THIS is the shocking moment a huge brawl breaks out on the streets of Paris ahead of the crunch Champions League tie between PSG and Aston Villa.
Footage shows opposing sets of fans fighting outside of a busy bar in the French capital, with punches, chairs and glasses thrown in the melee.
English underdogs Aston Villa are set to take on soon-to-be French champions Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final showdown at the Parc des Princes tonight.
Video taken from inside a bar where dozens of fans were drinking overnight shows the brawl in full swing.
Fists can be seen flying as supporters clash in the street just outside the window.
One set of fans appear to launch their drinks at the oncoming group.
Many of the younger, onrushing supporters have their hoods up as they approach the older looking men.
As the fighting continues, a number of bar stools can be seen being used as weapons.
One man can be seen carrying a stool across the pavement with the pointed legs directed at the other supporters.
Chairs are also seen being hurled back and forth as stunned onlookers watch.
It is unclear exactly how the brawl started.
But unverified claims on social media allege that PSG hooligans had attacked Villa supporters who were drinking in the bar.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”‘He’s lost it there’ – Huge brawl breaks out during Baller League after shocking challenge from former Man Utd star” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6371186536112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The Parisians are seasoned campaigners in European knockout football, having reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the past 13 seasons.
They’ve already wrapped up the Ligue 1 title with an astounding six games to spare and knocked out tournament favourites Liverpool in the last round.
But Villa are in outstanding form and are riding a seven-match winning streak.
They breezed into the quarter finals with an emphatic 6-1 aggregate victory over Club Brugge in the last 16.
The side have also scored 20 goals and kept five clean sheets in their last seven matches and with four-time Europa League winner Unai Emery at the helm their fans are hopeful for an upset.
[boxout headline=”Aston Villa have finally given us an English side we can all get behind” featured-image=”34343154″]BY Dave Kidd, Sun’s Chief Sports Writer
IT was a night of nights in early October when Villa Park welcomed back elite European football after a hiatus of four decades.
To be there at one of English football’s grandest, most historic and atmospheric stadiums as Bayern Munich were vanquished in a Champions League group match was a rare privilege.
Villa won the game and I left the ground feeling delighted for Villa’s supporters.
Which is strange because, usually, when English clubs play in Champions League football, I couldn’t honestly care less whether they win or lose.
I don’t think I’m alone in this. The Premier League’s traditional Big Six were difficult to love even before they tried to sell English football down the gurgler by signing up to a breakaway Super League.
And Newcastle, with their bottomless Saudi wealth, leave many of us equally cold. But Villa’s European adventure — next stop Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes in tomorrow’s quarter-final first leg — feels different.
It feels like a throwback to decades gone by, when English football fans would genuinely want other English clubs to thrive in Europe.
When Villa face Qatari-backed PSG in the French capital, most of England — except for the blue half of Birmingham and the Black Country supporters of Wolves and West Brom — will be firmly behind them.
And that’s because Villa’s successes under Unai Emery give the supporters of many other clubs something realistic to aspire to.
Villa are not a member of the modern elite, with all the spoilt-rotten sense of entitlement that status brings.
They are an authentic club, competing at Europe’s top table with underdog status, with a modest net spend, with a likeable, talented manager and with supporters who have followed their club through thick and thin, providing consistently the best atmosphere in the Premier League.
