Paris welcomes its 'sublime' champions on the Champs Elysees
Soccer Football - Champions League - Paris St Germain Victory Parade - Paris, France - June 1, 2025 General view of smoke rising as the Paris St Germain players celebrate after winning the Champions League on the bus during the victory parade REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
Soccer Football - Champions League - Paris St Germain Victory Parade - Paris, France - June 1, 2025 Paris St Germain players celebrate after winning the Champions League on the bus during the victory parade REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Soccer Football - Champions League - Paris St Germain Victory Parade - Paris, France - June 1, 2025 Paris St Germain players and coach Luis Enrique celebrate after winning the Champions League on the bus during the victory parade REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
Soccer Football - Champions League - Paris St Germain Victory Parade - Paris, France - June 1, 2025 Paris St Germain players celebrate after winning the Champions League on the bus during the victory parade REUTERS/Christian Hartmann
Soccer Football - Champions League - Paris St Germain Victory Parade - Paris, France - June 1, 2025 General view of smoke rising as the Paris St Germain players celebrate after winning the Champions League on the bus during the victory parade REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
PARIS - Paris St Germain held a victory parade on the Champs Elysees 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. 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."
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.
Celebrations continued on Sunday evening at the Parc des Princes stadium. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Rallying-Tanak heading for Hyundai's first win of 2025 in Greece
Rallying-Tanak heading for Hyundai's first win of 2025 in Greece Ott Tanak was heading for Hyundai's first win of the season after ending the penultimate day of the Acropolis Rally with a healthy 43.6-second lead over Toyota's Sebastien Ogier on Saturday. With temperatures soaring in central Greece, the Estonian and co-driver Martin Jarveoja took five stage wins out of six on the rough gravel roads after starting the day only three seconds clear of team mate Adrien Fourmaux. "Generally it was smoother and more consistent, a bit better than expected," said Tanak. "We had a good rhythm, and we maintained (it) all day." Toyota have won all six rounds so far this season and eight-times world champion Ogier the last two. Fourmaux's challenge faded when he hit a rock on the 10th stage and damaged his car's rear suspension, losing more than a minute, before a tyre later came off its rim. The Frenchman dropped to third, two minutes and eight seconds behind Tanak, with Toyota's championship leader Elfyn Evans in fourth but nearly a minute further back. Toyota's double world champion Kalle Rovanpera and Takamoto Katsuta both retired for the day after going off while Hyundai's reigning champion Thierry Neuville had a third puncture of the event and was in fifth place. Sunday features four more stages, with bonus points to be won in the final one. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Paulinho's extra-time goal sends Palmeiras into Club World Cup quarters
Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Round of 16 - Palmeiras v Botafogo - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. - June 28, 2025 Palmeiras' Paulinho scores their first goal REUTERS/Lee Smith Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Round of 16 - Palmeiras v Botafogo - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. - June 28, 2025 Palmeiras' Paulinho scores their first goal REUTERS/Susana Vera PHILADELPHIA - Paulinho came off the bench to score a dramatic extra-time winner as Palmeiras edged out fellow Brazilians Botafogo 1-0 on Saturday to book their place in the Club World Cup quarter-finals. The match, played in Philadelphia's sweltering summer heat, remained goalless after 90 minutes of cagey and ill-tempered football. In the 100th minute, Paulinho delivered the decisive moment, cutting in from the right, dribbling past two defenders and firing a low angled shot into the bottom corner, beyond the reach of Botafogo keeper John. Botafogo pushed for an equaliser but failed to capitalise, even after Palmeiras were reduced to 10 men when Gustavo Gomez received a second yellow card for a tactical foul. Palmeiras held firm and will next face the winners of the clash between Benfica and Chelsea on Friday in Philadelphia. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Sinner plays down split with trainer and physio ahead of Wimbledon
LONDON - Parting company with two of your team days before Wimbledon might not sound ideal but world number one Jannik Sinner has played down any negative impact as he prepares for the grass-court Grand Slam. The 23-year-old Italian surprisingly split with Marco Panichi and Ulises Badio, his trainer and physiotherapist respectively, after the Halle tournament and was asked about the situation on Saturday. "Nothing major happened. Nothing big happened. I parted ways not long ago but it's not affecting me. I feel ready to compete. I feel free. I feel me and my team, we are ready to do the best we can," Sinner, who is bidding to win his first Wimbledon title, told reporters. "We've reached incredible results in the past with them, so obviously huge thanks to them. We made some great job, but I decided to do something different." Panichi and Badio had been part of Sinner's team since September 2024 and helped him to win this year's Australian Open to take his career Grand Slam haul to three. He also reached the French Open final this month but lost a thriller to Carlos Alcaraz. "Look, in this sport things can happen. Sometimes a player feels something different, and that's my case." Sinner suffered a crushing disappointment at Roland Garros where he lost to Alcaraz having led by two sets. He won one match at Halle before losing to Alexander Bublik, but said he was mentally prepared for Wimbledon where he hopes to become the first Italian singles champion. "Honestly, I feel ready to play. I feel ready. We are practising very well. What happened in the past is in the past already," said Sinner, who faces fellow Italian Luca Nardi in the first round. "I feel good. Especially mentally I feel in a very good spot. Halle was a little bit different. Now it's gone and I see also the reactions of other players and people, they talked the level (of the French Open final) was very high. "I feel like that I'm playing great, great tennis on grass. Hopefully I can show this also in the match court." Sinner served a three-month suspension earlier this year after agreeing a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in February after authorities accepted that the anabolic agent clostebol had entered his system inadvertently via massages from his former physio Giacomo Naldi at Indian Wells in March 2024. During his time away he explored some new talents, recording a single with Italian opera great Andrea Bocelli in which he speaks his lines. While he will not be giving up the day job, Sinner said it had been great to do something completely different. "I felt like especially in these three months where I couldn't play, it was the right timing to do also the video together and everything," he said. "Obviously he's an incredible artist. Just being part of this for me was amazing. It was a big, big work, a work in progress. I think we are all very happy how it came out." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
