Large-scale soccer fan fight: videos from Paris sweep the internet
A disturbing event unfolded in Paris ahead of the Champions League match between local PSG and Newcastle United. The French team's fans attacked a pub frequented by English fans. This incident marks another episode of violence in European cups.
The Champions League match between PSG and Newcastle United is scheduled to be played on Tuesday at 3:00 PM ET. A significant number of English fans have already arrived in Paris. Regrettably, their stay in the French capital cannot exactly be called safe.
About a day before the match, a severe altercation broke out between supporters of both teams. On Monday evening, PSG football hooligans launched an attack on a pub where Newcastle fans had gathered.
The footage of the attack surfaced on social media on Monday evening. One of the videos showcases PSG fans hurling flares and chairs at the pub’s entrances and windows.
The French also attempted to storm the pub, but the English fans inside barred the doors. In the several-second-long videos, two groups of fans can be seen brawling at the pub entrance, but the PSG hooligans failed to infiltrate.
The video is highly troubling given that among the victims in the pub were female Newcastle fans, suggesting that it was a random group of English fans who happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time, not determined Newcastle "ultras".
PSG and Newcastle are part of Group F, alongside AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund. It's worth mentioning that this is not the first alarming incident involving aggressive fans related to this group's matches.
In early November in Milan, a large-scale brawl occurred between supporters of AC Milan and PSG. One of the French fans was stabbed and rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. A similar event took place during the September match between Milan and Newcastle, where an English fan visiting Milan for the match was assaulted with a sharp weapon.
