PSG celebrations violence overshadows final run

Paris Saint Germain’s place in the Champions League final came with a dark hangover in the French capital. Police made 127 arrests across the broader Paris region, including 107 in the capital itself, after celebrations turned violent. Eleven people were hurt, one of them seriously, and police said 23 officers sustained minor injuries.

Why Laurent Nuñez has drawn a hard line

France Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez did not dress it up. “I condemn these excesses which are sadly becoming a common occurrence on nights when Paris Saint-Germain win,” he said, before adding: “No disturbances will be tolerated.” He also said there will always be “a very firm response”.

That warning arrives with Paris Saint Germain heading to Budapest to face Arsenal at the end of this month. The football part is only half the story now, because officials are already thinking about how to keep the next celebration from turning into another emergency.

The damage in central Paris was visible too. Dozens of bins and some cars were set alight, while all panels at Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s Place de la Concorde exhibition were left overturned and many pictures were vandalized.

There is a point worth making on the scale of this. Wednesday night’s violence was far less serious than the hours after Paris Saint Germain’s last season Champions League final win against Inter Milan, so this was not a repeat in exactly the same form. But it was still serious enough to leave 127 arrests, injuries and public damage tied to a single night of celebration.

What happens before the Arsenal final

The attention now moves to crowd control before the final in Budapest. Emmanuel Grégoire said, “We're going to work on it because obviously I want to do it safely, but I want to have a great fan zone for the final.” That is the job now, making room for the celebration without letting it spill into the streets.

Paris Saint Germain have earned the football spotlight, but the security response has become part of the story around the final. The next test comes before a ball is kicked against Arsenal.