Dozens of disgruntled Paris Saint-Germain fans clashed with French riot police on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday after their team lost to Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Lisbon, reports The Associated Press.
Hundreds of other supporters trudged away from the famed avenue in Paris following the 1-0 defeat, which ended PSG’s bid to join Marseille as the only French club to win Europe’s elite soccer competition.
Close to the Champs-Élysées, a dozen riot police in full gear burst into a bar to aggressively remove people, because some were not wearing masks, or were failing to keep social distancing amid coronavirus concerns.
Over in western Paris, there were also incidents when riot police used tear gas to disperse fans gathered outside the club’s stadium.
PSG beamed the match on two giant screens at its Parc des Princes stadium, with 5,000 fans allowed inside in keeping with the maximum allowed for soccer games in France.
But only minutes before kickoff, at 9 p.m. local time, hundreds of fans were still queuing and frustrations soon escalated because they could not see the biggest game in their club’s history.
PSG was trying to end decades of gloating from bitter rival Marseille — still the only French club to have won the competition in 1993.
Despite huge backing from Qatari investors QSI, including more than $500 million spent on Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and Angel Di Maria, PSG has never won the competition.
The defeat was met with huge celebrations in Marseille, where fans cheered and let off flares and fireworks.