They were stamping with impatience, for some, since the beginning of the day!
Cours de Vincennes, in the 12th arrondissement, the 40,000 Liverpool supporters kept giving voice before and during this Champions League final.
As the kick-off, initially scheduled for 9 p.m., approached, the first beers flew away, first to salute the composition of the Reds, then to express their gratitude to Jürgen Klopp, their coach.
The 35-minute kick-off delay, due to problems encountered around the Stade de France, left the atmosphere to cool somewhat.
“There are some who work tomorrow”, quipped a French supporter of the Reds.
Once the show started, it was still necessary to wait before seeing football, with the passage of singer Camila Cabello.
“We didn't come for the music,” he continued.
And once the match started, we had to find the right spot to find some visibility between all the heads present this evening.
“With hindsight, I tell myself that we might have been more comfortable in an apartment, installed on a sofa, recognized Kevin, who came with three friends.
But hey, here, we live the evening from the inside with the English, that's the whole point”.
Konaté, Salah and Mané, public favorites
Already, shortly before 8 p.m., the giant screens where the evening organized by Canal + was broadcast, had reminded supporters of the good memories of 2019. Liverpool had won in the final of the competition against another English club, Tottenham, to Madrid.
"It's coming home again", then launched Clark, supporter "of always".
Understand, “the trophy will come home”.
If Karim Benzema and his teammates chained the whistles, Jürgen Klopp's men raised the voices of the fans, scarves in hand and shirts flocked on their backs.
With in mind, in the applause meter, encouragement and "phew" of relief to salute the defensive efforts of Ibrahima Konaté on the right side, and the combinations at the front of the game of Mo Salah and Sadio Mané.
Until a big hope in the 21st minute, with the biggest opportunity of this first period: a strike from Sadio Mané, pushed back from the Madrid cages by Thibaut Courtois, on his right post.
Champions League final between the Liverpool team and Real MadridFan zone for Liverpool supporters Cours de Vincennes (12th)
“For me, these are the two players of this first half, insisted Liam, who came from Bootle with his son, a neighboring town of Liverpool.
We cross our fingers that they will make the difference in the second half”.
Behind, a first big scare cooled the fan zone, while the people of Madrid thought they had opened the scoring through Karim Benzema, who was finally signaled offside.
With only a few departures at the end of the first half, the Reds supporters continued to give voice, without major outbursts.
“The Englishman is respectful as long as he has something to drink,” laughed Julien, a thirty-something Parisian who did part of his studies in London.
Many of the supporters we met planned to celebrate, whatever the outcome of the match.
Parisian bars have not finished emptying their barrels.
