PSG holds victory parade in Paris with Champions League trophy after overnight violence

PARIS — Triumphant after its historic Champions League victory, Paris Saint-Germain put on an open-top bus parade through Paris on Sunday for roaring fans, an outburst of joy overshadowed by the deaths of two people and some 200 injuries during overnight celebrations.

Brandishing their trophy, the winners of European club soccer’s biggest prize arrived in Paris on Sunday after their 5-0 win over Inter Milan in Munich on Saturday night, and headed to France’s most famous avenue: the Champs-Elysees.

PSG fans waved blue and red as they waited for the team bus to arrive. As the parade started, the atmosphere was calm as fans stood behind barriers with a long line of riot police in front of them.

They roared when the bus came into sight and captain Marquinhos brandished the trophy over his head, then passed it down to other players. Coach Luis Enrique joined in with the fans as they sang one of the club’s anthems, and star forward Ousmane Dembélé blew kisses. The team later met with French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron at the Élysée Palace, with players wearing club tracksuits and PSG jerseys.

After leaving the Élysée Palace, the players arrived at their home stadium, the Parc des Princes, for a concert, light show and presentation of the trophy. Fans inside the 49,000-seater stadium sang “Champions d’Europe” (Champions of Europe) as they waited for the ceremony to begin.

The overnight fatalities marred a night of exuberance after PSG clinched its first — and long-awaited — Champions League title. The Eiffel Tower glowed in team colors and fans partied through the night.

‘Isolated acts’

PSG denounced the violence. “These isolated acts are contrary to the club’s values, and don’t at all represent the immense majority of our fans,” PSG said in a statement.

Celebrations were largely peaceful but degenerated into violence in some areas.

A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the western city of Dax during a PSG street party after Saturday night’s final in Munich, the national police service said. The regional prosecutor said the killing was not apparently linked to the football match. In Paris, a man in his 20s was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations, and the driver has been detained, Paris police said. The circumstances of both are being investigated.

A police officer was hit accidentally by fireworks at a PSG gathering in Coutances in northwest France and placed in an artificial coma because of grave eye injuries, the national police service said. A total of 201 people were injured around the capital, four of them seriously, the Paris police chief said.

In the Alpine city of Grenoble, a driver ran into pedestrians who had gathered for a PSG celebration, injuring three or four people, the regional prosecutor’s office said. It said the driver was detained. The city also saw fans throwing projectiles at firefighters and police using dispersion grenades.

Light show

The team and French officials are hoping Sunday is about the victory instead of violence. Up to 110,000 people were allowed along the iconic, tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue for a parade.

A wide swath of central Paris was closed to traffic for the exceptional day. The security measures are also impacting the French Open unfolding nearby.

Buses hoping to pick up fans at Roland-Garros were held up in congested traffic while fans rode past on scooters, honking their horns and waving flags.

Thousands of police were deployed to keep order, and will employ similar tactics as they did Saturday night, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters. AP reporters saw tear gas used near the stadium and water cannons used near the Arc de Triomphe to disperse rowdy crowds Saturday.

In addition to the injuries and arrests, Nunez said four stores were looted overnight and firefighters were so busy extinguishing garbage can fires and dealing with other emergencies that the fire hotline was overloaded.

By 2 a.m. Sunday, a total of 294 arrests had been made, including 30 people who broke into a shoe shop on the Champs-Élysées. Two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes.

At the Place de la Bastille, joyous fans climbed onto the base of the famous column, singing, dancing and letting off flares, while those around them joined in.

At one point, motorbikes loudly revved their engines and the crowd cheered as they did laps around the column. There were no police nearby and, the atmosphere was upbeat with no tensions.

Nunez blamed the scattered troubles on “thousands of people who came to commit acts of violence” instead of watching the match. He noted similar unrest on the sidelines of prior celebrations in the capital, such as after France’s World Cup win in 2018.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau lamented the violence, saying, “I am angry today, like many French people …. When parents panic because their child has gone out to celebrate a major sports victory, that’s unbearable.”