Two people died, and 559 were arrested during celebrations in France after Paris Saint-Germain’s historic victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, the French Ministry of the Interior announced.
The epicenter of the euphoria was in Paris, where car horns, singing, and fireworks were heard throughout the night after PSG defeated Inter Milan with a score of 5–0 in Munich.
One person on a scooter died after being hit by a car in the southwestern part of Paris, the ministry stated. A total of 559 people were arrested, 491 of them in the capital.
A seventeen-year-old was stabbed to death in the southwestern city of Dax during a gathering celebrating PSG’s victory. His death occurred shortly after the match “during the celebration,” but the prosecutor’s office stated that it is not known whether the attack was connected to the Champions League final. The attacker is on the run, officials said.
“Troublemakers on the Champs-Elysees attempted to provoke incidents and repeatedly clashed with the police by throwing large fireworks and other objects,” the police said in a statement.
PSG was supposed to organize a victory parade on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday, and tens of thousands of fans were expected.
In Grenoble, in southeastern France, a car drove into a crowd celebrating PSG’s victory, injuring four people, two of them seriously. All the injured are from the same family, the police said. The driver turned himself in to the police and was placed under supervision. The investigation showed that the driver did not act intentionally, and tests for alcohol and drugs were negative, the prosecutor’s office said.
Most fans celebrated peacefully, but the police in Paris reported minor clashes near the Champs-Elysees avenue and the Parc des Princes stadium, where 48.000 people watched the match on large screens.
Police stated that most of those arrested in Paris are suspected of illegal possession of pyrotechnics and inciting disorder.
With this victory, PSG won the most prestigious European club trophy for the first time in its history.
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he hosted the winning team yesterday to congratulate them.
Macron celebrated PSG’s day of glory on the social network X, while the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, called the victory historic.
According to data from the audience measurement agency Mediametrie and one of the public broadcasters Canal+, a total of 11.5 million people watched the match across France.
