UEFA had to Redraw their Round of 16. Why?

Last night, most Twitter and football fans worldwide were shocked with the Round of 16 announcements for the UEFA 2021/2022. It goes without saying that this year has been heavy on Football and its fans.

With Ronaldo leaving Juventus and joining Manchester United, Messi left Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain. The world watched in shock as these two players left the places that put their careers on the level that they are recognized for and ventured onto their new possibilities.

But what happened last night was the biggest shock of the year. UEFA announced their Round of 16 draws and created the biggest chaos of the year. There were a few mistakes that were made:

Liverpool was put in the pot with Atletico Madrid. At the same time, Manchester United wasn’t even in it when it should have been visa versa
Manchester United got the most brutal draw against PSG
Manchester United was also drawn against Villarreal even though they had already competed in the group stages

It was after this draw was made public that people went crazy. More than half of the internet was arguing that UEFA was rigged and that at this point, it wasn’t about the game and more about making as much money as they possibly could (kind of like every ICC event containing an India v Pakistan match).

The games between Messi and Ronaldo have always been the most hyped about matches. The El Classico has always been the match that makes the most money, and people had started to claim that it was because of this reason that UEFA wanted to fix a game between Man Utd and PSG.

But it was not only the fans that weren’t happy with this. The club’s managers were also very unhappy with this draw and had started to protest.

Seeing all of this, UEFA announced that their draw had been because of a technicality and that they would have a re-draw. Ultimately, they did, and the new fixtures have everyone happy. But the question remains, how can UEFA make such a blunder?

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