THIS is the shocking moment two coaches are set alight as football fans clashed before a French cup final.
Supporters of Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon went on the rampage prior to their meeting at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille this evening where President Emmanuel Macron is in attendance.
The violent scenes between the two sets of fans were videoed at a motorway toll booth in Fresnes-lès-Montauban, near Arras, in northern France.
The incidents took place about 62 miles away from the Stade Pierre Mauroy – the venue for tonight’s Coupe de France final.
One man was seen being kicked by a mob as he laid on the ground as thick black smoke poured out of a burning vehicle.
Hooligans screamed “This is Paris” as one man appealed for calm through a megaphone.
Read more in Football
Condemning the trouble, Mr Macron said: “These are sporting events where you must above all be joyful and sporty.
“I condemn with the greatest firmness all violence.
“I hope things will go as normally as possible this evening,” he added, confirming that he would still be going to the game.
An Arras police spokesman confirmed that two coaches were burned out, but there were “no reports of serous injuries.”
Most read in Football
The spokesman did confirm that at least eight police officials were injured in the clashes, however.
In Lille itself, there was a huge police presence as fans of the two sides arrived for the match.
Alcohol in glass or metal containers was banned, while different areas were set aside for the respective fans.
Earlier this season, a Lyon match against Marseille was called off after fans on a coach were pelted with stones and beer bottles, injuring Lyon coach Fabio Grosso.
Grosso, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, sustained facial injuries that required a dozen stitches.
One photo showed him with a bandage wrapped around his head, while another captured him on a stretcher with an open gash above his eye and his hand covered in blood.
“We have seen just about everything you would not want to see,” French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said at the time.
Football fans heading to Germany for Euro 2024 this summer have also been warmed about a resurgence in hooliganism that has been overwhelming the police across Europe.
It comes as France prepares to roll out a massive security operation for this year’s summer Olympics, which opens in Paris in July.
PSG are aiming to end the season with a domestic treble by winning the French Cup, having already won the Ligue 1 title and clinched the French Super Cup in January.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Tonight’s fixture is also set to mark Kylian Mbappe’s last in a PSG shirt ahead of his impending departure from the Parisian outfit this summer.
The French superstar prepares to end a seven-year stay during which he helped them win the league six times.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
