It’s almost astonishing that this has not happened the other years. Between geographic and sporting restrictions (two clubs from the same country or from the same group cannot compete), the draw for the knockout stages of C1 is sometimes a puzzle.
This Monday, everything seemed to go perfectly after the draw of the first poster: Benfica-Real Madrid. But while Villarreal were the second “non-seeded” team drawn, it was Manchester United who were assigned as their opponents. A mistake since the two clubs faced each other in the group stage.
Another team was then drawn to face the Spaniards: Manchester City. And in the process, the draw continued as if nothing had happened with Atlético Madrid who faced Bayern Munich. Problem: it seems that no “Manchester United” ball has been poured into the bowl of potential opponents Atlético. What a reporter for the British media outlet “The Independent” remarked: “It seems that Manchester United’s ball, in the second pot of the back row from the right, was not included in the draw. of Atlético Madrid “.
The bad buzz only took a few minutes to erupt and the teams concerned, Atlético (who had inherited from Bayern) and Villarreal (who were to face Manchester City) in the lead, put pressure on UEFA to remake this draw. Conversely, Real Madrid asked that their match against Benfica be maintained since the error occurred after the Lisbon players were awarded to them.
Finally, UEFA communicated at 1:44 p.m. that the draw would be completely redone at 3 p.m. “Due to a technical issue with software from an external service provider that tells officials which teams are eligible to play others, a material error occurred during the draw. As a result, the draw was declared void and will be completely redone at 3:00 p.m., “UEFA wrote on its website.
