Paris Saint-Germain defeated Bayern Munich 6-5 in the Champions League semi-finals, but trouble broke out domestically.
Published May 7, 2026
Nearly 130 people were arrested around Paris overnight after fans and police clashed after Paris Saint-Germain reached the Champions League final, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced.
He told Europe 1 radio on Thursday that the total number of arrests was 127 in the Paris metropolitan area, 107 of them in Paris, after title holders PSG defeated Bayern Munich to reach the final for the second consecutive year and third time since 2020.
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He said 11 people were injured by the rioters, including one seriously injured by mortar fire, and 23 police officers sustained minor injuries. Clashes occurred outside PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium and on the Champs-Elysées, with police breaking up the groups and preventing rioters from blocking the Paris ring road.
“I strongly condemn this. At celebrations like this, there are always hundreds of people responsible for overreach who try to clash with law enforcement,” Nunez said. “I would like to thank the Chief of Police and all of his team, as well as my predecessors, for their systematic intervention at my direction.”
He also praised them for preventing property damage and store looting.
Nunez said security would be stepped up for the final against Arsenal on May 30 in Budapest, Hungary.
Nuñez appeared to criticize the recently elected mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, who regularly attends PSG matches, for publicly announcing the creation of a fan zone in Paris for the final without consulting the police beforehand.
“We need to see where this fan zone will be organized,” Nuñez added.
History of soccer violence in Paris and other regions
In recent years, there have been many riots in Paris and other parts of France.
When PSG won the Champions League last year, police arrested more than 500 people across France. A man in his 20s has died after his scooter was hit by a car during a PSG celebration in Paris.
The trouble continued the next day.
After losing to Bayern in the 2020 final, Paris police arrested 148 people as fans clashed with police and smashed cars and shop windows.
When PSG won the French title in 2013, ending a 19-year wait, celebrations were called off the next day after violent scenes in which fans and riot police fought for hours, leaving 30 people injured.
Incidents occurred on the Champs-Elysees after Algeria won the 2019 African Cup of Nations, in 2021 after the Arab Cup match between Morocco and Algeria, and again in 2022 after France and Morocco reached the World Cup semi-finals on the same day.
