Own goal as UEFA announces Champions League redraw after mistake

AAP
Dec 13, 2021, updated Dec 14, 2021

Lawyers for English Premier League giants Manchester United are looking at ways of splitting up with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after his explosive interview. Photo: EPA

Having originally drawn Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United against Lionel Messi’s Paris St Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League UEFA has announced it will redo the draw after a mistake in the process.

Confusion began when United was first erroneously drawn against Villarreal – a side it had already been paired with in Group F.

UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti apologised for the “technical issue our draw is experiencing” before asking former Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin to try again, and this time it was neighbours Manchester City that were paired with the Yellow Submarine.

When Atletico Madrid were the next side to be drawn, Marchetti said: “For Atletico Madrid, the possibility are all [teams] except for Liverpool, who was in the same group, and Manchester United as they were already drawn.”

But as United’s drawing was a mistake, it should still have been potential opponents for Atletico.

UEFA’s head of club competitions Michael Heselschwerdt began collecting balls to put in the pot, but compounded the error by appearing to take a ball from Liverpool’s pot rather than United’s.

Atletico was ultimately handed a tough draw against six-time winners Bayern Munich

The Spanish champions then tweeted they had asked Uefa for ‘explanations and solution after the mistakes made’ in the draw.

Ninety minutes after the draw began UEFA said they would redraw at 1500 Central European Time (0100 AEDT).

Teams who played in the same group cannot play each other in the last 16.

The first legs are scheduled to take place on February 15-16 and February 22-23, while the second legs will be played on March 8-9 and March 15-16.