Fresh off the back of two titles in the Coupe de France and the Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain hoped to conclude their historic season in style in the Club World Cup final . Facing Chelsea in this European clash relocated to Atlanta, the Parisians nevertheless foundered. Despite an ambitious starting eleven and a desire to dictate the tempo, Luis Enrique's team was caught by the throat from the start by a determined Blues. Cole Palmer, a real poison for the Parisian defense, scored a quick double before providing an assist for Joao Pedro for a clear score at halftime (3-0). The second half changed nothing: between missed opportunities, a slow pace and Joao Neves's sending off late in the match, PSG were never able to reverse the trend. The dream of a quintuple vanished, giving way to a stinging humiliation against an impressively controlled Chelsea team.
Anticipating a euphoric scenario in the event of another Parisian victory, the authorities had mobilized an exceptional security presence in the capital. The Paris Police Prefecture had issued an order on Friday, prohibiting any gathering intended to watch the match broadcast, whether in fan zones or on screens visible from the public highway. Traffic was cut off from 8 p.m. on the Champs-Élysées, metro stations were closed, and a massive presence of riot police officers (CRS) was in place: everything had been planned to prevent possible excesses similar to those that occurred after the Champions League final. But the match's scenario quickly extinguished any excitement: in the streets of Paris, the atmosphere turned to indifference, even resignation, in the face of a sporting fiasco that no one had seen coming.
Paris had braced itself for a potentially explosive evening this Sunday, the occasion of the Club World Cup final between PSG and Chelsea. In anticipation of possible unrest, a large police presence was deployed in the capital, particularly around the Champs-Élysées, where traffic was closed from 8 p.m. The Parisian Police Prefecture took the lead on Friday by banning all public gatherings around the match broadcast, including fan zones or screens visible from the public highway. The Parisian club itself had called on its supporters to take responsibility on social media, insisting on the need to "respect the decrees" in a spirit of unity and celebration. But the match's scenario left no suspense. PSG, having fallen behind very early on, saw its hopes collapse against a clinical Chelsea team (3-0), nipping in the bud any desire for celebration in the streets.
While London was simultaneously celebrating the Blues' victory that evening, the atmosphere in Paris remained static. In central neighborhoods like Châtelet and the Grands Boulevards, bar attendance fell well below expectations despite some attempts at liveliness, including screens facing outside and paid admissions that included drinks. The fans' enthusiasm, fueled by the crushing victory in the Champions League final a month and a half earlier, quickly cooled. Many fans looked away from their screens after the third goal, preferring to stare at their phones rather than dream of another title. In the midst of the Bastille Day festivities and on the eve of an expected fireworks display on the Champ-de-Mars, this event was supposed to be the icing on the cake of the Parisian season. It was only a bittersweet epilogue, in a city that remained under control, but lacking in fervor.
0 Comments