This Wednesday at 9pm (CET), Paris Saint-Germain take on Arsenal at the Parc des Princes in the second leg of their Champions League 2024-2025 semi-final (0-1 win in the first leg). According to L’Equipe, the English club will see 2,000 fans take their seats in the stands. And a few hundred will come to the capital without a ticket. There is a certain amount of attention from the authorities, with the DNLH (Division Nationale de Lutte contre le Hooliganisme) rating the match at 3/5 on its risk scale.
“The Paris police prefecture will mobilize six forces (1 force equals around 80 men) of CRS or mobile gendarmes to secure the match around the Parc des Princes, as well as in various other locations in the capital where it fears incidents or outbursts, particularly if Paris supporters decide to celebrate the club’s qualification for the final after the match.
2,000 Arsenal fans – their quota has been limited by the Prefecture of Police for several years – are expected in the visitors’ car park reserved for them. Others may come without tickets and watch the match from bars and restaurants in the capital. The English are expecting 300, but the police think there will be around 500.”
After the difficulties of the first leg, it seems that this time everything is going smoothly as far as ticket allocation is concerned. The Gunners will logically be present in numbers at the Parisian stadium. However, they should find it difficult to make themselves heard in a Parc des Princes that promises to be boiling hot. Above all, we hope that the Parisians on the pitch will be in top form to ensure a great evening right to the end.
Without any incidents in or out of the stands, of course. There are a few risks, though, with groups of people likely to cross paths. We’ll have to be careful, but above all we’ll have to enjoy ourselves.
