UEFA conducted the draw for the Round Of 16 stage of the Champions League. The biggest ticket was arguably Manchester United coming up against Paris Saint-Germain. But the draw had to be conducted again due to a ‘technical fault’ from the UEFA’s side.Â
In extraordinary circumstances, there were a number of blunders observed in the draw that was conducted initially. Villarreal were drawn against Manchester United, but the two teams had already met in the group stage and were thus not eligible to be drawn against each other.
Further chaos erupted after Manchester United was not entered in the draw while deciding the opponent for Atletico Madrid. The defending La Liga champions were instead drawn against Bayern Munich. The draw for Atletico Madrid apparently also included Liverpool, again, these two teams were not eligible to face each other after being in the same group earlier.
UEFA apologized for the error and declared that the draw would be considered void with a re-draw scheduled. UEFA tweeted:
“Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16”
In the re-conducted draw, Manchester United were drawn to face La Liga Champions Atletico Madrid. The marquee clash comes in the form of Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid. Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos will return to the Spanish capital in different colours. Chelsea were handed the same opponent in the form of LOSC Lille.
The first legs will take place on 15/16 and 22/23 February, with the returns scheduled for 8/9 and 15/16 March. There will be no away goals in knockout matches from this point onwards.
UEFA Champions League Round Of 16 Draw:Â
RB Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
Sporting CP vs Manchester City
Benfica vs Ajax
Chelsea vs Lille
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
Villarreal vs Juventus
Inter vs Liverpool
PSG vs Real Madrid
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