THE CHAMPIONS League draw has been RE-DRAWN – with Manchester United now facing Atletico Madrid.
Uefa chiefs investigated the original draw after a mix up involving United’s ball.
The Red Devils had drawn PSG in the initial draw.
Elsewhere, Chelsea face Lille, Liverpool meet Inter Milan and Man City taking on Sporting Lisbon.
- TV/ live stream: BT Sport/ BT Sport YouTube
- First legs: February 15/16/22/23
- Second legs: March 8/9/15/16
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Follow ALL of the latest from the draw below…
UEFA GAFFE
Uefa have been slated after botching today’s Champions League last-16 draw.
One fan joked: “I’m moving to the Super League. Adios.”
While another noted: “Why are Arsenal fans commenting on European Competitions?”
A third quipped: “Software? Literally just a dude manually putting out the balls.”
FANDEMIC
Fans were left fuming after being hit in the pocket by Uefa’s decision to conduct a re-draw this afternoon.
That’s because many had already booked flights following the initial pairings on Monday morning.
A Real Madrid supporter moaned: “I already booked my ticket to Lisbon, pay me back with damages.”
While a Man United fan protested: “I cant believe it, me and my friends have booked tickets to paris due to the Champions league draw, and now you are telling me I wasted £150 on flights and hotels due to the corrupt uefa.”
DE GEA COMEBACK
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea is set for a return to his former home as well.
De Gea will be facing his ex-club Atletico Madrid in the Champions League’s Last 16.
The Spain international graduated from Atletico’s academy and was called up to the senior squad in 2009.
The 31-year-old was then signed by United two years later
RAMOS RETURNS
Sergio Ramos is set to return to the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League!
But Ramos won’t be donning the Real shirt, neither will he be wearing the captain’s armband.
Instead, the centre-back will be coming back as a Paris Saint Germain player and an opponent for the first time since 2005 when he played for Sevilla.
That is if the 35-year-old isn’t facing any fitness problems and he actually makes Mauricio Pochettino’s squad
REAL RAGE
Real Madrid were unhappy with the decision to redraw, claiming that the error occurred after they had already been redrawn against Benfica.
At least they’ve been given a favourable tie this time.
Oh, sorry.
.Credit: The Mega Agency PANIC STATIONS!
Michael Owen on BT Sport just now spotted what he thought was another blunder.
Villarreal were not given the option of facing Liverpool and nobody was fully sure why. Surely not another balls up?
It was later clarified that Villarreal and Inter Milan could not play Real Madrid and Juventus because of group mixes and country mixes.
Think Michael got that wrong and we can breathe a sigh of relief.
FOR BETTER FOR WORSE
All in all, not a huge deal changed for the English teams.
Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea will still be fairly happy with their draws.
Man Utd still have a tough draw. But this time they have Atletico Madrid and not PSG.
ONE MORE TIME FOR LUCK?
I’ve really enjoyed both draws, shall we do it again?
Joking, of course.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW IN FULL
- Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
- Sporting Lisbon vs Man City
- Benfica vs Ajax
- Chelsea vs Lille
- Atletico Madrid vs Man Utd
- Villarreal vs Juventus
- Inter Milan vs Liverpool
- PSG VS Real Madrid
First leg – February 15/16/22/23
Second leg – March 8/9/15/16
PSG VS REAL MADRID
PSG are last out again… and a blockbuster tie for them again!
INTER MILAN VS LIVERPOOL
Jurgen Klopp’s men are off to the San Siro again after playing AC Milan in the group stage.
That could’ve been worse because PSG were still in the hat.
VILLARREAL VS JUVENTUS
ATLETICO MADRID VS MAN UTD
Woah. After Man Utd were apparently excluded from potentially facing Atletico earlier.
A tough tie for Ralf Rangnick’s men, but probably better than PSG.
CHELSEA VS LILLE
It’s happened again. Chelsea have Lille.
A big sigh of relief from all at Stamford Bridge.
BENFICA VS AJAX
SPORTING LISBON VS MAN CITY
Pep won’t be too displeased there. Man City had a good draw before, and they’ve got a good one again.
SALZBURG VS BAYERN MUNICH
First tie out of the hat.
No Liverpool for the Austrian side, they get Bayern instead.
HERE WE GO AGAIN
We’re back again. With an apology from Giorgio Marchetti.
“I apologise for the fact we have had to gather again to do the draw.
“As many of you will have noticed there were some errors made in the initial draw caused by a malfunction in software.”
OK, let’s get on with it now.
TAKE TWO
Come on Andrei, you got this.
.Credit: Getty A REMINDER
The first legs will take place across four nights in February – 15th, 16th, 22nd and 23rd.
Second legs are set for the following month on March 8th, 9th, 15th and 16th.
After that, we’ll have the draw for the last-eight and semis. Let’s hope the Prem teams are still going strong.
Unseeded teams will be home in the first leg, seeded teams home in the second leg.
LET’S GO AGAIN
Right, pretend this morning never happened.
Here are the teams today.
Seeded: Ajax, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Liverpool, Lille, Man City, Man Utd, Real Madrid.
Unseeded: Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Chelsea, Inter Milan, PSG, Salzburg, Sporting Lisbon, Villarreal.
GUARDIOLA REACTS
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola described UEFA’S gaffe as a “fair” mistake.
Guardiola said: “You want an assessment about the draw? It is going to happen again.
“It is fair. It was a mistake. These things can happen, to managers, players and UEFA too.
“It is fair. It would be a mistake not to repeat, there would [be] suspicions”
WHAT WE KNOW
The Champions League draw for the Round of 16 will be redone after an error during the procedure.
First, Villarreal were paired up with Manchester United, whom they faced in the group stage.
And then it appears like United weren’t included in Atletico Madrid’s pot as potential opponents in the Last 16.
Thus, the draw will be done all over and all teams will be eligible, including Real Madrid who were initially drawn with Benfica.
UEFA issued the following 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.
“As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone at 1500 CET (14:00 GMT)”
“DELIGHTED”
Former Manchester United ace Oeen Hargreaves claims his former club will be “delighted” with the draw being redone.
The Red Devils were originally paired up with Paris Saint-Germain.
Hargreaves told BT Sport: “United will be delighted. Let’s see what comes up.
“Some fans are going to be delighted but some will be very annoyed”
LINEKER REACTS
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
