Has the Champions League changed the anthem?

The teams enter the field, they line up to the right and left of the referees, in the centre of the pitch is the sheet with the star graphic of the Champions League, it is grabbed by a good number of boys and girls who start waving it, while from the stadium speakers plays what is probably the most famous anthem in the world of football. This is the starting ritual of the Champions League, the Tuesday and Wednesday night tea ceremony and perhaps the most exciting moment for the players on the pitch as well. The anthem is known or recognised by almost all fans, who sing the lyrics mispronouncing the words until the final shout 'the champions!'. Since 1992, when it was composed by Tony Britten based on the coronation anthem 'Zadok the Priest' by Georg Friedrich Händel, the rhythm and symphony have hardly changed, but during the last Champions League round, a slightly different version was played in Berne. 

In a post on X, Spanish journalist Jaume Naveira compared the official version performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London with the music played in the pre-match match between Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade, which ended 2-0 to the Swiss. Although the track that can be found on Spotify is slightly different from the one played in the stadium, the arrangement played in the match in Berne has passages that differ more clearly. 

What Movistar's journalist speculates is that UEFA is getting closer to the rebranding of the competition planned for next season. With the format change, the Champions League anthem could also be changed, as it has only been done in the past on two occasions and only for the anthem played in the stadiums: the first in 1999-00 and the second in 2006-07. The one in Bern might have been a test, just a few kilometres away from the UEFA headquarters, in the meantime it seems fair to expect changes to come, and although it might seem sacrilege to touch the Champions League anthem, perhaps we should prepare ourselves to invent new words, waiting for the final. The Champions!