Due to serious mishaps, UEFA had to repeat the draw for the Champions League round of 16 – and the result was a feasible draw for FC Bayern.
Not Atletico, but Salzburg. Bayern, who finished first in their Champions League group with 18 out of a possible 18 points, drew the supposedly easier draw in the repeat draw for the round of 16 on Monday afternoon. UEFA had to repeat the draw because of several mistakes.
In February, the Munich team will face the young team of coach Matthias Jaissle with shooting star Karim Adeyemi. In Austria, the serial champions are once again the undisputed leaders, and in the top flight they beat Wolfsburg and Sevilla to finish second behind Lille.
Bayern and Salzburg had already met in the previous top flight season. On the 3rd preliminary round matchday, the Bulls, coached by Jesse Marsch, conceded six goals at home, the FCB won the return match 3:1.
Atletico, Bayern’s original opponents, will now meet Manchester United, who had actually caught Paris. So there will be no duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the time being.
For Messi, there is at least a return to Spain, PSG will have to deal with the Spanish league leaders Real Madrid. Defending champions Chelsea play Lille “again”, Villarreal face Juventus, Sporting ManCity.
Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool FC take on Italian champions Inter, who would probably have preferred to meet Ajax. The Amsterdammers now expect Benfica instead, who qualified second behind Bayern and ahead of Barcelona.