Paris cheers its 'sublime' champions PSG
PARIS :Paris St Germain held victory celebrations on the Champs Elysees and at their Parc des Princes for thousands of cheering supporters on Sunday after crushing Inter Milan 5-0 to win their first Champions League title.
Dressed in the club's blue-and-red colours, fans gathered in the French capital's most famous avenue to welcome their Parisian heroes, just landed from Munich.
The players showed off the coveted trophy from their open top bus and joined in the crowd's singing.
"We are the champions!", "Ici c'est Paris!" (Paris is here) and other chants reverberated throughout the avenue.
The squad then headed for the nearby Elysee palace where they were greeted by President Emmanuel Macron.
"You won this Champions League, and you did it in a sublime, phenomenal way. You are the champions, and you put Paris at the top of Europe. And it was magnificent," Macron said.
"We all felt the excitement. There were 11 of you on the pitch, but there was clearly a 12th man - the French public ... regardless of traditional allegiances."
PSG's young team achieved what the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe could not do in their colours, becoming only the second French side to win the trophy after Olympique de Marseille in 1993.
"It's unbelievable," said one fan Leo Rogue, 22, standing in the middle of the packed crowd in a vintage PSG top. "I don't have the words ... We've been waiting for this for a long time."
SECURITY LIMIT
Police capped numbers at 100,000 for security reasons.
Some youngsters climbed on scaffolding or news stands to better take in the moment.
Jamel, 55, was disappointed to be stopped near an entrance to the parade as numbers had reached a maximum, but was not letting that spoil his celebration.
"Yesterday I partied and today I'm partying," he said.
Wild celebrations erupted across the French capital and beyond on Saturday night, although skirmishes with police later threatened to spoil the party.
The club condemned violence on X. "Paris St Germain calls on everyone to show responsibility and respect, for that historic win to remain a moment of pride shared by all," it said.
At the Parc des Princes stadium, police deployed tear gas when dozens of ticketless fans sought to enter the security perimeter.
Inside the arena, after a show that featured DJ Snake, the players came to greet the crowd with man-of-the-final Desire Doue, Ousmane Dembele and coach Luis Enrique the most cheered, before club president Nasser al Khelaifi and captain Mqrauinhos showed the trophy to the fans.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Leverkusen sign Dutch goalkeeper Flekken from Brentford
Bayer Leverkusen have signed Dutch goalkeeper Mark Flekken from Premier League Brentford on a three-year contract, the Bundesliga club said on Tuesday. The 31-year-old will return to Germany after two seasons at Brentford, where he made 74 appearances in the Premier League. "Mark Flekken possesses a wide range of skills that a goalkeeper in modern top-flight football must possess," Leverkusen Sporting Director Simon Rolfes said. "Mark exudes an impressive physical presence; from a footballing perspective, he has certainly been one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League over the past two years." Flekken, who has played eight times for the Netherlands, has spent the majority of his career in Germany with clubs including Freiburg and Duisburg.
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Sabalenka calls for marquee women's matches to start later at French Open
PARIS :World number one Aryna Sabalenka and Paris Olympics champion Zheng Qinwen began their French Open quarter-final in front of a small crowd on Tuesday, prompting calls for such high-profile matches to be moved to later slots to showcase them better. A sumptuous lunch often takes priority for fans in Court Philippe Chatrier's corporate seats and the Parisian cultural practice leaves many seats unoccupied in the showcourt when matches begin at 11 a.m. local time. Sabalenka overcame her Chinese opponent 7-6(3) 6-3 in just under two hours to leave her with the rest of the day off but the Belarusian said organisers could do better despite fans trickling in later to improve the atmosphere. "I didn't really look in the crowd, but it felt like it was a lot of people. Yeah, it was a big match and it probably would make more sense to put us a bit later just so more people could watch it," Sabalenka told reporters. "At the same time, I'm happy to finish earlier and then I have a half-day off, and I can just enjoy the city and do all the things that I have to do." Reuters has contacted organisers for comment. The French Open's scheduling decisions have come under a harsh spotlight again this year with no women's match featured in the evening sessions which begin at 8.15 p.m. local time and are exclusively broadcast by Amazon Prime in France. French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said last week that women's matches, played over a maximum of three sets as opposed to the five on the men's side, could finish "really fast" and having an extra match in that slot was unfeasible. "We deserve the equal treatment," Sabalenka said. "There were a lot of great battles, a lot of great matches, which would be cool to see as a night session (match), just more people in the stands watching these incredible battles and to show ourselves to more people. "I definitely agree that we deserve to be put in a bigger stage, like better timing and more people watching." Sabalenka will continue her bid for a maiden French Open title against four-times champion Iga Swiatek. "I love tough challenges," she added.
Independent Singapore
an hour ago
- Independent Singapore
Russian-born Daria Kasatkina has a special message for Australian supporters after French Open exit
FRANCE: Russian-born Daria Kasatkina's run at the French Open ended after her loss against Mirra Andreeva, with a final scoreline of 6-3, 7-5. However, the athlete admitted that she felt the deep support of Australian fans during her first Grand Slam event under the country's flag. The athlete recently received her Australian permanent residency and changed her allegiance to play under Australia. She had hoped to be the first Australian woman to reach the French Open quarterfinals since Ash Barty in 2019. Despite exiting the tournament, the 28-year-old declared that she was proud to be the 'last Aussie standing.' Filled with so much support, Kasatkina expressed: 'It's been a good start… First of all, it's been a good result, but also, I felt super good to step on the court as an Australian player.' She added: 'To feel the support from the stands so many times. I don't know if everyone who was screaming, 'Aussie,' were from Australia, but I felt this support. Also, on social media, I'm getting a lot of support from the Australians that they are so happy to welcome me, and they're happy for me.' 'So this is the kind of support which I honestly didn't have before, it feels like it's something new to me—but it feels so nice.' Highlights of the match At the beginning of the match, Kasatkina had rallied with her opponent using her impressive defence and powerful shots. By the second set, Kasatkina looked like she was out of the match. However, she showed her resilience and chased down tough shots. She also won a 26-shot rally. Moreover, she had the opportunity to take the set with a set point at 5-4, but Andreeva saved it with a strong forehand. From there, Andreeva took control of the match. Andreeva broke serve and won the match on her second match point, when Kasatkina hit a forehand out. With Andreeva's win, she has reached the quarterfinals without losing a set. She became the youngest woman in this century to make it to the last eight in two consecutive years–the last was Martina Hingis in 1998. See also Jack Draper beats Holger Rune to win the Indian Wells title Kasatkina remarked, 'Well, she [Andreeva] grew so much. I feel like she's taller and taller every single week, her serve's improving all the time, and her movement is very good.' In a social media post, Roland-Garros shared: 'It's happiness and relief for Andreeva after an intense battle today 💪.' Netizens commented on the said post and remarked: '🔥 little princess of the WTA,' 'Mirra my new favourite 🙌 let's go,' 'Future world No 1,' and 'Go Mirraaaaa!!!!! ✌🎾💕✌.'
