Monday’s draw for the Champions League round of 16 was marred by several glitches – with consequences for the Atletico-Bayern pairing.
UEFA general secretary Giorgio Marchetti and competition director Michael Heselschwerdt watched over the draw for the Champions League round of 16 in Nyon on Monday afternoon – in the end, both made mistakes that could still prove to have serious consequences. Will the draw have to be repeated?
England’s record champions Manchester United took centre stage. When group runners-up Villarreal were drawn, Marchetti first correctly instructed Heselschwerdt to put the seven balls of possible round of 16 opponents into the draw pot for “lottery fairy” Andrey Arshavin – only ManUnited, who had already played Villarreal in the group, were not eligible as opponents.
Manchester United were missing from the pot of Atletico opponents
Heselschwerdt, however, put all eight balls at the ready – and Arshavin promptly drew ManUnited. Because Marchetti noticed the faux pas immediately, Arshavin took another ball out of his pot: Manchester City. That solved the little glitch – only in all the confusion, it apparently led to a much bigger one.
When Atletico was drawn as the next club from the pot of unseeded teams, Marchetti made a mistake: He explained that, in addition to Atletico’s group opponents Liverpool, Manchester United was also eliminated as an opponent, especially since “Manchester United had already been drawn”. And so Heselschwerdt did not put the United ball ready for Arshavin, but – even worse – that of Liverpool FC.
In the end, Atletico – who could also have faced Ajax Amsterdam, Lille and Juventus – caught FC Bayern. Man United, however, should have been among the possible round of 16 opponents according to UEFA regulations. But coach Ralf Rangnick’s team was only drawn as Paris St. Germain’s opponents at the end.
It is still unclear what UEFA’s reaction to this glitch will be. A new draw at least does not seem to be completely ruled out.
