PSG to face Real Madrid in UCL last 16 after draw farce
Paris Saint-Germain will play Real Madrid while Liverpool take on Inter Milan in two of the standout ties in the last 16 of the Champions League after an embarrassed UEFA was forced to redo yesterday’s draw following a “technical problem”. UEFA had earlier blamed a “material error” due to a “technical problem with the software […]
Paris Saint-Germain will play Real Madrid while Liverpool take on Inter Milan in two of the standout ties in the last 16 of the Champions League after an embarrassed UEFA was forced to redo yesterday’s draw following a “technical problem”.
UEFA had earlier blamed a “material error” due to a “technical problem with the software of an external service provider” as it announced that the draw for the first knockout round of its flagship competition would have to be redone three hours later.
With the draw being streamed live from UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the problem was made evident when Manchester United’s name was drawn to face Villarreal, despite the fact the two clubs could not have played one another having been in the same group.
The ball containing United’s name did not then appear to be replaced correctly and so they were not included as possible opponents for the next team to come out of the pot.
Liverpool had initially been drawn against knockout-phase debutants Red Bull Salzburg of Austria. They now face three-time former winners Inter, the Serie A champions and current Italian league leaders.
Salzburg instead got six-time winners Bayern Munich, while last season’s beaten finalists Manchester City take on Sporting Lisbon and Benfica will play Ajax.
Villarreal now face Juventus, while reigning champions Chelsea face French title-holders Lille.
United’s tie against Atletico means the Spanish club coming up against Ronaldo, who has knocked them out of the competition five times in the last decade.
The first legs will be played in the second half of February with second legs in early March. This season’s final will be played in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on May 28.