UEFA have confirmed that the Champions League last 16 will be redrawn after an error involving Manchester United in the initial draw.
Man United’s ball was incorrectly included in the pot to face Villarreal during the first draw on Monday, despite clubs from the same group being exempt from facing each other.
UEFA ambassador Andrey Arshavin was conducting the draw and proceeded to pick out Manchester United’s ball against Villarreal, highlighting the mistake.
The errant ball was then not returned to the pot for the next tie, which saw Atletico Madrid drawn against Bayern Munich.
Atletico subsequently complained to UEFA about the mistake, and Europe’s governing body has now confirmed that the initial draw has been declared void and will be redone at 2pm GMT.
“Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16,” read a statement from UEFA.
“As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone at 1500 CET.”
Manchester City were the team eventually drawn against Villarreal, while Liverpool and Chelsea were due to face Red Bull Salzburg and Lille respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Manchester United, meanwhile, were drawn against Lionel Messi‘s Paris Saint-Germain after being returned to the pot, but all of those ties will now need to be redrawn.
Real Madrid had requested that their tie with Benfica be allowed to stand as it was drawn before the mistake took place, but they too will be back in the pot for the redraw.
Inter Milan vs. Ajax and Sporting Lisbon vs. Juventus are the other two ties to be affected by the mix-up.
