Reason for Europa League anthem blunder ahead of Aston Villa vs PSG revealed

The wrong anthem was played before kick-off at Villa Park, sparking confusion and amusement around the ground

A system malfunction led to the Europa League anthem being mistakenly played moments before the Champions League quarter-final between Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain.

Villa were preparing to go to battle with PSG as they chased a 3-1 deficit from the first leg, but an early blunder threatened to set the tone at Villa Park.

With the players from both teams emerging into a soggy April night, the wrong music was played as the two sides traded handshakes, with the Europa League anthem blaring to a confused reaction around the ground.

It has now been revealed that the automated system responsible for playing the anthem crashed and was overriden by another system, as per BBC Sport.

Several players shared puzzled glances as the Europa League anthem played in its entirety, while Villa defender Ezri Konsa facepalmed and shook his head, laughing in disbelief.

Once the anthem had concluded, the Champions League anthem was eventually played, allowing fans to provide vocal accompaniment to its final line.

Villa are unlikely to face any sanctions for the mistake, with nothing in Uefa’s regulations detailing rules around incorrect anthems being played.

However, it was Villa’s responsibility to play the correct anthem rather than Uefa, with Europe’s football governing body only required to provide clubs with the relevant theme.

The Europa League anthem was played instead of the Champions League theme at Villa Park (PA Wire)

Composed by Tony Britten in 1992, the theme of the competition formerly known as the European Cup is based on Handel’s Zadok the Priest, and runs to about three minutes in full length with two short verses and the chorus. The lyrics are in Uefa’s three official languages: English, French, and German.

The Europa League anthem is a more recent addition: the current tune was adopted at the start of the 2018-19 season, and is also used in the Conference League.

Despite the early error, Unai Emery’s side managed to recover from 2-0 down to win 3-2 on the night, but their riotous second-leg comeback was not enough to overcome the French giants over the two legs, with PSG progressing 5-4 on aggregate.