PSG fans raise the roof as triumphant players hold aloft Champions League trophy

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PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain players walked into a wall of noise at their home stadium on Sunday and brandished aloft the Champions League trophy that their fans have waited so long to savor.

Coach Luis Enrique, the architect of PSG’s astonishing 5-0 destruction of Inter Milan in Munich on Saturday night, received a huge ovation at Parc des Princes, as did the influential Ousmane Dembélé and his teammates when they came onto the field one by one.

Their faces were shown on a giant screen and, when Dembélé’s face was displayed, fans inside the 49,000-capacity stadium broke out into chants of “Dembélé, Ballon d’Or” in the hope he wins the most coveted individual award in world soccer.

But the loudest cheer of the night was for long-serving captain Marquinhos, who walked with club president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi alongside him and with the Champions League trophy between them.

Al-Khelaïfi and Dembélé were both tossed into the air by PSG’s players, who then did a lap of honor after the greatest success in the club’s 55-year history.

Open-top bus parade

PSG had earlier Sunday put on an open-top bus parade in the French capital for its fans.

The winners of European club soccer’s biggest prize arrived in Paris on Sunday afternoon and headed to France’s most famous avenue, the Champs-Élysées, which overnight Saturday saw acts of violence and clashes with riot police.

Thousands of police were deployed Sunday to keep order with similar tactics to those used on Saturday night, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters.

PSG fans waved blue and red as they waited for the team bus to arrive at shortly after 5 p.m. When the parade started, the atmosphere was calm as fans stood behind barriers with riot police in front of them.

Fans roared when Marquinhos brandished the trophy over his head, then passed it down to other players on the bus. Luis Enrique joined in with the fans as they sang one of the club’s anthems, and Dembélé blew kisses. The team later met with French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron at the Élysée Palace, with players wearing club tracksuits and PSG jerseys.

After leaving the palace, the players arrived at the Parc des Princes, for a concert, light show and presentation of the trophy. Fans sang “Champions d’Europe” (Champions of Europe) as they waited for the ceremony.

Former club stalwarts like winger Jérôme Rothen and right back Bernard Mendy warmed up the crowd. Rothen made a joke about PSG becoming the first French side to win two European trophies — a wry dig at bitter rival Marseille, which from 1993 until Saturday night was the only French club to win the Champions League and reminded PSG about it every year with a slogan saying “À jamais les premiers” (Forever the first).

Only PSG and Marseille, which was also runner-up in 1991, have won the Champions League. Monaco in 2004 and PSG in 2020 reached the final. PSG won the now-defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996 — hence Rothen’s reference.

PSG denounces ‘isolated acts’ of violence

The exuberance on display in most places was overshadowed by the deaths of two people and some 200 injuries during Saturday night’s celebrations. A total of 294 arrests had been made overnight and two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, which had shown the game live.

The overnight fatalities marred a night of exuberance after PSG clinched its first — and long-awaited — Champions League title. The Eiffel Tower glowed in team colors and fans partied through the night.

PSG denounced the violence. “These isolated acts are contrary to the club’s values, and don’t at all represent the immense majority of our fans,” PSG said in a statement.

Celebrations were largely peaceful but degenerated into violence in some areas.

A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the western city of Dax during a PSG street party after the final, the national police service said. The regional prosecutor said the killing was not apparently linked to the match. In Paris, a man in his 20s was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations.

A police officer was hit accidentally by fireworks at a PSG gathering in northwest France and placed in an artificial coma because of grave eye injuries.

A total of 201 people were injured around the capital, four of them seriously, the Paris police said. AP reporters saw tear gas used near the stadium and water cannons used near the Arc de Triomphe to disperse rowdy crowds.

But at the Place de la Bastille, joyous fans climbed onto the base of the famous column, singing, dancing and letting off flares, while those around them joined in.

Nunez blamed the scattered troubles on “thousands of people who came to commit acts of violence” instead of watching the match. He noted similar unrest on the sidelines of prior celebrations in the capital, such as after France’s World Cup win in 2018.

Fans flock to trophy parade

France had also paraded down the Champs-Élysées when it won the World Cup for the first time in 1998.

This time it was PSG’s turn — at long last — and up to 110,000 people watched.

A wide swath of central Paris was closed to traffic for the exceptional day and security measures also impacted the French Open unfolding nearby.

Buses hoping to pick up fans at Roland-Garros were held up in congested traffic while fans rode past on scooters, honking their horns and waving flags.

Record 24-time men’s Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic made the 10-minute walk from stadium to stadium, and smiled at the crowd when his face was beamed on screen.

But Sunday night belonged to the champions on the field.

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Alex Turnbull and John Leicester contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s soccer coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/soccer