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UEFA Made An Absolute Mess Of The Champions League Last-16 Draw

UEFA Made An Absolute Mess Of The Champions League Last-16 Draw
Gary Connaughton
By Gary Connaughton
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The draw for the Champions League last-16 was made earlier today, and while it was a fairly underwhelming affair, there was a couple of standout ties.

Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich had the potential to be an explosive affair, but there is no doubt that the most eye-catching tie was PSG vs Manchester United. That would be a big one at the best of times, with the presence of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch together adding a new dimension.

Here was the draw in full.

However, none of it matters now after it was confirmed that the draw would have to be redone.

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It certainly did seem like UEFA made a mess of their process, with Manchester United supporters particularly peeved.

The issue came early on in the draw when United were drawn to play Villarreal. Of course, these two teams met in the group stages and this would not have been possible if the draw was carried out correctly. Manchester City were then paired against the Spanish side instead.

The issue was compounded further when drawing the balls for the next tie. Atletico Madrid were drawn out of the unseeded bowl, but Manchester United's ball was seemingly not put back into the pot as their opponents were selected, with Liverpool being included instead (but not selected in the end)

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You can watch the incident below.

This essentially means that not all teams had the opportunity to be paired with potential eligible opponents.

In fact, there seemed to be three errors during this period.

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The fact that United would go on to be paired with PSG a few moments later only added insult to injury.

Due to this issue, some believed that the entire draw would have to be redone.

That indeed turned out to be the case.

There was certainly a common theme among the complaints from United fans.

It was soon confirmed that a second draw would be held, with the first one entirely voided.

An absolute shambles from UEFA.

SEE ALSO: Steven Gerrard Aims Incredible Dig At Michael Owen After Anfield Return

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