One Piece love appears alive and well among European soccer fans. Paris Saint-Germain F.C. fans set up an elaborate One Piece display at Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League match. Amusingly, the display even involves Luffy’s rubber arm stretching halfway across the stadium, as shown in a video shared by Livedoor News.
【ゴムゴムの横断幕】PSGの観客席に『ONE PIECE』の巨大ルフィが登場！伸びた手がバイエルンのエンブレムを粉砕する演出、反対側にはゴーイングメリー号もpic.twitter.com/TsR41SPV2t
— ライブドアニュース (@livedoornews) February 15, 2023
Luffy is depicted punching up the Bayern Munich team in the fan display. Unfortunately, the Paris team lost against Bayern in a knockout tie.
In France, the One Piece manga’s first volume alone has reportedly sold over 1 million copies as of July 2021. The series represents 8.3% of the French manga market, with 25 million copies sold since 2013.
This is not the first time One Piece and soccer have crossed paths. Major League Soccer player Nicolas Benezet imitated Luffy’s Gear Second pose after scoring a goal in August 2021.
[Via Otakomu]