Chelsea were given a little something extra to fight for ahead of their Club World Cup final triumph over Paris Saint-Germain, a new report has revealed.
The Blues outclassed the European champions last week to win 3-0 and become the first side to lift the Club World Cup in its revamped 32-team format.
Enzo Maresca’s side were relentless from the first whistle in New Jersey, scoring all three before half-time and putting the game well out of reach; PSG looked a far cry from their usual selves which saw them win the treble last season.
And now, it can be revealed what triggered that added motivation in the Chelsea camp.
On the eve of the final, at a FIFA-organised dinner involving both clubs, Chelsea’s delegation noticed how occupied PSG’s representatives were with discussing the logistics of their trophy celebration.
The Parisians were preoccupied with how and where they would collect the trophy, according to The Times.
Maresca was informed of this over-confidence and passed the information onto the players, who seemingly took it to heart.
But tensions between the clubs did not stop at full-time, with a heated post-match clash between following the result.
PSG boss Luis Enrique appeared to strike Chelsea striker Joao Pedro in the face during a confrontation.
Pedro was initially embroiled in a conflict 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.
Christopher Nkunku and Romeo Lavia stepped in to defend their team-mate, holding back a visibly frustrated Gianluigi Donnarumma, who appeared to berate Pedro for his animated reaction.
What followed was pandemonium, with around five Chelsea players swarming Donnarumma in the aftermath.
The PSG goalkeeper was shoved by Tosin Adarabioyo, as Kimpembe continued his attempts to defuse tensions alongside Chelsea’s Filip Jorgensen.
Pedro eventually got back to his feet, only to find himself at the centre of a chaotic melee involving too many bodies to count.
On the touchline, a furious Enzo Maresca stormed in to drag his players away, shouting at those involved as he tried to restore order.
The Chelsea boss was also seen pulling Donnarumma aside, attempting to calm his fellow Italian in a bid to defuse the flare-up.
The chaotic scenes followed a match that saw six yellow cards shared between the two sides, and a red card for PSG midfielder Joao Neves, who was sent off in the 85th minute for violent conduct.
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.’
