France, June 1 -- Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said Monday that the number of arrests was 45 percent higher than after last year's Champions League final, while 178 members of the security forces were injured.

Around 22,000 police officers had been deployed across France for the match between PSG and Arsenal, played in Budapest, where the Paris club secured a second consecutive European title.

"We had a large operation in place which worked overall because we arrested a huge number of people," Nuñez told France Inter radio, insisting that the authorities had anticipated trouble and acted firmly.

"We knew that these celebrations would lead to riots, urban violence, looting and attacks on the police," he said. "We had a majo...