Paris Saint-Germain manager, Luis Enrique, has spoken up about the heated confrontation that erupted after his team’s 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Club World Cup final on Sunday.

The high-stakes match at the MetLife Stadium ended with goals from Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro securing the title for Chelsea. However, tensions boiled over at the final whistle, leading to a chaotic scene involving players and even the managers.

Video clips from the end of the game showed Chelsea’s Joao Pedro clashing with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. In the ensuing melee, Enrique was also seen appearing to strike Pedro, causing the Chelsea star to stumble backward.

Speaking at his post-match press conference, Enrique denied trying to escalate the fight. Instead, he insisted that he was only trying to break things up and calm the players.

“My only intention was to stop the players from fighting. It was an avoidable situation, I’m sure. There were a lot of pushes,” Enrique explained.

The PSG boss also pointed out that he saw Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca involved in the fracas.

“I saw Maresca receiving pushes and pushing people too! Clearly, our intention was to stop the players,” he added.

Luis Enrique admitted that emotions were running high on the pitch after such a tough final, describing the moment as one filled with “a lot of tension and pushing.”

“Like I said, I was trying to stop my players. There was a lot of tension, and there was a lot of pushing. It was an avoidable situation, logically. I have nothing else to say,” he concluded.

Though the incident added an unwanted postscript to Chelsea’s dominant win, both clubs will hope the dust settles quickly as they turn their focus back to their domestic campaigns.