Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will not be renewing their old rivalry in the Champions League after all, as Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain were separated after Monday’s original draw for the last 16 in Nyon had to be redone.
Messi’s PSG were instead drawn to face Real Madrid in another blockbuster tie. The French giants had finished second in their group, so a tough outing was anyway on the cards.
Defending champions Chelsea, who slipped up on the final day of group play, got French club Lille in both versions of the draw.
United will now face Atletico Madrid, while Liverpool were drawn to face Italian giants Inter Milan.
Here’s the UCL 2021-22 round of 16 draw (updated):
The first legs of the round of 16 are scheduled to be played on February 15, 16, 22 and 23, with the return legs on March 8, 9, 15 and 16.
This season’s Champions League final will be played in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on May 28.
An embarrassed Uefa was forced to redo Monday’s draw following a “technical problem”.
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.”
PSG had initially been paired together with Manchester United but the reworked draw sees them play Real while the Old Trafford side will face Spanish champions Atletico Madrid, who were reportedly frustrated by the mistakes in the draw earlier.
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.
With the draw being streamed live from Uefra’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.
Record 13-time European champions Real are unlikely to be happy with the new draw as they had initially been paired with Benfica in the very first tie before the problems occurred – a clash with the PSG of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is, on paper, a far tougher tie.
Liverpool face a similar situation. Having 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 Bayern Munich, while Manchester City take on Sporting Lisbon and Benfica will play Ajax.
Villarreal face Juventus, while the one tie in the original, botched draw that was repeated later sees reigning champions Chelsea face French title-holders Lille.
New UCL R16 draw:
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
(With AFP inputs)
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