The draw for the round of 16 of the Champions League will be redrawn following controversies in the original event that took place. UEFA confirmed that the draw was declared “void and will be entirely redone” at 2pm GMT time.
Champions League Round of 16 Ties Confirmed
The ErrorsPreview Changes (opens in a new tab)
The original draw contained three crucial errors that affected how the teams were selected against one another.
The first involved Manchester United being directly selected against Villarreal. Due to United being in the same group as Villareal, this was not possible. UEFA realised and pulled another team from the pot: Manchester City.
It then became clear the whole process had been botched when Manchester United was not included in the possible teams to face Atletico Madrid. News then followed that Liverpool was included in the draw against Atletico Madrid, despite being in the same group.
Teams were quick to react, with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid leading the demand for clarification. The Spanish side publicly announced they were seeking explanations for the mistakes.
UEFA Statement
UEFA said in a statement: “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.”
The Original Champions League Ties
Undoubtedly, the ties will differ from what was picked out the first time around. The round of 16 was headlined by Manchester United facing Paris Saint-Germain again. However, on this occasion, this is expected to be another chapter in the long battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City received favourable draws against Lille, Salzburg and Villarreal respectively.
Meanwhile, Juventus were picked out to play against Sporting Lisbon. Other matches included Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich, Benfica against Real Madrid and Inter Milan taking on Ajax.
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