Champions League draw controversy

The Champions League group stages came to an end, meaning that it was time for the round of 16 draw to take place, with the top two teams in each group being put against each other. The original draw was performed on the 13th of December which saw these teams going up against each other:

Benfica – Real Madrid

Villareal – Manchester City

Atlético – Bayern

RB Salzburg – Liverpool

Inter – Ajax

Sporting – Juventus

Chelsea – Lille

PSG – Manchester United

However, after a supposed mistake in the performance of the draw, it was repeated. This was due to when Manchester United were being drawn, Atletico Madrid were not in the pot, even though it was one of the possible opponents. The original draw was at 10:00 CET while the repeat was at 15:00 CET. After the redraw, these are the official games ahead of the round of 16:

Benfica – Ajax

Villareal – Juventus

Atlético – Manchester United

RB Salzburg – Bayern

Inter – Liverpool

Sporting – Manchester City

Chelsea – Lille

PSG – Real Madrid

UEFA has had some controversy before with draws. There was a rumor circling around a couple of years ago where they used warm and cold balls to distinct teams and therefore rig draws. UEFA is far from a “clean” organization as they are always involved in such rumours and problems like these. As of now, these games will take place and hopefully this sort of thing will not happen again. These games will be played in February and March and the final will be played in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on the 28th of May.