Aston Villa and PSG fans clash in Paris ahead of Champions League tie as chairs and punches are thrown on the streets

Shocking footage of Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain fans clashing in the French capital has emerged ahead of the clubs’ Champions League tie. 

Punches and chairs were thrown between the supporters on the streets of Paris. 

It comes just 24 hours before Villa’s biggest game in years with the Midlands club having not reached this stage of Europe’s elite competition since the 1982-83 campaign.

That has inspired an estimated 3,000 Aston Villa fans to travel to Paris this week. With only 2,000 tickets allocated for the Premier League club, 1,000 of those fans are ticketless and will watch the game in the city’s bars. 

As a result, and despite no history of animosity between the two sets of fans, the game has been ranked three on a scale of five (five being the highest) by the National Division in the Fight Against Hooliganism, which means that there is ‘the risk of trouble’. 

In December 2023, Villa’s Europa League victory over Legia Warsaw was overshadowed by violence outside Villa Park as 46 men were arrested and charged by West Midlands Police. One officer who was engulfed by flames after being hit by a flare suffered burns.

When the Premier League club launched an official complaint to UEFA, Legia Warsaw responded by blaming their hosts’ ticket distribution policy and matchday policing.

France has seen a concerning rise in football violence of late. Just last week, The French interior ministry proposed a ban on Legion X, a fan group for second-tier football club Paris FC, due to it being involved with serious violence for years.

There were concerns ahead of last summer’s Olympics when a Marseille v Lyon game was called off when the visitors’ bus was pelted with stones and beer bottles, leaving Lyon coach Fabio Grosso with facial injuries. 

Villa have been expecting a fiery reception from the Parc des Princes crowd for Wednesday’s match with midfielder Youri Tielemans backing his goalkeeper Emi Martinez to handle the abuse of the home crowd.

Martinez is one of the prime villains for the French sporting public thanks to his antics after helping Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup Final, and he appeared to pour fuel on the fire by travelling to Paris wearing a cap displaying the four titles he has won at international level.

Unai Emery’s side reached this stage with an emphatic 6-1 aggregate victory over Club Brugge in the last 16.