Isolated fights and clashes between PSG and Belgrade supporters marred the post-game on Wednesday night.
These are images we thought we’d never see again. They didn’t even watch the end of the crushing success against the Red Star of Belgrade (6-1). Five to ten minutes before the final whistle, several dozen Parisian ultras, including members of the collective ultras Paris (CUP), left the grandstand of the Parc des Princes to go to the streets around them.
Without the reason being known, a first fight broke out at the foot of one of the lateral stands of the enclosure. A second at least, followed a little later. A man, probably a supporter from Belgrade, was beaten. Another had his head in blood in front of the bar “Les 3 Armes”, well known to the Parisian public. The reaction of the PSG ultras was then divided between those who called for the cessation of hostilities and those directly involved in these movements.
This second wave of incidents took place while 100 to 200 ultras walked between the Parc des Princes and the porte de Saint-Cloud to fight with the Serbs concentrated in a group of fifty to one hundred members. During the course, some chanted “Virage Auteuil, Virage Auteuil”. When they arrived, they faced a cordon of CRS, present to protect Belgrade fans. Firecrackers and smoke bombs then responded to police charges and tear gas. After a total of half an hour, the situation had calmed down and the supporters dispersed.
More smoke in the stadium
The partisans of the Red Star were forbidden in the Parisian walls by decision of the authorities. But some had made the trip anyway, when others had found a way to get places under another identity. The Parisian ultras, on the other hand, lived the encounter in various places of the Parc des Princes, having been replaced by the PSG following the closure, by decision of UEFA, of the virage Auteuil. Some people lit smoke during the meeting, which could lead to new sanctions by the European body.
If the day had been calm, it ended in the greatest confusion. Such fights had not been seen around the Parc des Princes since the so-called plan Leproux. In February 2010, a PSG fan was lynched to death by other fans of the red and blue club. The Leproux plan, decided in the summer of the same year, dissolved the groups of supporters and pacified the stands.