Van Basten not a fan of Linkin Park: ‘garbage, absolute garbage’

The 2025 Champions League final will go down in history as the day when Luis Enrique’s PSG absolutely dismantled Inter with a resounding 5-0 win at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

However, as the dust settles on the Parisian team’s glorious win, voices of dissent have emerged and have nothing to with what happened during the game itself.

In recent years, UEFA, in true Super Bowl style have decided to offer a musical guest ahead of the Champions League final with the likes of Dua Lipa, Marshmello and Burna Boy all offering their musical wares prior to the biggest club game in the European calendar.

On Saturday in Munich, Linkin Park (with new vocalist Emily Armstrong) offered brief ten minute musical session featuring a mix of old and new repertoire.

However, according to legendary former striker Marco van Basten, the view on this musical performance is quite different from the players’ perspective. The legendary Milan striker was blunt during the broadcast on ‘Ziggo Sports’. "The players are preparing for the most important match of their lives. UEFA has followed FIFA’s example. It’s ridiculous that they distract the players like that. I think it’s completely idiotic," he said, adding that “Linkin Park’s performance was garbage, absolutely garbage” and that “it’s a disgrace that UEFA allows it.”

Van der Vaart adds fuel to the fire

He wasn’t the only one to complain about the premise of a musical guest ahead of the final. Van Basten’s compatriot Rafael van der Vaart echoed the quote. “You do your warm-up, you get ready, and then you have to come in at 8:30. Then you don’t do anything for half an hour because of this performance,” he lamented.

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