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Paris Saint-Germain will play Real Madrid while Liverpool take on Inter Milan in two of the standout ties in the last 16 of the Champions League after an embarrassed UEFA was forced to redo Monday’s draw following a “technical problem”.
PSG had initially been paired together with Manchester United but the reworked draw sees them play Real while the Old Trafford side will face Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.
UEFA had earlier blamed a “material error” due to a “technical problem with the software of an external service provider” as it announced that the draw for the first knockout round of its flagship competition would have to be redone.
With the draw being streamed live from UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the problem was made evident when Manchester United’s name was drawn to face Villarreal, despite the fact the two clubs could not have played one another having been in the same group.
Record 13-time European champions Real are unlikely to be happy with the new draw as they had initially been paired with Benfica in the very first tie before the problems occurred -- a clash with the PSG of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe is, on paper, a far tougher tie.
Liverpool face a similar situation. Having initially been drawn against knockout-phase debutants Red Bull Salzburg of Austria, they now face three-time former winners Inter, the Serie A champions and current Italian league leaders.
Salzburg instead got Bayern Munich, while Manchester City take on Sporting Lisbon and Benfica will play Ajax.
Villarreal face Juventus, while the one tie in the original, botched draw that was repeated later sees reigning champions Chelsea face French title-holders Lille.
The first legs will be played in the second half of February with second legs in early March.
This season’s Champions League final will be played in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg on May 28.
Barcelona to play Napoli in Europa
Barcelona will face Napoli in the Europa League knockout round play-off stage after the Catalan giants crashed out in the Champions League group stage for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
Xavi Hernandez’s Barca will continue their European campaign in the second-tier competition, with the winner of their tie with Napoli advancing to the last 16.
The draw for the play-off round, introduced this season as part of a slimmed-down Europa League format, includes the eight runners-up from the group stage and the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League.
Borussia Dortmund were paired together with Rangers in Monday’s draw, while record six-time winners Sevilla take on Dinamo Zagreb.
Porto will play Lazio and RB Leipzig were drawn alongside Real Sociedad. The first legs will take place on February 17 and the return matches on February 24.
The eight Europa League group winners qualified directly for the round of 16. West Ham United, Monaco, Lyon and Bayer Leverkusen are among those teams.
“I’d say that our glass is completely full: Barcelona v Napoli and then Napoli v Barcelona will be two great matches at Champions League level!” tweeted Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
Napoli and Barca met in the last 16 of the 2019-20 Champions League, with Barca advancing 4-2 on aggregate.
The away goals rule has been removed from this season’s European competitions, so ties level after 180 minutes will go to extra time, and then penalties if needed.
