Champions League Round of 16 draw declared void as to be held again at 2pm
The Champions League last-16 draw has been voided and will have to take place again at 2pm after a huge blunder by Uefa.
A decision was made at 12.45pm because Manchester United were not even in the pot when one of the ties was selected.
It meant they could not be paired with Atletico Madrid who were furious after they were then selected to play Bayern Munich and made a successful protest. United were also potentially left with a tougher draw after they were selected to face Paris Saint-Germain.
The confusion happened after United were initially paired to yet again to face Spanish club Villarreal. The tie is, however, prohibited under Uefa rules because both sides faced each other in the group stages – although this was not explained by the organisation’s general secretary Giorgio Marchetti before United’s ball was pulled out.
Instead Marchetti suggested that Villarreal could play any of the group winners left in the competition after the only other Spanish club, Real Madrid – at this stage the draw prohibits clubs from the same national associations facing each other – had already been chosen in the first tie. They would have faced Benfica.
It meant that the former Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin, who was conducting the draw, had to replace United’s ball with Manchester City then selected as Villarreal’s opponents. But it appears this did not happen in time for them to potentially face Atletico and means the whole draw is compromised.
The mix-up was an embarrassment for Uefa, given the importance of the occasion, and it was compounded by a technical error as the ceremony had to wait for City’s name to come up. “Sorry the technical issue,” said a sheepish-looking Marchetti as he apologised.
After the last-16 the quarter-finals is an ‘open draw’ which means teams can face an opponent who they played in the group stages and are no longer prohibited with facing one from the same country as them.
A change in this season’s competition is the removal of the away goals rule. It means ties that are level after 180 minutes will go to extra-time irrespective of the number of goals each team has scored at each venue. If there is no positive result after 30 minutes of extra-time, then the tie will go to a penalty shoot-out.
