French police said the policing operation for Liverpool’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday would be “classic” and that the match was not classed as high risk.
The last 16, first leg tie at PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium is the first time Liverpool have returned to the French capital since the 2022 Champions League final between the club and Real Madrid at the Stade de France was plunged into chaos.
A Paris police source said the security for the match would be a “classic arrangement for a Champions League match”.
“The context is not the same as three years ago. It’s not a final, it’s at the Parc des Princes and not at the Stade de France and a lot things have changed since then,” the source said.
He added it was “not classed as high risk”.
Around 2,000 Liverpool fans will attend the game.
The Champions League final three years ago was delayed by more than 30 minutes as fans struggled to enter the Stade de France after police funnelled them into bottlenecks as they approached the stadium.
Police then fired tear gas towards thousands of fans locked behind metal fences on the stadium perimeter.
European football’s governing body UEFA initially tried to pin the blame on supporters arriving late, but a French Senate inquiry concluded that poorly executed security arrangements were the cause of the mayhem.
Many Liverpool supporters are refusing to attend Wednesday’s game.
“It’s too soon for a lot of people,” John Gibbons of Liverpool fan website The Anfield Wrap told AFP.
“There is the psychological thing of not wanting to go back to somewhere where you have a bad experience but also the lack of accountability makes people think there is nothing to stop it happening again,” he said.
