PSG v Monaco

Last week I went out to see our local Ligue 1 Football team, Paris St Germain play Monaco at the Parc des Princes Stadium on the west side of town.

It was a pretty crazy atmosphere. Very different to the more reserved atmosphere that one might find at a French national team game. The supporters at PSG are very serious and are well known for not minding having a bit of a riot or two. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you look at it) we did not get to experience any random acts of violence. However, there were about 40,000 people there (apparently a good crowd for a freezing Wednesday night) and the place was rocking.

What should be known about PSG fans is they don't mind fighting amongst themselves as well as with fans from other teams (especially Marseille) . At one end of the ground, the Boulogne end, sit the predominately white, nationalist (some would say racist) supporters. Down the opposite end of the ground, the Auteuil end, you will find a very diverse mix of multi-ethnic supporters who are equally as passionate about the team as their Boulogne counterparts. From time to time these differences are sorted out in terms slightly more forceful than a mere verbal slanging match. We were sitting in the middle, along with most of the less crazy supporters.

On the evening we went the crowd was in relatively fine behaviour, (although we did see a couple of flares in the crowd) Somehow, due to a completely bizzare goalkeeping error and absolutely butchering of about 5 chances in front of goal, PSG lost to Monaco 1 -0.

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