What are the actual words to the Champions League theme?

Martin Macdonald

• 18 Mar 2026 09:01 CDT
• 2 min read

News

The most iconic music in world football is undoubtedly the UEFA Champions League theme which is played before every single match from the League Phase, formerly the group stage, all the way to the final.

The theme starts when the players are standing in a row across the pitch, as fans look to roar on their team from the stands.

The Champions League theme was introduced in 1992 as part of the revamp of the old European Cup. With the new competition, UEFA wanted grandiose new music, and that's exactly what they got, in addition to the famous starball and blue branding.

Composed by Tony Britten, a graduate of the Royal College of Music, the theme takes inspiration from 18th-century musician George Frederic Hande, specifically the 'Zadok the Priest' piece.

It is performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields chorus. The lyrics are in three languages; English, French, and German. The chorus is set to the lyrics "Die Meister! Die Besten! Les grandes équipes! The champions!"

"I had a commercials agent and 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," Bitten previously confirmed.

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

Champions League theme lyrics

The lyrics as heard on matchdays are as follows:

Ce sont les meilleures équipes

Es sind die allerbesten 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

Die Meister

Die Besten

Les grandes équipes

The champions

Champions League theme lyrics in English

The full English translation is:

They are the best teams

They are the best teams

The main event

The master

The best

The great teams

The champions

A big meeting

A great sporting event

The main event

The master

The best

The great teams

The champions

They are the best

They are the best

These are the champions

The master

The best

The champions

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