A UEFA blunder has led to a controversial reworking of the Champions League Round of 16 draw overnight.
The knockout draw had to be redone after Manchester United was wrongly drawn to play Villarreal after being mistakenly placed in the wrong pot.
United and the Spanish club played each other in the group stages meaning they shouldn’t have been drawn to meet in the Round of 16.
The Red Devils were then drawn to play star-studded Paris Saint-Germain, but will now face reigning Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.
UEFA released this statement following the botched draw: “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.”
Stay up to date with all the latest news from SEN. Sign up HERE.
Real Madrid will now face PSG after being initially pitted against Portuguese side Benfica.
Unsurprisingly, the 13-time European champions were left fuming with the new draw.
“It was surprising, shameful and difficult to understand considering millions of viewers were waiting for the draw,” Madrid’s director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueno said.
The Round of 16 ties will take place on February 15-16 and February 22-23. The second legs are then on March 8-9 and March 15-16.
The reworked Champions League Round of 16 draw:
Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
Sporting Lisbon vs Manchester City
Benfica vs Ajax
Chelsea vs Lille
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
Villarreal vs Juventus
Inter Milan vs Liverpool
Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Madrid
The original Champions League Round of 16 draw:
Benfica vs Real Madrid
Villarreal vs Manchester City
Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich
Salzburg vs Liverpool
Inter Milan vs Ajax
Sporting Lisbon vs Juventus
Chelsea vs Lille
Paris Saint-Germain vs Manchester United