The new draw for the round of 16 of the Champions League has resulted in an interesting clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, while Atlético Madrid awaits a meeting with Manchester United. Cup holder Chelsea will cross swords with Lille OSC in February 2022.
The draw will hit Real Madrid like a bomb. The Royal was originally linked to Benfica, but UEFA canceled that draw due to mistakes. Real took the position that the meeting with Benfica should be left standing, because it took place before the mistakes made. However, UEFA did not agree. Florentino Pérez, the president of Real, spoke according to Goal of a shame.
Huge mistakes were made in the original draw on Monday 12 noon. Less than two hours later, UEFA decided that the draw should be over. The original draw was found to have made some mistakes, which the European Football Association blamed on “a technical problem with a third-party service provider’s software instructing officials which teams to meet.”
The first legs in the eighth finals will be played on February 15, 16, 22 and 23, after which the returns are scheduled on 8, 9, 15 and 16. The seeded teams start with a home game and end the eighth finals with an away game.
The full draw:
Red Bull Salzburg (East) – Bayern Munich (Ger)
Sporting Portugal (Por) – Manchester City (Eng)
Benfica (Por) – Ajax
Chelsea (Eng) – Lille OSC (Fra)
Atletico Madrid (Spa) – Manchester United (Eng)
Villarreal (Spa) – Juventus (Ita)
Internazionale (Ita) – Liverpool (Eng)
Paris Saint Germain (Fra) – Real Madrid (Spa)