Champions League Trophy on display at Grand Staircase of the Empire State Building. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Champions League round of 16 draw did not go off without a hitch
In an alternate reality, there is a Champions League round of 16 draw where Real Madrid took on Benfica and PSG faced Manchester United. In actual reality, those matches will never take place. At least, not in this year’s edition.
The Champions League round of 16 draw had to be redone it was discovered there were some inconsistencies in where teams were placed and who they could face.
According to The Guardian, the initial draw wrongly pulled out Manchester United to face Villarreal and then excluded from potentially facing Atletico Madrid. Furthermore, Liverpool were placed in the same bowl to face Atletico Madrid but they had already faced them in the group stage.
Everything turned into a bit of a mess where the only reasonable solution was to redo the draw.
Therefore a second draw was done with UEFA placing the blame of the entire ordeal on a “technical problem.”
The first draw had Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo meeting once again. Some may say we were robbed of that while others may say we were given something better as Messi, and PSG, are set to play against Real Madrid.
Alongside Atletico Madrid versus Manchester United, the PSG and Real Madrid match is the standout match of the round of 16.
In addition to Messi taking on a team he is very familiar and has caused a lot of havoc, Sergio Ramos, assuming he is fit, will face off against his former team. Not to mention the storyline surrounding Kylian Mbappé.
He’s long been linked with a move to Real Madrid and was close to joining before the start of the season. The consensus is he’ll join after the end of the season. He’s a PSG player for now and one of the last things he does as a PSG player is help his current team knockout out his soon-to-be-new team.
The fact there was a second draw did not sit well with some clubs. Unsurprisingly, one of those was Real Madrid who had a more favorable match-up the first time around when they were paired with Benfica.
“It is a lie that it was a software error,” a club source told ESPN. “It is human error, beginning with the second pairing. Our pairing [Real Madrid-Benfica] was legal.”
Source: ESPN
Real Madrid’s Emilio Butragueño called the situation regrettable but is looking forward to playing the French giants.
“Having said that, we go into this tie with a lot of excitement. We’re aware of what this competition means for the club and the fans,” he told Real Madrid TV. “We’re also aware of the difficulties, with the quality of players [PSG] have. We believe the team will play two great games. They’ll be fantastic for football.”
Source: ESPN
Real Madrid against PSG may be the most even tie of the round of 16. The other games all have a clear favorite. Madrid are running away with La Liga but have struggled in Europe despite topping their group this season.
PSG came in second behind Manchester City but that shouldn’t be a disappointment. They are also running away with Ligue 1 but have yet to find their stride under Mauricio Pochettino.
But there is no question the talent both of these sides possess. Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr. are two of the best, if not the best, players in Spain. PSG have the aforementioned Mbappé, Messi and Neymar. If Pochettino can get the team gelling, PSG should be one of the favorites to win it all.
There is plenty of time until the round of 16 takes place and many different things can happen. Real Madrid may not have been thrilled with the do over and the fact they got PSG. For the neutral, however, it is the match-up everyone is talking about and the one with the most anticipation.
