UEFA Champions League last of 16 matches are here

The draw for the next knock out stages of the Champions League had to take place twice, an unprecedented situation, after Manchester United was assigned in error to another ballot box.

The ‘Red Devils’ were mistakenly drawn as opponents of the spanish team Villarreal, although both teams have already faced each other in the group stage. Shortly after, the Premier League club ball was no longer placed in the ballot box with Atletico Madrid's opponents.

According to the new draw, Real Madrid will face PSG! In the first draw, the "Galactics" were given a confrontation with Benfica Lisbon.

"We apologize for repeating the draw. Some errors have been made due to the software telling us which teams can meet in this phase. Thus, the process will restart. We will now check every possible match options ", said Giorgio Marchetti, UEFA's Under-Secretary-General, before the start of the second draw. UEFA has appointed a man to check software choices in real time.

The strongest duel will be between PSG and Real Madrid. The Iberian team, which opposed the re-draw, was originally scheduled to play against Benfica, but will now face Messi, Neymar and Mbappe! In a final-like match!

Bayern Munich were lucky a second time. They will now play with FC Salzburg, although they were first paired with Atletico Madrid. Benfica were also lucky and now will play against Ajax.

Compared to the first draw, only one match was kept: Chelsea - Lille.

So let’s check the next UEFA Champions League matches: FC Salzburg - Bayern Munich, Sporting - Manchester City, Benfica - Ajax, Chelsea - Lille, Atletico Madrid - Manchester United, Villarreal - Juventus, Inter - Liverpool, PSG - Real Madrid.

The first leg matches will be played on February 15th-16th and 22nd-23rd, the second leg will take place on March 8th-9th and 15th-16th.

If we look at the matches from the first draw, a few teams got lucky second time: Benfica - Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid - Bayern Munich, Inter - Ajax, Chelsea - Lille, Villarreal - Manchester City, PSG - Manchester United, Sporting - Juventus, FC Salzburg - Liverpool.

The Spanish press reports that Real Madrid is challenging UEFA's repeat draw, which is considered a "blatant and inadmissible mistake". Moreover, the club in the Spanish capital has information that it was not a software error, as claimed by UEFA.

Real Madrid claims that the draw should have been resumed from the point where the mistake was made, so definitely after it was established that Real Madrid and Benfica Lisbon will be opponents in the next stage. The brand notes that there is a minimal chance that the Real Madrid club's approach will be taken into account by UEFA, given the relations between Florentino Perez and the UEFA management, after his initiative to establish the European Super League.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had a reaction worthy of his job. The German says UEFA made the right decision when it canceled the first draw:

"I had to wait 54 years to have the opportunity to go on San Siro and now I will do it twice in three months. Inter is a difficult opponent, it is the leader in Italy and plays very well. It is a match worthy of this Champions League stage, everything is fine and I look forward to this duel.

I saw live the error from the draw, it was the right decision to sort things out. They couldn't leave things like that, under any circumstances! The draw had to be repeated, definitely. It was the right decision, "Klopp told the club's website.

Champions League ties take place over two legs, with seeded teams at home in the second legs. The so-called ‘away goal’ rule has been removed now, so results that level after 180 minutes will go to extra time irrespective of the number of goals each team has scored at home and away. If the teams still cannot make the difference after the additional 30 minutes, the tie goes to a penalty shoot-out.

The Gazprom Arena from Saint Petersburg will host the great final of the 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League competition, with the final match scheduled for 28th of May 2022.