Berlin, December 13 (BNA): Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo face trips to Madrid instead of playing each other in the round of 16 of the Champions League, after the draw was repeated on Monday due to a flaw in the initial procedures.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Messi faces a record-breaking 13-times champion Real Madrid and Manchester United Ronaldo, their fickle rivals Atletico Madrid, according to the Associated Press.
Both stars will know their opponents well as Ronaldo played nearly a decade at Real Madrid and Messi spent his entire career at Barcelona until last summer.
Real won their last date in the same round in 2018, and the two teams also met in the 2019-20 group stage, where Paris Saint-Germain won 3-0 at home and drew 2-2 at the Bernabéu.
The match also sees long-time Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos play against the club he left for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, while Paris Saint-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has been a long-time target of Real Madrid.
The original toss was between the two icons against each other but was declared void because the teams were not properly placed in pots as part of the complex lottery procedures.
This appeared early on when United were originally drawn to face Villarreal which was not possible because they played in the same group, just as teams from the same domestic league were unable to meet.
UEFA then canceled the vote, saying: “After a technical issue with an external service provider’s software directing officials to teams eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw.”
The new draw did not make any difference for the defending champions Chelsea, as they were tied again to face Lille, the French who are considered the weakest team.
Meanwhile, six-times champions Bayern Munich will be happy to avoid their original date with Atletico and get their last 16 players for the first time in Salzburg instead on a short trip to Austria.
Bayern beat Salzburg 6-2 3-1 in the group stage last season, and while naming the Austrian a “very young and talented team” team boss Oliver Kahn said: “Of course we are the favourites in both games. We are looking forward to the duels.”
Salzburg was originally scheduled to play with Liverpool, who now face an even more difficult task in dueling the former winners against Italian champions Inter Milan, who defeated them at the same stage in 2008.
England champions Manchester City seem to have achieved a nice equalizer by beating Sporting Portugal, while Benfica faces Lisbon rivals Ajax in another duel for the previous winners, and Villarreal plays Juventus.
Benfica had originally drawn with Real and the Spaniards will now feel tough against PSG Messi who, like City, is still waiting for his first title in the elite event.
The first leg matches will be played on February 15-16 and 22/23 with the first leg matches on March 8 and 9 and 15/16. Final on May 28 in St Petersburg.
As of this season, the away goals rule is no longer in effect, which means that all tie-breakers on aggregate after 90 minutes in the second leg go into overtime.
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