The draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 will be "entirely redone" after a technical error, European football's governing body UEFA confirmed Monday, declaring the original draw void.
Manchester United was mistakenly drawn with Villarreal, even though both teams faced each other in the group stage while the Premier League side's ball was not added to the bowl as a potential opponent for Atletico Madrid.
We are in talks with UEFA to ask for explanations and a solution after the mistakes made in the Champions League round of 16 draw.
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) December 13, 2021
United was eventually drawn with Paris Saint-Germain while Atletico drew Bayern Munich and the Spanish side had said it was in talks with UEFA seeking "explanations and a solution after the mistakes made" in the draw.
"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," UEFA said in a statement.
"As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone at 1500 CET."
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.
— UEFA (@UEFA) December 13, 2021
The last 16 ties will be played in February and March.
UEFA blamed a "material error" due to a "technical problem with the software of an external service provider" as it announced that the draw for the first knockout round of its flagship competition would be redone at 2 p.m.GMT.
