Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League clash has been cast into doubt amid protests in Paris that have raised concerns about safety in the French capital.
Rioting over the weekend has led to over 1,800 arrests as demonstrators clashed with security forces. On Monday, partial curfews were imposed in parts of Paris in response to some of the worst street violence the country has seen in years.
PSG host Barca at the Parc des Princes in the third matchweek of the Champions League on Tuesday night. There have been calls for the game to be postponed as social tensions continue to take hold.
French Police Want PSG vs Barcelona to be Postponed
A union representative of the French police is said to have requested that the game be postponed due to fears of possible riots, per French outlet AlertesInfos. PSG and Barca’s encounter is the biggest fixture of the Champions League campaign thus far between two favourites for the European title.
Luis Enrique’s Parisians top the table and have made a perfect start to their defence of their European crown, beating Slovan Bratislava 6-1 before claiming a 4-2 win away to Manchester City. Hansi Flick’s Catalans are behind Tuesday’s opponents in second place, having beaten Feyenoord 5-1 and Galatasaray 4-1.
Kick-off is scheduled for 8PM GMT and will be the first time PSG have played at home in Paris in nine days. The protests started back in September and have since become increasingly more violent, leading to government intervention.
French Minister Gives PSG vs Barcelona Update
The game is set to still go ahead as planned following comments made by French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. In a report from French newspaper Onze Mondial, he gave an update in response to those asking for the match to be postponed.
Nunez said that “there are no plans to postpone the match between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, nor any other Champions League match. The development of the matches is not in doubt.”
PSG boss Luis Enrique said in his pre-match press conference that he hoped that the game could go ahead. He told the media: “I am not the person who should be talking about it. I’m here to talk about football. Obviously, we don’t like this kind of violence, but that’s how society evolves. I can only focus on football. I hope that the match will go well.”
This isn’t the first time this year that postponing a match has been proposed due to safety concerns. Ahead of Mexico and England’s Round of 16 tie at the World Cup, FIFA were reportedly considering moving kick-off time due to weather conditions but also overcrowding after Mexican celebrations on the streets of Mexico City took the lives of four fans.
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