Champions League

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Champions League music:
What is UEFA's spine-tingling anthem and who wrote it?

Many football fans will get goosebumps when UEFA’s anthem strikes up on Champions League nights. The sping-tingling music is played before kick-off at the stadium as well as on TV broadcasts. The song is so popular with players that even Gareth Bale cited the music as being one of the key reasons he wanted to play Champions League football.

Who wrote it?

British composer Tony Britten, a graduate of the Royal College of Music, who is from Croydon, south London.

He apparently based it on Zadok The Priest, an anthem by George Frederic Handel composed for the coronation of King George II in 1727.

He said: "There's a rising string phase which I pinched from Handel and then I wrote my own tune. "It has a kind of Handelian feel to it but I like to think it's not a total rip-off." Tony, who is in his early 60s, does not own the rights to the song but receives royalties from UEFA every time it is used. He is no relation to the more famous composer, Benjamin Britten, by the way.

What is it called?

The anthem, written in 1992, is simply called the Champions League Anthem.

UEFA commissioned it especially for their show-piece tournament when they rebranded the European Cup.

Tony explained: "They approached me to write something anthemic and because it was just after The Three Tenors at the World Cup in Italy so classical music was all the rage.

"Hooliganism was a major, major problem and UEFA wanted to take the game into a completely different area altogether."

Who performs it?

The music is performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the lyrics sung by the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields chorus.

So it's a purely London thing.

What are the lyrics?

The lyrics are a mix of UEFA's three official languages: English, French and German.

The full words are...

Ce sont les meilleures équipes
Es sind die aller
besten Mannschaften 
The main event

Die Meister 
Die Besten 
Les grandes équipes 
The champions

Une grande réunion 
Eine grosse sportliche
Veranstaltung 
The main event

Die Meister 
Die Besten 
Les grandes équipes 
The champions

Ils sont les meilleurs 
Sie sind die Besten 
These are the champions