Forgotten, respect for physical distances. To hell with barrier gestures. It's a party night on the Champs-Elysées and the supporters of Paris Saint-Germain, all their joy to celebrate the victory (3-0) against Leipzig, are not all masked. “Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, we haven't seen that for 25 years! Exclaims a hilarious young man. " We won! A group of boys and girls exclaim.
Barely a few minutes after the final whistle, shortly before 11 p.m., the Champs-Elysées suddenly resonate with a clamor which gradually gains in intensity, carrying shouts of joy and mixed horn blasts. Despite the presence of dozens of CRS trucks parked in the middle of the road, the most beautiful avenue in the world literally ignites, mixing in an improvised ballet, motorists honking at the top of their lungs and letting groups of jubilant young pedestrians pass by. chanting: "We are in the final!" We're in the final ! "
At the end of rue Marbeuf, a cohort of young blacks, whites, Arabs screaming with joy and waving their arms in all directions, cross the Champs. “We are pure and hard Parisians. This is new! "Cries Bouteph, 34, a pizza delivery man from Créteil (Val-de-Marne)" to party. The older ones are not left out, like Thierry, a 52-year-old publicist, who watched the match in a café in the Champs before “going to drink Bordeaux with friends in the 9th arrondissement. "
"I am happy to feel the fervor of the public"
From 11:15 p.m., the clamor increases in intensity, as does the traffic. Waving flags or scarves bearing the effigy of PSG, some go up the Champs-Elysées, seated astride the rear doors of cars! Others run alongside, carrying smoke at arm's length as if it were the Olympic flame… Firecracker shots resound like gunshots…
Sitting on the terrace of a café on Avenue Franklin, Antoine, 28, a restaurant worker, comments on the victory with a critical eye: “The match still seemed fairly easy to me. And then because of the virus, the atmosphere is different, there is no return match, the players do not have the same rhythm, even if they are all crazy. Anyway, I'm happy to feel the fervor of the public here on the Champs-Elysées ”. All have promised to come back this Sunday to celebrate the European coronation.