UEFA nullified the initial Champions League round of 16 draw on Monday over a technical error which left Manchester United out of the sides eligible to face Atletico Madrid.
During the draw, United were initially pitted against Villarreal, a tie that could not have taken place due to both sides advancing from the same group. The error was later spotted and Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA’s Deputy General secretary ordered the fixture to be redrawn as United was blocked from being eligible to face Atletico, who were the next team to be drawn.
Atletico was omitted as a computer glitch appeared to indicate they had already been drawn when they had not.
Though Man united were eventually drawn against Paris-Saint Germain, several clubs complained to Uefa that the integrity of the draw had been damaged by the mistake.
Following the complains, the UEFA, in a statement announced the nullification of the initial draw.
The statement reads: “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.
“As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone at 1500 CET (2pm GMT).”
Now, PSG will face Real Madrid in the 2021-22 Champions League round of 16 after the ties had to be redrawn on an embarrassing afternoon for UEFA.
Salzburg will play Bayern Munich while Sporting will face Man City and Chelsea will face Lille.
Manchester United – who were originally against PSG – will face Atletico Madrid and Liverpool will take on Inter.
Official Champions League last-16 draw
RB Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
Sporting vs Manchester City
Benfica vs Ajax
Chelsea vs Lille
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
Villarreal vs Juventus
Inter vs Liverpool
PSG vs Real Madrid
