JAKARTA - The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League was completed at UEFA headquarters, Switzerland on Monday, December 13.
As a result, several hot matches were presented where the most exciting would be to bring together Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) versus Real Madrid.
The PSG vs Real Madrid match is believed to be exciting and full of prestige. The reason is, in that match there will be an El Clasico-scented war considering that Lionel Messi will return against the club that became his mortal enemy while playing at Barcelona.
Not to mention, at PSG there is former Real Madrid captain, Sergio Ramos who will meet his former colleagues and also his coach, Carlo Ancelloti.
In addition to the star war between PSG vs Real Madrid, the results of this drawing also present another big match between Inter Milan vs Liverpool. Not only that, there is also the Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United duel.
The first legs of the Champions League last 16 will be held on 15, 16, 22 and 23 February 2022. Meanwhile, the second leg of the Champions League last 16 will be played on 8, 9, 15 and 16 March 2022.
Later, the group winners will first play away in the first leg of the Champions League last 16. The winners of the Champions League last 16 will qualify for the quarter-finals which will be played over two legs.
The first legs will be played on April 5 and 6 and the second legs will be on April 12 and 13 2022. The draw for the quarter-finals will be held on March 18, 2022.
Here are the complete draw results for the 2021 Champions League Round of 16:
Round of 16 draw ️Which tie are you most excited for?#UCLdraw | #UCL pic.twitter.com/QvZoT0yxqi
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 13, 2021
UEFA Makes Mistakes and Redraws
The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League was originally held at UEFA headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland on Monday at 18.00 WIB. But, it was repeated again at 21.00 WIB after an error occurred when Manchester United (MU) was paired with Villarreal.
The rules state that opponents in the group stage cannot meet in the first knock-out stage. Manchester United cannot play against Villarreal as the two have already faced each other in the Group F phase, with the English club coming out as group winners.
This error occurred in the third draw. Where at that time will determine who Atletico Madrid's opponent will be.
At that time, Atletico Madrid could no longer face Manchester City and Real Madrid. Because the two teams have been drawn to meet Villarreal and Manchester City.
As a result, Atletico should have been drawn against Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Ajax, Juventus, Lille and MU. However, the video shows that UEFA's Head of Club Competitions, Michael Heselschwerdt, did not enter the MU ball into the draw.
The Manchester United ball was not put in the bowl as a candidate against Atletico Madrid.
United were ultimately drawn against Paris Saint-Germain, while Atletico Madrid met Bayern Munich and the Spanish club said they were in talks with UEFA to seek "an explanation and solution after the mistakes made" in the draw.
"Following a technical issue with software from an external service provider instructing officials as to which team to play against, a material error occurred in the draw for the Champions League Round of 16," UEFA said in a statement.
"As a result, the draw has been declared void and will be fully redone at 14.00 GMT."
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