Paris disturbances and 127 arrests mar PSG's Champions League win

Reuters

France's interior minister has condemned violence that broke out in the Paris region after PSG's Uefa Champions League semi-final victory against Bayern Munich late on Wednesday night.

Fans took to the streets to celebrate the Paris team's qualification for the 30 May final in Budapest. However, celebrations were marred by a series of disturbances.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told French radio that 127 people were arrested in the broader Paris region, including 107 in the capital itself.

Eleven people were hurt, one of them seriously, he said. Twenty-three police officers also sustained minor injuries.

Most of the festivities passed off without incident, as crowds gathered in many areas of Paris after PSG's 1-1 draw in Munich.

Recently elected Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire joined the celebrations after watching the match with hundreds of people, many of them children, at his headquarters in the Hôtel de Ville.

But elsewhere in the centre of Paris dozens of bins and some cars were set alight, and tear gas was fired by police to stop people approaching the PSG stadium at the Parc des Princes.

"I condemn these excesses which are sadly becoming a common occurrence on nights when Paris Saint-Germain win," Nuñez told Europe 1 radio.

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Wednesday night's violence was far less serious than the hours after PSG's victory in last season's Champions League final against Inter Milan, when hundreds of people were arrested. Two people were killed in France in related incidents.

While more than 30 people were hurt in the latest violence, a mortar firework had left one person with serious injuries, Nuñez added.

The interior minister said hundreds of people had sought to target police and loot local businesses, but he stressed that an attempt to block the Paris ringroad, the périphérique, had been thwarted.

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Photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand posted a video showing the aftermath of his outdoor exhibition in the Place de la Concorde, where all the panels on display had been left overturned and many of the pictures vandalised.

More than 5,000 police were deployed in Paris ahead of last season's final, which was also in Munich, and PSG's Parc des Princes stadium was turned into a fan zone.

However, some of the clashes a year ago took place close to the stadium.

Emmanuel Grégoire said he wanted the final to be a big celebration this year as well, although he understood the potential risks.

"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," he told French radio.

The interior minister appeared unimpressed with Grégoire's idea, which he described as "unilateral" and warned of the risk of further unrest on the night PSG play Arsenal in Budapest at the end of this month.

"No disturbances will be tolerated," he said. "There will always be a very firm response."