For fans of European football, it is a sound that has become as synonymous with autumn's arrival as the turning of the leaves or the drawing in of the nights.

Every autumn since November 1992 the world's leading players have assembled beneath the floodlights at the continent's grandest stadiums and the Champions League theme music has filled the evening air.

The stirring, trilingual hymn, performed by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the choir of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, has become irrevocably linked with the world's premier club tournament and has been taken to heart by fans and players alike.

Cristiano Ronaldo practically sang it, almost like a national anthem, before facing Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals of last season's tournament.

Mamadou Sakho, meanwhile, admitted to using it as his mobile ringtone to mark Paris Saint-Germain's return to the competition in 2012.

"I hear the Champions League music on my phone and my friends wake me up with it," said the France international, now of Liverpool.

"It's magical for me, but also for lots of players who've never even played in the competition."