PSG vs Barcelona to Be Played Despite Unrest Across France
Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League fixture against Barcelona will be played as scheduled on Tuesday at the Parc des Princes, despite violence, looting and fresh security measures across France.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed the decision after an emergency meeting of senior government figures. Authorities considered cancelling planned public events, including football, but PSG’s home tie and the other European matches due this week will remain on the calendar.
Security pressure after nationwide unrest
- Violence spread through a number of French cities over the weekend, with city halls, public buildings and hundreds of commercial premises attacked or looted.
- More than 2,000 people were arrested during the unrest, while Nuñez admitted the authorities had “lost control” in certain major cities on Saturday.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu instructed local prefects on Monday to introduce tightly limited, area-specific curfews intended to curb further disorder and theft.
- Details of the districts covered by those restrictions are still to be announced.
The PSG-Barcelona match will require a substantial police operation at a time when security forces have already faced weeks of student demonstrations.
Paris police also detained dozens of people in May after disorder disrupted celebrations following PSG’s second Champions League triumph. A group attempted to force its way into a police station in the capital during that unrest.
Other European games unaffected
Nuñez said the decision also protects Lille’s Wednesday match with Galatasaray in northern France, despite shops in that city being vandalised during the weekend disturbances.
The minister had submitted his resignation on Sunday, but President Emmanuel Macron asked him to remain in office to address the immediate demands on policing. Macron has also ordered Nuñez to ensure complete transparency over the planning and intelligence failures that preceded the violence.
What happens next: police will finalise the security deployment for Tuesday night in Paris, while prefects prepare the local curfew measures ordered by the government.
