparked a major melee involving 20-plus players and staff from both sides. Fifa is now poised to open a formal disciplinary probe into Enrique's behaviour. But world chiefs are UNABLE to impose a specific match sanction because PSG and Enrique will not play any games under their jurisdiction until the Champions League winners represent Europe in the InterContinental Cup in December. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL BLUE MURDER Enrique explains why he slapped Pedro as PSG coach faces TOTAL coaching ban And that leaves a TIME penalty - a period in which the Catalan would be prevented from doing ANY training ground or match day work - as the most likely punishment if Enrique is charged with misconduct. But midfielder Joao Neves will probably NOT be banned for his hair-tug red card on Marc Cucarella in the final moments of the match, under tournament-specific rules published by Fifa before a ball was kicked. The likely punishment for Enrique was predicted by senior Spanish referee Eduardo Gonzalez, who said: 'Of course, you can be sanctioned. 'There's a difference, the red and yellow cards in the tournament will expire. 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Suarez was initially banned from 'all football-related activities' for four months and banned for nine international matches, although an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was partially successful allowing the striker to train with new club Barcelona. Fifa have yet to confirm whether disciplinary procedures have been opened against Enrique or anybody else involved. The PSG boss - who could now be banned for PSG's Super Cup meeting with Spurs in Udine on August 14 - attempted to downplay the incident in the aftermath of the defeat. He said: "At the end of the match, there was a situation that was completely avoidable for everyone. "My intention, as always, was to try to separate the players so that it didn't escalate. 'It was definitely avoidable; there was a lot of pressure. There were some problematic things coming from a lot of people. It's not the best way to attract attention." 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But midfielder Joao Neves will probably NOT be banned for his hair-tug red card on Marc Cucarella in the final moments of the match, under tournament-specific rules published by Fifa before a ball was kicked. The likely punishment for Enrique was predicted by senior Spanish referee Eduardo Gonzalez, who said: 'Of course, you can be sanctioned. 'There's a difference, the red and yellow cards in the tournament will expire. But FIFA can sanction him with time. 'So, if Luis Enrique is given a one-month ban, he would miss any games in that month. What's more, he wouldn't even be able to train the team.' He added: 'You can't touch an opponent's face. That's already a humiliating issue, that you have to go over and punch a player in the face when the game is over. Luis Enrique explains why he slapped Joao Pedro in shocking bust-up after Chelsea's Club World Cup win over PSG 'I don't look at names, I look at the action, and if we look at the action, it's punishable. 'Fifa is above Uefa. If Fifa tells you there are three matches it's in their competition, but since in this tournament the yellow and red cards ended, FIFA can, on the other hand, sanction players based on time.' The time-based penalty was handed out to former Liverpool striker Luis Suarez when he bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini in Uruguay's World Cup group game at the 2014 finals. Suarez was initially banned from 'all football-related activities' for four months and banned for nine international matches, although an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was partially successful allowing the striker to train with new club Barcelona. Fifa have yet to confirm whether disciplinary procedures have been opened against Enrique or anybody else involved. The PSG boss - who could now be banned for PSG's Super Cup meeting with Spurs in Udine on August 14 - attempted to downplay the incident in the aftermath of the defeat. He said: "At the end of the match, there was a situation that was completely avoidable for everyone. "My intention, as always, was to try to separate the players so that it didn't escalate. 'It was definitely avoidable; there was a lot of pressure. There were some problematic things coming from a lot of people. It's not the best way to attract attention." Enrique appeared to be trying to pin the blame on Blues chief Enzo Maresca as he added: 'I have seen 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. "I have no problem expressing my feeling 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. "But this is a situation we must all avoid. That goes without saying. My intention is that I wanted to separate the footballers, so the situations didn't become worse." Joao Pedro, who scored the third goal of Chelsea's first half blitz, suggested the flare-up had been sparked by PSG players making a bee-line for Brazilian youngster Andrey Santos. He said: 'I went to protect Andrey. I saw their players were crowding Andrey. Like a good Brazilian, I went to protect my friend. 'A lot of people were arriving and in that mess, I ended up getting shoved. It's part of it. "I don't need to say anything more about them because it's normal. Everyone wants to win the game and, in the end, I think they lost their heads. "But this is football, this has happened and 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." Neves' red card, though, will not bring a ban unless Fifa rule it deserves an extra punishment. The regulations for the tournament state: 'Without prejudice to any other sanction that might result, any match suspension resulting from a player or official being sent off - as a result of a direct or an indirect red card - will not be carried over to another competition.'
