Redoing the Champions League draw: Explaining the mistakes that made the round of 16 have to be redone
In an unprecedented development, UEFA was forced to re-implement the draw for the Champions League round of 16 after errors arose in the initial procedure. That forced the European regulator to rescind the results and request a redraw three hours later.
That first draw included eight matches, including a match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, where Lionel Messi will face Cristiano Ronaldo. But that dream match will be scratched by bugs that UEFA blames on third-party software. Teams from the same group and country were not allowed to face each other under the rules of the tournament, but the software did not appear to have complied with those teams.
Following a technical issue with an external service provider’s software instructing officials on whether teams were eligible to play against each other, a critical error occurred during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw. – UEFA
The error was first seen on live television as Manchester United arrived in the draw of rivals Villarreal. Except Man United shouldn’t have played in the first place since the Red Devils were in the same group as Villarreal. The rules of the game state that teams from the same group or country cannot draw together for Round 16.
Then the media picked out another error. When it came time to select rivals Atletico Madrid for the Round of 16, it was clear that Manchester United were not among the selected teams. Media reports say that Liverpool have instead been booked into the round when it shouldn’t have happened: Liverpool played Atletico Madrid in the group stage.
If Man Utd’s ball isn’t in the pot when Atletico draw with Bayern, that’s a problem for United, Bayern, Atleti and PSG, who will feel that the draw isn’t fair
– Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) December 13, 2021
I don’t understand how UEFA can leave this draw alone. Man Utd ignored the mistake in the draw against Atletico Madrid.
– Raphael Honigstein💙 (@honigstein) December 13, 2021
Manchester United no fue incluido en el sorteo del Atlético Madrid; y el propio Manchester salió en el sorteo del Villarreal, cruce que no podía darse ya que compartieron grupo.
Ojo que se habla de una posible repetición de sorteo.pic.twitter.com/QsF2wMgPG3
– Sudanalytics (@sudanalytics_) December 13, 2021
The fact that Atletico Madrid must ask UEFA to explain “and provide a solution after errors in the draw for the round of 16 Champions League teams.
Estamos en seekaciones con UEFA para pedir explicaciones y una solución Desués de los errores cometidos en el sorteo de octavos de Champions League
– Atlético de Madrid (@Atleti) December 13, 2021
One report claims that Villarreal is also petitioning to redo the draw.
#Villarreal also agreed the draw had to be done again and would fight for that to happen. It clearly affects the integrity of the competition
– Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) December 13, 2021
Teams contacting UEFA about the draw are said to include Real Madrid, who wanted a draw against Benfica. Los Merengues clearly enjoyed their initial draw.
Amid pressure from clubs and pressure from the media, a re-draw is the right thing to do, although there will be some teams that will not be happy by their new draw:
It’s really hard to see that the draw can stand. It actually affected six of the relationships. United were supposed to play Atletico, but Liverpool booked the match instead.
– Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) December 13, 2021
UEFA will have to deal with this situation in some way as there was clearly an error and all the evidence points to Manchester United not being seen as a potential rival to Atlético Madrid when they should be.
– Andrew Cesare (@AndrewCesare) December 13, 2021
If a team is not within part of the draw they should have been, as was the case with Man United for the Atletico draw, they must at least consider redrawing it. #UCLdraw
– James Nalton (@JDNalton) December 13, 2021
I mean, the draw has to be redone, right? That was clearly a huge mistake. Manchester United teamed up with Villarreal for the first time in the round of 16, which didn’t happen, then their ball was not placed in the draw to potentially face Atletico Madrid. #UCL #UCLDraw
– Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) December 13, 2021
