Soccer Football - Champions League - Quarter Final - Second Leg - Aston Villa v Paris St Germain - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - April 15, 2025 Aston Villa players line up before the match REUTERS/Hannah Mckay
(Reuters) -Aston Villa and Paris St Germain players looked quizzically at each other on Tuesday as the Europa League anthem blared out around Villa Park instead of the iconic Champions League song due to a malfunction ahead of their quarter-final second leg.
With Prince William watching on, Villa defender Ezri Konsa did a face palm gesture as he and teammate Youri Tielemans tried to contain their laughter, while PSG's Fabian Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele exchanged puzzled glances.
A Villa source said the wrong anthem was played when the system crashed and was overridden by another.
UEFA match protocols say the walk-on music provided by European soccer's governing body must be played when the teams walk out and line up.
Villa won the Champions League second leg 3-2 but were eliminated by PSG 5-4 on aggregate.
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford and Ken Ferris)
