Barca celebrate Paris triumph

Police detained 45 people and 109 were injured as more than 125,000 fans gathered to celebrate Barcelona’s Champions League success against Arsenal.

Barca arrived at El Prat airport at 5am this morning and paraded the trophy around the streets of the Catalan capital during the afternoon.

The squad took an open-top tour on the back of an adapted lorry from the port to the Nou Camp to show off their third trophy of the season, after Barcelona also won the Spanish Supercup and Primera Liga title.

A massive 10.3million viewers tuned in to Spanish state TV channel TVE to watch the game, the highest viewing audience of the season.

Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero, who is a fervent Barca fan and was at the Stade de France, said: “I am extremely happy.

“The key to the game was the substitutions made by (Barca coach Frank) Rijkaard with Andres Iniesta and Juliano Belletti entering the pitch.

“We really thought that we would dominate after the Arsenal goalkeeper’s sending off but we had to suffer more than we thought.

“Fortunately, in the end, Barcelona’s quality made the difference.”