Sawt Falasteen - Paris Saint-Germain players celebrate amid riot recriminations

Tens of thousands of flag-waving fans took to the streets again to see the team parade from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to the Champ de Mars plaza in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

The team flew back from Budapest where they beat English Premier League champions Arsenal on Saturday night 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out.

They were also received by President Emmanuel Macron before returning to their Parc des Princes stadium for a final encounter with fans.

A night of celebrations was blighted however by clashes between youths and police in Paris and other cities, cars set on fire and shops looted.

One man died riding his motorbike around the Paris ring road in celebration while authorities reported stabbings and other attacks. They said 57 police and 219 "participants" were injured. Eight of the injured were in critical condition.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said there were 780 arrests across France, nearly a third more than when PSG's triumph last year over Inter Milan also set off a night of disturbances. He said looting had taken place in around 15 cities across the country.

Municipal workers hurried Sunday morning to clear the Paris streets of broken glass, damaged bus shelters, trash cans and burned out cars and bikes before PSG's return.

French President Emmanuel Macron called the violence "unspeakable".

But amid political recriminations over the troubles, Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire played down the severity, saying such incidents were nothing new.

- 'Brainless thugs' -

"In the vast majority of cases, people celebrated with family and friends. And it was an extraordinary celebration," the mayor told BFM TV. "And incidents on the fringes of major events have been going on for centuries."

Gregoire blamed the "media coverage" of the unrest "and perhaps also the obsession of these troublemakers who come to cause trouble and show themselves on social media".

"There's a kind of escalation, a chain reaction, and an incitement, in a way, to do just about anything," he added.

The town hall for the Paris district that includes the Champs-Elysee, where tens of thousands went after the football victory, called for a ban on such gatherings.

On Saturday night, the "Champs-Elysees avenue and its surroundings ceased to be a place of celebration and became an arena of urban guerrilla warfare", the town hall said in a statement.

Politicians from all sides lambasted the troubles and questioned the way it was handled.

Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen wrote on X that "only in France does a football club's victory spark riots".

Valerie Pecresse, the head of the greater Paris council from the Republicans party, slammed "the brainless thugs who allow themselves to destroy everything, tarnishing the image of Paris and France!".

She demanded "exemplary sanctions" in a post on X.

A spokesperson for the hard-left France Unbowed said: "We cannot be satisfied with the way last night's event was managed and organised by the government."

- Riding high -

Nunez promised "strongarm" security for Sunday's celebrations as thousands of PSG supporters waited, waving flags and sporting PSG shirts. Some 6,000 police were on duty across the centre of the capital.

"We're still riding yesterday's high, so we want to keep the party going," said 25-year-old Abou, a PSG fan "since he was little".

"Paris, Paris" chanted supporters, as they filtered through security checkpoints to get spots near a stage where the players appeared. The "We Are the Champions" pop song blared out on speakers.

The streets were so packed that the team arrived more than an hour late at the Champs-de-Mars where they paraded on a red, white and blue tricolour carpet to the stage.

Giant screens showed replays of the penalty shootout that brought the trophy back to Paris.

"It was great, there was the stress of the penalty shootout but it was good stress in the end," said Mirna Makima, a 39-year-old physiotherapist who travelled from Belgium for the celebrations.

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H.Jarrar--SF-PST