Officials at UEFA were red faced at 12 Noon on Monday when they were forced to reveal that they had made an almighty mess of a draw, which had already prompted headlines of a reunion of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when PSG were pitched against Manchester United in the Champions League Round of 16.
The problem arose when the bunglers in Switzerland mistakenly put Liverpool in a pot with Atletico Madrid, a club they had already faced in the group stages, while initially leaving Manchester United out of the pot of winners. And then the Red Devils were originally drawn out to face Villarreal, having already played the Yellow Submarine at the group phase.
What a joke!
Real Madrid bosses didn’t see the funny side of it though; they had landed a handy draw against Benfica and called the situation ‘a scandal’. And when Los Blancos drew PSG in the second draw I suspect everyone at the Bernabeu were pretty much furious! The Champions League 2021 betting odds here at SBOTOP have consistently placed the Parisiens as one of the teams best placed to challenge FC Bayern and Manchester City for the 2022 Champions League title.
Over at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola was more philosophical about the situation; the Sky Blues had drawn Villarreal at the first attempt and he simply repeated that City were happy to be in the draw. And it worked out pretty well for the English champions as they drew Sporting Lisbon when the second draw was made.
The re-draw worked out well for FC Bayern who were originally pitched against Atletico Madrid in a mouth-watering tie; but Julian Nagelsmann’s side will face Red Bull Salzburg instead. Los Rojiblancos are matched with Manchester United, and it would be interesting to see how the two managers view that outcome. Both will be relatively happy I suspect, Diego Simeone will fancy his chances to be higher against the Red Devils than they would have been against the Bundesliga champions. Equally, Ralf Rangnick might be happy to have avoided PSG for now, though Atleti are very tough opponents.
Dutch giants Ajax had a sensational set of Champions League 2021 results, winning all six of their Group C games as Seb Haller scored ten goals, and they now face Benfica who finished second in Group E, ten points behind FC Bayern and a single point ahead of Barcelona.
Villarreal will face Juventus and Inter Milan are pitched against Liverpool, while the only tie which remained untouched from the first attempt sees Chelsea take on French champions Lille.
English clubs mixed emotions
Fans the length and breadth of Europe were on the edge of their seats for three hours rather than 20 minutes, as they had to wait for the re-run, and in England, where four teams were in the hat, there were some fascinating developments. I’d say there was one winner, one loser and two clubs shrugging their shoulders when the final draw emerged out of the chaos.
Chelsea fans were cursing their luck initially when it seemed they’d lost the chance to play Lille who were surprise winners of Ligue 1 last season but currently sit in 11th place and 20 points behind leaders PSG after 18 games. But the European Champions were smiling again when Lille popped up again.
For Manchester City, a swap of Villarreal for Sporting Lisbon won’t have caused any meltdown; the Sky Blues would expect to beat both comfortably.
Across the road at Old Trafford, the Red Devils will be relieved to have avoided PSG, though Atletico will still be a very tough opponent, but Liverpool fans and officials may not be so pleased. Having initially drawn Red Bull Salzburg, Jurgen Klopp’s men now face Scudetto holders and Serie A leaders Inter Milan, who pushed Real Madrid close to finish second in Group D.
The confirmed Draw
So for the avoidance of any confusion here is the full draw:
Red Bull Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
Sporting Lisbon vs Man City
Benfica vs Ajax
Chelsea vs Lille
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
Villarreal vs Juventus
Inter Milan vs Liverpool
PSG vs Real Madrid
The 2021/22 Champions League final takes place on Saturday 28th May in St Petersburg Russia, while the Round of 16 first leg ties will take place on February the 15th and 16th and the second legs will be complete a week later.
Once the Round of 16 fixtures have been completed and we’re down to the last eight, the draw for the quarter-finals, semis and final will take place on 18th March. Maybe UEFA should outsource that draw to someone who knows what they’re doing!
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