PSG fan stabbed in Milan before Champions League game

A Paris Saint-Germain fan was seriously injured after being stabbed during nighttime clashes between football fans in Milan ahead of the Champions League match between AC Milan and PSG, Italian police said on Tuesday.

The victim was stabbed twice in the leg and taken to Milan’s Policlinico hospital for treatment, police said. Italian media reported that he was a 34-year-old Frenchman.

He was injured when a group of around 50 Milan fans clashed with visiting PSG fans shortly after midnight in the city’s canal district, a popular nightlife spot. Two police officers were also injured after police baton-charged French fans in an attempt to restore order.

AC Milan, which hosts PSG at San Siro on Tuesday, condemned the violence.

“For us, football is passion, not hatred,” the club said in a message published on social network X with the message written in English, Italian and French. “Sport is supposed to unite, not divide.”

A supporter of English club Newcastle United was stabbed in Milan in September before his team’s Champions League match against AC Milan.

Milan, last season’s semi-finalists, are bottom of Group F and without a win or goal so far in the competition this season.