UEFA had chosen Saint-Denis and the Stade de France instead of Saint-Petersburg (Russia) in response to the war in Ukraine. But she certainly hadn’t anticipated the security concerns that delayed the meeting for more than half an hour. This did not prevent the party within the French enclosure but darkened the picture.
However, Real Madrid and Liverpool fans put on a nice show throughout the afternoon before setting the 80,000-seat stadium on fire. White on one side, “Pool” red on the other. In the center: an audience of stars, football, song and even two heads of state.
Saint-Denis sunbathed until the kick-off of this grand Champions League final. Madrid fans quickly gave voice, helped by the early arrival of their proteges, the first present on the lawn of the Stade de France. Karim Benzema and Luka Modric being the most applauded. Those of Liverpool continued but they took longer to settle in their place. One of the reasons for the delay of more than 30 minutes at kick-off. Boiling after several hours spent in the streets of Paris and Saint-Denis, they have won the battle for numbers.
After the second warm-up of the teams, another show took place in the opening ceremony: a concert given by the American-Cuban star Camila Cabello, disturbed by the songs of the fans of the two teams, little interested in the show.
All under the eyes of many personalities, starting with the former coach of Real, winner of three Champions League in a row between 2016 and 2018: Zinédine Zidane. Present in Paris since Friday, the former number 10 of the Blues, world champion in 1998 here, took place in the box of his sponsor, the three-stripe brand. Not far from him in another lodge? The Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Something to fantasize about PSG fans, who dream of seeing “ZZ” settle on the bench of the capital club next season. But the Frenchman was not the only football star to attend this final: the Spaniard Raul, the Dutchman Clarence Seedorf, the Brazilians Roberto Carlos and Cafu, the Englishman Michael Owen (Golden Ball 2000) or the Italians Fabio Cannavaro (Golden Ball 2006) or Alessandro Del Piero.
Not Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, but other famous names, such as Rafael Nadal, a big fan of Real Madrid and present in Paris for Roland-Garros, or the King of Spain Felipe VI.