New angle emerges of Luis Enrique and Joao Pedro confrontation as PSG manager explains his actions

Luis Enrique has finally spoken out after he became embroiled in a physical altercation with Chelsea forward Joao Pedro after the Club World Cup final, as new footage has emerged.

Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain side were left stunned by Chelsea’s performance as a Cole Palmer brace and a Joao Pedro strike saw the Premier League side finish as 3-0 winners in the Club World Cup final at the MetLife Stadium on Sunday (July 13).

After the match, the PSG boss became embroiled in an aggressive exchange with Pedro, 23, before slapping and grabbing the former Brighton striker’s throat. The Spaniard was then dragged away by several players.

Following the clash, the Brazilian was asked about the flash point.

“I don’t need to talk about them,” said Pedro.

“Everyone wants to win the game and, in the end, I think they lost their heads.

“But this is football. This has happened. 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.”

In the aftermath of the altercation, several angles – see below – of the heated exchange emerged on social media, prompting some fans to ask what the catalyst for the feud was.

But like Pedro, Enrique didn’t exactly elaborate or go into detail as to why the pair came to blows, although he did insist that he was trying to “separate all the players” as Gianluigi Donnarumma, Achraf Hakimi and Pedro were involved in the initial exchanges.

Enrique said: “I have no problem expressing my feelings 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.

“I have seen [Enzo] 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.

“But this is a situation we must all avoid, that goes without saying. My intention was to separate the footballers, so the situation didn’t become worse.”