Luis Enrique Downplays Clash After PSG's 3-0 Loss to Chelsea
The incident erupted when PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was arguing with Joao Pedro, before Luis Enrique appeared to raise his hands to the Brazilian's face.
Joao Pedro hit the deck and the PSG manager was quietly escorted away in remarkable scenes that saw players from both sides clash.
'At the end of the match, there was a situation that I believe could have been avoided by everyone,' Luis Enrique said at a press conference after the match.
'My objective and my intention, as always, is to try to win over the players so that there are no more problems. Internally, there is a lot of tension, a lot of pressure.'
The Spanish coach acknowledged the severity of the incident, adding: 'And from there, there is a series of shoves from a lot of people, which I think we should all avoid and which should not happen again.'
When it came to the match, however, he was left without answers after a brutal thrashing by Chelsea in a clash of European football's most powerful and richest clubs.
It was a surprise lopsided affair as Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer poured in two goals in eight minutes in the first half and assisted striker Joao Pedro in another score before the break.
Fans expected much more from the European Cup and French league champions that had once appeared unstoppable, cruising past Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-final stage of the expanded, 32-team tournament.
They finished the match with 10 men after Joao Neves was shown a red card in the 85th minute for violent conduct.
'Football - that's the way it is. Can't explain everything,' said Luis Enrique.
'I believe they actually started the game really, really well with a lot of pressure and we gave them a hard time. And then after that I believe they had opportunities to score but it didn't happen.' - REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Club World Cup will be bigger than Champions League, says Chelsea's Colwill
LONDON: Chelsea defender Levi Colwill said the Club World Cup will be bigger than the Champions League after his side beat European champions Paris St Germain 3-0 in the final in New Jersey on Sunday. The quadrennial competition will return in 2029, which will be the second edition under the expanded format with 32 teams. "This is the biggest trophy I've ever won. I think the Club World Cup will be bigger than the Champions League and we were the first team to win it," the 22-year-old Colwill said. "I've really enjoyed it, playing games every four or five days. Playing to sold-out stadiums, playing against different teams who you would never normally get a chance to play." The England international said Chelsea would carry the momentum forward having beaten a phenomenal PSG side who had conceded only one goal in the tournament before the final. "I said at the start of this tournament that our plan is to win it and people looked at me as if I was crazy. So I'm going to say the exact same thing now going into the Premier League and Champions League," Colwill said. Chelsea have won the Champions League twice, in 2012 and 2021.--REUTERS
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Modric joins Milan in one-year deal
LONDON: Croatia captain Luka Modric, who left Real Madrid after 13 years at the LaLiga club, has completed his move to AC Milan on a one-year deal with an option to extend until June 2027, the Serie A side said on Monday. The midfielder's arrival was confirmed by newly-appointed Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri earlier this month. "Very happy to be here to start a new chapter in my career," said Modric, who turns 40 in September, in an Instagram video shared by Milan. Milan said Modric will wear the number 14 shirt, which he previously wore during his four years at English side Tottenham Hotspur to honour Dutch great Johan Cruyff. "It's an immense honour for them to compare me to (Cruyff)... I wore the no. 14 at Tottenham in honour of him, and because the no. 10 wasn't available," Modric had said after winning the Ballon d'Or award in 2018. Modric, regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, announced in May that he would leave Real after the Club World Cup. He has made 597 appearances for the Spanish club, winning 28 trophies including four LaLiga and six Champions League titles. He played his last game for Real on Wednesday, coming on as a second-half substitute during a 4-0 loss to Paris St Germain in the Club World Cup semi-finals. "It's a bitter end... he's a legend of world football and of Real Madrid. He'll be remembered for many more good things than for the 25 minutes he played today," Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso said after the match. Modric, considered Croatia's greatest player of all time, has represented the country a record 188 times, scoring 28 goals. He won the Golden Ball at World Cup 2018, where he led Croatia to the final for the first time. He won the Ballon d'Or in December that year, becoming the first player other than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to win the prestigious annual award since 2007. Modric's arrival reinforces a Milan midfield that also features Youssouf Fofana, Yunus Musah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, with Samuele Ricci joining from Torino earlier this month. Milan, who failed to qualify for a European competition after finishing eighth in the Italian top-flight league last season, begin their Serie A campaign against newly-promoted Cremonese on August 23.--REUTERS
New Straits Times
2 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Chelsea's Club World Cup triumph a 'statement', but what might be the cost?
NEW YORK: For Chelsea, victory in Sunday's Club World Cup decider completed a fine first season under Enzo Maresca, and also finally brought the curtain down on a marathon campaign that they must hope does not catch up with them down the line. The Cole Palmer-inspired 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium outside New York was Chelsea's 64th game of a season which lasted 11 months. By any measure it was one of Chelsea's best ever campaigns, with their Club World Cup triumph – placed on a par by Maresca to winning the Champions League – following victory in the UEFA Conference League and a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League. Maresca, an ex-assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, could not have asked for much more after arriving off the back of leading Leicester City to promotion. "It has been a fantastic season but I am especially happy for the players," said the Italian, who has succeeded in putting together a coherent team out of the endless line of new signings being brought in by the club's owners. "We have said many times that talent alone is not enough. You need to find a way for them to all fit together." It all represents considerable progress from just two years ago, when the Stamford Bridge side finished in the bottom half of the Premier League. Maresca incorporated more new faces during the Club World Cup, with Joao Pedro making a remarkable impact – the Brazilian forward cut short a holiday to complete a £60 million ($79 million) transfer from Brighton and Hove Albion, and went on to score twice in the semi-final against Fluminense and once in the final. Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr and Andrey Santos all joined up ahead of the month in the United States, while Jamie Gittens has since arrived from Borussia Dortmund and fellow winger Estevao Willian now joins from Palmeiras in Brazil. Chelsea will hope those signings, added to a squad led by the likes of Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, can make a real push for the Premier League title off the back of their impressive triumph at FIFA's new tournament. "It's a big statement," captain Reece James told English media shortly after lifting the trophy alongside US President Donald Trump. "I'm happy with how much the club has progressed and how next season you know we'll be competing in the Premier League, to win the title and compete, and to go far in the Champions League as well." Chelsea have also pocketed a stunning $115 million in prize money from the Club World Cup, but what if there comes a point in 2025/26 when their exploits of this season catch up with them? While Chelsea have been competing at the Club World Cup in draining weather conditions, Premier League champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal have enjoyed extended off-season breaks. Manchester City were also at the Club World Cup but they went out over a week earlier. Global players' union FIFPro has been the leading voices expressing concerns about the demands on the game's biggest stars in an ever-expanding calendar. One of the safeguards it proposed in a study published before the tournament was a mandatory four-week off-season break, along with four-week retraining periods before returning to competition. Chelsea's off-season is drastically reduced, with their first match of the next Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace slated for August 17, exactly five weeks after the Club World Cup final. They have a friendly against Bayer Leverkusen on August 8. "Tomorrow I have three weeks of holiay which is all I want right now because I have not stopped in 15 months," said Maresca on Sunday. It remains to be seen if Maresca and his players come back sufficiently refreshed before attacking a season in which they hope to go far in the Champions League, and which will end with the World Cup in North America. PSG face an even tighter squeeze after a historic campaign for Luis Enrique's team, capped by their triumph in the Champions League final. Their first competitive match of next season will be the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur in Italy on August 13, exactly one month after their defeat in New York – a chance to win more silverware, but at what cost?--AFP
