PSGs Kylian Mbappe with Lionel Messi. AP
The Champions League last 16 draws were finally announced on Monday after a technical error earlier in the day forced Uefa to conduct the event again.
According to the new set of fixtures, Paris Saint-Germain will face Real Madrid in the last 16 stage, while Manchester United will clash with Atletico Madrid.
In the first draw, which was cancelled, United were mistakenly drawn with Villarreal even though both teams had already faced each other in the group stage.
PSG were then paired with Manchester United while Atletico drew Bayern Munich. However, the draw was scrapped after the Spanish side complained and Uefa admitted the error.
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 will be redone.
Uefa deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti apologised for the mistake.
"As many of you will have noticed there were some errors made in the original draw caused by a malfunction of the software which went through an outside provider to tell us which teams are eligible to be drawn against each other," he said.
"After the draw the external independent auditor couldnt guarantee the problem with the IT did not exist from the start and as a result the full draw needs to be redone."
According to the previous schedule, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were going to face off in one of the most anticipated clashes of the year.
Instead, Messi will now face Real Madrid, against whom he has scored 26 times in all competitions when he was at Barcelona.
Uniteds Ronaldo, meanwhile, will face Atletico having scored 25 goals against them for Real and Juventus.
Defending champions Chelsea will face Lille, just as in the original draw, while six-times champions Bayern Munich face RB Salzburg - the first Austrian side to qualify for the knockout stages.
Last years runners-up Manchester City take on Sporting Lisbon while Juventus play Villarreal. Liverpool take on Inter Milan with another trip to the San Siro after Jurgen Klopps side beat AC Milan twice in the group stage.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/24677
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