Police detained more than 200 people in Paris on Saturday after violent clashes broke out as thousands poured into the streets during Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final win.
Around 22,000 police officers were deployed across France for the match, including 8,000 in Paris, after riots marred PSG’s victory in the competition last year. Paris’ tram lines were halted, several metro stations closed and bus services halted in some places in an attempt to minimize disruption.
According to the French Ministry of the Interior, 326 people were detained nationwide, of which 235 were apprehended in Paris. It was not immediately clear how many of those people were taken into custody for further investigation.
Six cars and two businesses were damaged. A police officer was also injured, Paris police headquarters said.
A group of supporters also stormed the Paris ring road, the periphery, bringing traffic to a standstill for a time and setting off flares, a AFP said photographer.
As fans celebrated the dramatic victory in the penalty shootout in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, around 20,000 people converged on Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées avenue, police said.
Shops boarded up their windows ahead of the match to avoid a repeat of last year’s riots, when youths ransacked shops on the Champs-Élysées and other streets. Hundreds of people were arrested.
Two dozen flares and around 100 fireworks were seized on Saturday, while a bus basket was destroyed near the Champs-Élysées.
The match also came on a hectic night in Paris, with singer Aya Nakamura performing at the Stade de France national stadium, rapper Damso at La Défense Arena and French Open tennis in full swing.
Police said a bakery and a restaurant were damaged near PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, where tens of thousands had gathered inside to watch the match, but 4,000 to 5,000 people were loitering outside with projectiles being thrown at officers.
About 150 people “tried to enter through one of the gates” of the stadium, but police pushed them back, a police spokesman said.
Some also tried to erect a barricade with rental bicycles, which were cleared by the police.
An AFP reporter at the scene said clashes broke out between police and supporters near the stadium, and officers responded with tear gas as fireworks were thrown at them.
‘Only in France’
The scenes angered the French far-right, with three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen writing on X that “only in France does a football club’s victory trigger riots.”
“Only in France does everyone feel compelled to lock themselves in their homes in the evening for a victory to avoid being confronted with violence,” she added.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said there was a “very robust, very solid system in place” to curb violence.
“Our responsibility is to guarantee everyone a festive celebration that is calm and completely safe,” a police spokesman said.
The players will take part in a parade on Sunday afternoon on the Champs-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower, where around 100,000 people are expected, before being received by President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace.
