Champions League draw declared void after technical error impacted Premier League sides

The Champions League round of 16 draw had to be declared void and entirely redone after a technical problem

As six Premier League clubs prepare to discover their Champions League round of 16 opponents, including Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, supporters will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the chaos witnessed in 2021. Back then, the draw had to be scrapped and redone in full following a technical issue.

The competition still had its old group stage in the 2021/22 season, rather than the league phase structure, which came into force in 2024. This meant the draw for the round of 16 took place in December, with the first phase already concluded.

Chelsea were the only London club representing the Premier League at Europe's top table that season. Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool also qualified for the competition, with all progressing from their respective groups before complications arose at the draw.

United were incorrectly included as possible opponents for Villarreal in the opening knockout round - a pairing that should have been prohibited, given the teams had finished first and second in the same group. On top of this, Ralf Rangnick's side were mistakenly omitted from the pool of teams who could be drawn against Atletico Madrid.

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The first time around, United were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in what would have been a repeat of a fixture from the same stage of the 2018/19 competition. Atleti were drawn against Bayern Munich initially but identified the error and alerted UEFA to the situation.

"We are speaking to UEFA to check for an explanation and resolution after the errors committed during the Champions League round-of-16 draw," the club said. Ultimately, UEFA determined the only course of action was to scrap the original draw and start over.

"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 spokesperson for the governing body stated. "As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone at 3 p.m. CET (9 a.m. ET/ 2 p.m. GMT),".

When proceedings were repeated, three of the four English sides received different opposition. Chelsea were paired with Lille on both occasions, representing the sole tie from the original eight that remained unchanged.

Liverpool were handed Inter Milan having initially been set to face Red Bull Salzburg, while both Manchester clubs also found themselves making new plans. United were drawn against Atleti, while Manchester City's adversaries switched from Villarreal to Sporting CP.

All group winners had the advantage of playing the second leg at home, with United welcoming Atleti back to Manchester after a 1-1 draw in Spain. They couldn't complete the job, though, with Renan Lodi's winner at Old Trafford sending Diego Simeone's side through.

Atleti's journey concluded at the subsequent stage, also by the slenderest of margins. They suffered a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City in the opening encounter and were restricted to a scoreless stalemate upon returning to Estadio Metropolitano.

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