Paris Saint-Germain fans clashed with riot police on the Champs-Élysées last night after their team lost their first Champions League final to rivals Bayern Munich.
The defeat ended PSG’s bid to join Marseille as the only French team to win the elite football competition in Europe.
In an incident near the Champs-Élysées, police in full riot gear raided a bar to aggressively remove people because some wore no masks or could not keep social distance.
In western Paris, there have also been incidents in which riot police used tear gas to disperse fans gathered outside the club’s stadium.
PSG broadcast the match on two giant screens in its Parc des Princes stadium, with 5,000 fans admitted inside in line with the maximum allowed for football matches in France.
But just minutes before kick-off, at 9pm local time, hundreds of fans were still in line and frustrations soon escalated as they couldn’t see the biggest match in their club’s history.
PSG were looking to end decades of gloating with bitter rival Marseille, still the only French club to win the competition in 1993.
Despite huge support from QSI Qatari investors, including over $ 500 million spent on Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Angel Di Maria, PSG never won the competition.
The defeat was met with great celebrations in Marseille, where fans cheered and launched rockets and fireworks.
Additional security measures had been put in place by Sunday evening with 3,000 policemen lined up on the Champs-Élysées, as well as to prevent large numbers of people from gathering outside the Parc des Princes.
Around 2,000 masks were made available to fans who arrived on the Champs-Élysées without them. Bars and cafes were monitored to ensure that people complied with virus prevention measures, with people facing a fine for not wearing a mask.
In an effort to keep numbers down, 17 metro and commuter train stations were closed at night and three entry points to the ring road in Paris. The boulevard was reserved for pedestrians only from the start of the game with no vehicles allowed.
The measures were put in place by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin after the chaotic scenes on Tuesday, when thousands of fans flocked to the Champs-Élysées to celebrate reaching the PSG final, many without masks and without social distances.
Police arrested 36 people on Tuesday after groups of fans at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe broke out in scattered violence and shop windows were destroyed.
The Interior Ministry encouraged people to watch the game at home rather than go out.
“Make the most of the moment in peace and quiet and watch the game from your sofa,” the ministry said. “Protect yourself, protect others. Everyone behind PSG.”
Accompanying the message was a photo of feet resting on a table, in front of a screen, along with the words: “To make sure you sit down, watch the game at home!”
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