Following Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)’s narrow 1-1 aggregate semi-final win over Bayern Munich that secured the club a spot in the May 30 UEFA Champions League final in Budapest, jubilant fan celebrations across the Paris region descended into pockets of destructive violence late Wednesday night, prompting a swift crackdown from French authorities.
The night began with widespread peaceful gatherings, as thousands of supporters poured into city streets to mark the club’s historic qualification. Even newly elected Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire joined in the festivities, watching the match alongside hundreds of fans — many of them children — at the city’s Hôtel de Ville headquarters. French interior ministry officials confirmed that the vast majority of Wednesday’s celebrations concluded without any major incident.
But the mood shifted quickly in parts of central Paris, where unruly crowds set dozens of public waste bins and parked vehicles ablaze. Riot police were deployed in large numbers to disperse crowds attempting to approach PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, firing tear gas to clear blocked areas. Officials also reported that a planned effort to shut down Paris’s busy périphérique ringroad was successfully foiled by law enforcement.
In an official statement to Europe 1 radio, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez publicly condemned the violent outbreaks, noting that this pattern of unrest following high-profile PSG victories has become an increasingly common problem. By the end of the night, authorities had arrested 127 people across the broader Paris region, 107 of whom were detained within city limits. A total of 34 people were injured in the clashes: 11 civilians, one with life-threatening wounds caused by a mortar firework, and 23 police officers who sustained minor injuries.
The violence also targeted public cultural spaces: renowned French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand confirmed that his open-air exhibition at Place de la Concorde was extensively vandalized, with every display panel overturned and many of his original works damaged beyond immediate repair.
Compared to the unrest that followed PSG’s 2025 Champions League final win against Inter Milan, Wednesday’s violence was far less severe. A year ago, related clashes across France left two people dead and resulted in hundreds of arrests, matching the scale of police deployment that secured the city during that match.
Looking ahead to the Champions League final later this month, where PSG will face Arsenal in Budapest, Mayor Grégoire has already announced plans to organize a large public fan zone in Paris to allow supporters to watch the match together safely. He noted that city officials will work to implement strict safety measures to ensure the event can proceed without incident. However, Minister Nuñez has pushed back against the plan, criticizing it as a unilateral proposal and warning that there is significant risk of renewed unrest. He made clear that authorities will not tolerate any further disturbances, promising a firm, aggressive response to any trouble that arises on final night.