UEFA's new television intro for its flagship Champions League competition has been criticised as “terrible” and “unwatchable” by some football fans on social media.
ADVERTISEMENTThe release of a new Champions League anthem has sparked anger among sports fans.
UEFA unveiled the new theme tune last week, which is part of several changes to the organisation’s “brand identity” in preparation for the new season.
Although the new version is still based on the iconic music written by Tony Britten, who adapted the 1727 classical piece Zadok the Priest by George Frideric Handel, the tweaks have provoked the ire of football followers.
The new intro is being used for television broadcasts accompanied by clips of some of the competition's top players, including Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jnr.
‘It’s a joke’: Fans criticise reworked Champions League anthem
UEFA's new television intro has been criticised as “terrible” and “unwatchable” by some fans on social media.
“Please tell me this is an April Fool's joke in August, please tell me this isn't true, please?” one wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Britten has re-recorded the music with a “hand-picked orchestra” and the internationally renowned choir Tenebrae.
The revamped version is a little faster, more upbeat and lighter on percussion, which some have said makes it less atmospheric and dramatic.
“You play the old one and I get goosebumps and an immediate emotional reaction. This was like ‘that’s nice’ but minus the rest," one fan wrote.
Another called the historic tune “epic” while the new version is “meh.”
The original Champions League anthem first used in 1992 had become symbolic of the anticipation and emotion of the tournament.
UEFA's official website describes the anthem, whose lyrics are in UEFA's three official languages of English, French and German, as “now almost as iconic as the trophy."
“The majestic music which rises to an impressive major key crescendo signifies the installation of a new head of state,” Anthony King wrote in 2004 in International Review for the Sociology of Sport.
“The baroque music of the Zadok anthem associates the Champions League with the monarchies of Ancien Regime Europe.”
The Champions League draw for the group stages takes place on Thursday 29 August.
