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Courtesy: X
UEFA, the governing body of football in Europe, released a new and updated version of the Champions League anthem ahead of the 2024-25 season, set to be played under a new format. But, the changes to the UCL anthem hasn’t been welcomed by most of the fans in an enthusiastic manner, instead some of them were blunt in calling it “bad.”
Notably, the iconic UEFA Champions League (UCL) anthem is an adaptation of the 1727 classical piece “Zadok the Priest,” written by George Frideric Handel. It was done by Tony Britten in 1992, but now, ahead of the new UCL season in 2024-25, kicking off on September 17, UEFA has subtly changed it up, putting more focus on the vocals.
But, these changes in the UCL anthem drew sharp criticism on the social media platform X from many of the football fans. Some of the posts on X slamming UEFA, for changing something which wasn’t broken, are as under:
Moreover, the UEFA Champions League will be played in a new format with 32 teams in a single league format. The draw for all the teams in regards to their eight fixtures in the group stage of the UCL will go down on Thursday, August 29.
The top eight teams from the group stage will automatically go through to the last 16 of the UCL. The other eight teams will be determined by a ninth to 24th place taking on each other in playoff matches.