PSG Celebrates Champions League: Ecstasy in Paris, Shadow of Tragedy
Following their historic victory in the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain paraded through Paris in an open-top bus this Sunday, before an euphoric crowd. However, the joy was marred by the death of two people and around 200 injured during the night celebrations.
The champions, who achieved a resounding 5-0 victory over Inter Milan in Munich on Saturday night, arrived in Paris on Sunday and headed to the Champs-Élysées, the most famous avenue in France.
PSG fans, waving blue and red flags, eagerly awaited the team bus. When the parade began, the atmosphere was calm, with supporters behind barriers and a long line of riot police.
The crowd roared as the bus appeared, with captain Marquinhos displaying the trophy above his head, then passing it to other players, some wearing sunglasses. Coach Luis Enrique joined the fans singing club anthems, while star striker Ousmane Dembélé blew kisses to the crowd. Later, the team met with French President Emmanuel Macron.The deaths that occurred during the night overshadowed a night of euphoria following PSG’s conquest of their first and long-awaited Champions League title. The Eiffel Tower was illuminated with the team’s colors, and the fans celebrated throughout the night.
The team condemned the violence, stating that the title “should be a moment of collective joy” and that “these isolated acts are contrary to the club’s values and do not represent the immense majority of our fans.”
Although the nighttime celebrations were mostly peaceful, in some areas they degenerated into violence.
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A 17-year-old was stabbed to death in the city of Dax during a PSG street party after Saturday night’s final in Munich, according to the national police. The regional prosecutor indicated that the murder was apparently unrelated to the football match. In Paris, a man in his early 20s died when his scooter was hit by a car during the PSG celebrations, and the driver has been arrested, according to the Paris police. The circumstances of both incidents are under investigation. A police officer was accidentally hit by fireworks at a PSG gathering in Coutances, in northwestern France, and was put in an artificial coma due to serious eye injuries, according to the national police. A total of 201 people were injured in the capital, four of them seriously, according to the Paris police chief. In the alpine city of Grenoble, a driver ran over pedestrians who had gathered to celebrate PSG’s victory, injuring three or four people, according to the regional prosecutor’s office, which reported the driver’s arrest. In the same city, fans threw projectiles at firefighters and the police used dispersal grenades. The French team and authorities hoped that Sunday would focus on victory rather than violence. A maximum of 110,000 people were allowed access along the emblematic Champs-Élysées avenue for the parade. Later, the team would join the fans at the PSG stadium, the Parc des Princes, for a concert, a light show, and the official presentation of the Champions League trophy.
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A large area of central Paris was closed to traffic during this exceptional day. Security measures are also affecting the French Open, which is taking place nearby. Thousands of police officers were deployed to maintain order, employing tactics similar to those used on Saturday night, according to Paris police chief Laurent Nunez, who spoke to reporters. AP reporters witnessed the use of tear gas near the stadium and water cannons near the Arc de Triomphe to disperse unruly crowds on Saturday.In addition to the injured and arrests, Nunez reported the looting of four stores overnight. Firefighters were so busy extinguishing fires in trash containers amid the celebrations and attending to other emergencies that the fire hotline was overloaded.
At 2 a.m. on Sunday, a total of 294 arrests had been made, including 30 people who broke into a shoe store on the Champs-Élysées. Two cars were set on fire near the Parc des Princes, the police added.At the Place de la Bastille, there were scenes of jubilation as fans climbed onto the base of the famous column, singing, dancing, and lighting flares, while those around them joined in the celebration.
At one point, the motorcycles loudly revved their engines and the crowd cheered as they circled the column. There were no police nearby and the atmosphere was lively, without tension and with a lot of singing.
Nunez attributed the scattered problems to “thousands of people who came to commit acts of violence” rather than watching the match. He pointed to similar disturbances on the fringes of previous celebrations in the capital, such as after France’s victory in the 2018 World Cup.
The Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, lamented the violence and stated: “I am angry today, like many French people… When parents panic because their child has gone out to celebrate a great sporting victory, that is unbearable.”
