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Real Madrid are reportedly furious over UEFA’s shoddy handling of the Champions League last-16 draw after the club initially landed Benfica, only for the tie to be scrapped and replaced with a match against Paris Saint-Germain.
There was major confusion and disruption as an admin error at Monday’s ceremony saw Manchester United pitted against Villarreal, who they had already faced in the group stage.
The draw was subsequently declared void an entirely new set of fixtures were redrawn around three hours later as the eyes of Europe’s elite focussed on Nyon, Switzerland for a second time.
‘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,’ a UEFA statement later explained.
After the initial farce, Ralf Rangnick’s Manchester United side, who progressed as Group F winners, learned they will take on La Liga giants Atletico Madrid for a place in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Champions League holders Chelsea discovered they will face Lille, Manchester City – last year’s runners-up – were drawn against Sporting and Liverpool were handed a tough tie versus Inter Milan.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are set for a heavyweight clash with Ligue 1 giants PSG after being handed a favourable draw against Benfica when the names were first pulled from the hat.
According to ESPN, Madrid are adamant their initial pairing should remain valid and have accused UEFA of lying about a software error disrupting Monday morning’s draw.
‘It is a lie that it was a software error,’ a Madrid source told ESPN.
‘It is human error, beginning with the second pairing. Our pairing [Real Madrid-Benfica] was legal.’
Champions League last-16 draw
Salzburg v…
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Source : metro
