Tens of thousands of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) supporters gathered near the Eiffel Tower on Sunday to celebrate the club’s second UEFA Champions League title, a day after victory celebrations were overshadowed by violence, injuries and hundreds of arrests across France.
PSG supporters poured into the streets after the club defeated Arsenal in a penalty shootout in the Champions League final in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday night. Celebrations quickly spread throughout Paris, with crowds gathering near the Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Élysées, where flares were ignited and car horns echoed through the city.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 780 people were detained nationwide following overnight disturbances in Paris and other cities. He said 57 police officers were injured, most suffering minor wounds.
“The situation has been largely brought under control,” Nuñez said on Sunday, PBS reported.
He added that “most of the celebrations took place peacefully” in the French capital, with the majority of incidents concentrated around the Champs-Élysées and near Parc des Princes, where fans had gathered to watch the match.
Authorities said disturbances occurred in approximately 15 cities across France. Police intervened several times to prevent demonstrators from blocking traffic on Paris’ ring road, while smaller groups vandalized businesses, set fires to vehicles, garbage containers, and self-service bicycles, and clashed with officers.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said 306 people were placed in police custody, including 81 minors. Alleged offenses included assaulting police officers, theft, vandalism, and disturbing public order.
Police reported that some individuals attempted to storm a police station in Paris’ 8th Arrondissement before being dispersed.
Officials said 219 people were injured nationwide during the unrest, including eight who suffered serious injuries. The circumstances surrounding the death of a 24-year-old individual near Porte Maillot remained under investigation, although witnesses reported that the man had crashed his motorcycle into a concrete barrier, according to the BBC. A teenager was also reported to be in critical condition following a separate altercation in Paris.
Nuñez said many of those responsible for the violence were not football supporters.
“The vast majority go out to celebrate and it goes very well,” he said, per the BBC. “But other individuals, who are not PSG supporters, who don’t even watch the match, come to cause trouble and disturbances. We are here to prevent them from doing so. Our response is very firm.”
Despite the overnight violence, celebrations resumed Sunday under heightened security.
An estimated 100,000 supporters gathered at the Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower, where PSG players were welcomed home after returning from Hungary. Club captain Marquinhos, coach Luis Enrique and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi joined teammates in presenting the Champions League trophy to cheering fans.
The team was later scheduled to visit French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace before additional festivities at Parc des Princes.
Nuñez said approximately 6,000 police officers were mobilized for Sunday’s events and warned that authorities would respond with “firmness and determination” to any further violence.
Meanwhile, social media posts falsely claimed that the Eiffel Tower had been set on fire during the celebrations. Videos circulating online showed flames and smoke near the landmark, but authorities reported no damage to the tower itself.
Paris Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire praised supporters who celebrated peacefully while condemning those responsible for the unrest.
“The vast majority of Parisians celebrated it with joy, unity, and respect,” Grégoire wrote on X, while denouncing the violence “in the strongest possible terms.”
The disturbances followed a pattern similar to that seen after PSG’s first Champions League triumph in 2025, when celebrations turned violent and led to hundreds of arrests across France.
