Paris St Germain held victory celebrations on the Champs Elysees and at their Parc des Princes stadium for thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday after crushing Inter Milan 5-0 to win their first Champions League title.
Dressed in the club’s blue-and-red colours, fans gathered in the French capital’s most famous avenue to welcome their Parisian heroes, just landed from Munich.
The players showed off the coveted trophy from their open top bus and joined in the crowd’s singing.
“We are the champions!”, “Ici c’est Paris!” (Paris is here) and other chants reverberated throughout the avenue.
The squad then headed for the nearby Elysee palace where they were greeted by President Emmanuel Macron.
“You won this Champions League, and you did it in a sublime, phenomenal way. You are the champions, and you put Paris at the top of Europe. And it was magnificent,” Macron said.
“We all felt the excitement. There were 11 of you on the pitch, but there was clearly a 12th man – the French public … regardless of traditional allegiances.”
PSG’s young team achieved what the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe could not do in their colours, becoming only the second French side to win the trophy after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.
“It’s unbelievable,” said one fan Leo Rogue, 22, standing in the middle of the packed crowd in a vintage PSG top. “I don’t have the words … We’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
SECURITY LIMIT
Police capped numbers at 100,000 for security reasons.
Some youngsters climbed on scaffolding or news stands to better take in the moment.
Jamel, 55, was disappointed to be stopped near an entrance to the parade as numbers had reached a maximum, but was not letting that spoil his celebration.
“Yesterday I partied and today I’m partying,” he said.
Wild celebrations erupted across the French capital and beyond on Saturday night, although skirmishes with police later threatened to spoil the atmosphere.
The club condemned violence on X. “Paris St Germain calls on everyone to show responsibility and respect, for that historic win to remain a moment of pride shared by all,” it said.
At the Parc des Princes stadium on Sunday evening, police deployed tear gas when dozens of ticketless fans sought to enter the security perimeter.
Inside the arena, after a show that featured DJ Snake, the players came to greet the crowd with man-of-the-final Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and coach Luis Enrique the most cheered, before club president Nasser al Khelaifi and captain Mqrauinhos showed the trophy to the fans.
After the stadium emptied out, supporters threw fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas.
(Reuters)
