Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) achieved a historic milestone by winning their first-ever Champions League trophy, thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in a memorable final held in Munich on Saturday. The following day, Sunday, June 1st, 2025, tens of thousands of ecstatic football fans flocked to the Champs-Elysees in Paris to celebrate with the players and staff as they paraded the coveted trophy. The team, arriving directly from Roissy airport after their triumph, embarked on an open-top bus journey that ran from the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, greeted by jubilant supporters waving flags and setting off flares, all eager to share in the club's momentous achievement.

During the parade, players, all wearing shirts with '25' on them, proudly displayed the trophy and interacted with the cheering crowds. Their emblematic captain, Marquinhos, encouraged fans, shouting, "Let's all sing together." Coach Luis Enrique and his team, including the 19-year-old sensation Desire Doue, who illuminated the final with two goals in a dazzling performance, were central to the celebrations. The day's festivities were set to conclude with a party at their Parc des Princes home ground.

Following the parade, the team attended a reception at the Elysee Palace hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron lavished praise on the team, declaring, "You are the champions and you have put Paris at the top of Europe." He acknowledged the widespread support for the team, noting, "There were 11 of you on the field, but there was clearly a twelfth man — the entire French public, regardless of traditional allegiances." However, the President also sternly condemned the widespread violence and disorder that marred the victory celebrations across France following Saturday night's final whistle. "Nothing can justify what has happened in the last few hours, the violent clashes are unacceptable," Macron stated. "We will pursue, we will punish, we will be relentless." He also thanked the players and the club for their prompt condemnation of the violence.

The post-match celebrations turned violent in several parts of France, with a heavy police presence deployed for the Sunday parade. The interior ministry reported nearly 600 arrests nationwide after the final, with over 200 cars torched and significant clashes between youths and police. Tragically, two fatalities occurred: a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the chest in the southwestern town of Dax, and a 23-year-old man riding a scooter in central Paris died after being hit by a vehicle. In Paris alone, Police Prefect Laurent Nunez reported 491 arrests and 192 injuries from the overnight clashes. The disorder included flares and fireworks being set off, bus shelters smashed, and 264 vehicles set on fire. Twenty-two police officers and seven firefighters were injured, and one policeman was placed in an induced coma after being injured by a firework. Additionally, in Grenoble, a car ploughed into PSG fans, injuring four people from the same family, two seriously. PSG released a statement condemning "in the strongest possible terms the violence that occurred during the celebrations," adding that "these isolated acts are contrary to the club’s values and in no way represent the vast majority of our supporters, whose exemplary behaviour throughout the season deserves to be commended."

Police were on high alert to prevent a repetition of Saturday's scenes, which unfortunately drew comparisons to an incident where a Liverpool Football Club victory parade in England ended with a car ploughing into the crowd, injuring 79 people. An estimated 11.8 million viewers watched PSG's triumph on French television, as they became only the second French club, after Olympique de Marseille in 1993, to be crowned European champions. The 5-0 victory margin was the largest in the history of a Champions League or its predecessor, the European Cup, final.

This victory is a culmination of significant investment by Qatar Sports Investments, which acquired the then-ailing club in 2011. In recent seasons, PSG has shifted its strategy from signing global superstars like Neymar and Lionel Messi to focusing on developing young French talent. This approach was exemplified by Desire Doue's stellar performance and the contribution of Senny Mayulu, another 19-year-old, who scored the fifth goal after coming on as a substitute. Mayulu described the emotional scenes in the dressing room: "In the dressing room, everyone broke down in their own way, you could see it in their eyes, people were filled with joy and pride." PSG had previously lost their only other final appearance five years ago. Looking ahead, PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi expressed the club's ambition: "The objective now is to win again. It has taken 14 years of hard work but we are building something for the future."