Real Madrid were furious that UEFA allowed the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League to redrawn on Monday afternoon.
Los Blancos had received a favourable tie against Portuguese outfit Benfica before controversy struck later on in the draw on Monday morning.
Manchester United had been handed a mouth-watering last-16 tie against Paris St Germain, but only after being erroneously paired with Villarreal in the first instance and then mistakenly left off the list of possible opponents to face Atletico Madrid.
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After clubs sought clarification from the European governing body on what had happened, UEFA announced the ties would be redrawn at 2pm on Monday.
“Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16,” a statement said.
“As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone at 1500 CET.”
In the re-draw, Real Madrid were given a much trickier clash against French champions Paris Saint-Germain, who can call on the attacking might of Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel di Maria.
Before it was announced that the draw would be redone, French publication L’Equipe claimed that Real Madrid had told UEFA that they must maintain their clash with Benfica.
A tweet from Get French Football News read: ‘Real Madrid have told UEFA they do not want the Champions’ League draw to be redone & that if it is, UEFA must maintain their clash with Benfica, as the errors in the draw happened after Los Blancos were drawn against the Portuguese side, according to L’Équipe.’
Real Madrid have told UEFA they do not want the Champions’ League draw to be redone & that if it is, UEFA must maintain their clash with Benfica, as the errors in the draw happened after Los Blancos were drawn against the Portuguese side, according to L’Équipe.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 13, 2021
Real ‘protested unsuccessfully’ over UEFA maintaining their original tie against Benfica but it’s understood that ‘further protests seem likely’ after they were drawn against PSG in the re-draw.
Get French Football News added: ‘Real Madrid will not be happy with the new draw. Having seen their game with Benfica in the initial draw drawn before the mistakes happened, protested unsuccessfully that the tie should stand and then been drawn with PSG in the new draw, further protests seem likely.’
Real Madrid will not be happy with the new draw. Having seen their game with Benfica in the initial draw drawn before the mistakes happened, protested unsuccessfully that the tie should stand and then been drawn with PSG in the new draw, further protests seem likely.
— Get French Football News (@GFFN) December 13, 2021
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