Old Video Falsely Linked To Unrest In France After PSG’s Champions League Win

At least two people died and 192 were injured as celebrations for Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) historic win over Inter Milan in the Champions League turned violent in France on Saturday (May 31, 2025). France’s interior ministry said that 264 vehicles were set on fire, and 559 people were arrested, including 491 in Paris.

In this backdrop, a video showing vehicles navigating through a road with garbage bins ablaze on either side has gone viral on social media platforms, with users linking it to the recent unrest in Paris. Newschecker, however, found it to be untrue. 

Such posts can be seen here and here.

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Fact Check/Verification

We looked up the keyframes of the viral clip on Google Lens which led us to an X post by France-based journalist Clément Lanot (@ClementLanot), dated March 21, 2023. The post featured the same video, confirming that it is old and unrelated to the recent unrest in France over the PSG’s win in the Champions League. 

“Dozens of burning barricades, protesters advance in the 3rd arrondissement (translated from French via Google),” the post stated. Notably, France was witnessing widespread protests against the pension reforms, which included raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 and increasing the number of years people must make contributions to receive a full state pension, in 2023. 

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A snippet from the video was also featured in a YouTube video report by Paris-based C dans l’air – France Télévisions (@Cdanslairofficiel) from March 2023. “After weeks of organized and sustained social unrest, violence is back. Police methods are once again under fire, and the is targeting La France Insoumise, whose “verbal violence spills over into the streets,” in her words(translated from French via Google),” its description stated. 

The video was also featured in a report by The Telegraph, dated March 21, 2023, on the protests in France over pension reforms. “More than 100 people were arrested in Paris on Monday night as protesters burned some of the stewing piles of rubbish left by striking bin workers. It came as Emmanuel Macron prepared to break his silence on his move to ram through his pension reforms without a vote in parliament, which has further angered protesters,” the report stated. 

Multiple other outlets such as this, this and this reported that the protesters agitating against the pension reforms in Paris had set the garbage bins on fire. 

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Conclusion

Hence, we find that a video showing the protests over pension reforms has been falsely linked to the recent unrest in France after PSG’s Champions League victory. 

Sources
X Post By @ClementLanot, Dated March 21, 2023
YouTube Video By @Cdanslairofficiel, Dated March 22, 2023
Report By The Telegraph, Dated March 21, 2023