UEFA was at centre of Champions League draw 'scandal' that left Real Madrid furious

UEFA admitted that a huge error occurred during a past Champions League draw - and it left record winners Real Madrid furious.

Back in December 2021, the draw for the 2021/22 Champions League round of 16 took place - but what should have been a routine event was quickly marred by controversy.

As reported by ESPN at the time, the draw was scheduled as usual before chaos ensued following a computer software malfunction.

Manchester United’s ball was accidentally left out of the pot. Further problems followed when Spanish side Villarreal were drawn from the same pot as the group runners-up and paired with United. At the time, UEFA rules stated that two teams that faced each other in the group stage could not face each other again in the first knockout round.

This caused then-UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti to redraw Villarreal’s opponents. The La Liga outfit were then redrawn against Manchester City.

The Champions League trophy (Credit:Getty)

United’s ball was then reportedly left out of the pot.

Next, Atletico Madrid had their opponents selected from a reduced pool of teams, while United were omitted even though the clubs were eligible to be drawn together.

But the errors did not stop there, as Liverpool and Atletico were included in the pot to face each other despite the sides playing each other in the group stage.

United were then drawn against Paris Saint-Germain, which caused mass excitement among fans due to the prospect of Cristiano Ronaldo - then at United - and Lionel Messi - then at PSG – facing off once more.

However, it later emerged that an error had occurred, resulting in the draw being redone with UEFA declaring it null and void.

A statement released by the body read: “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.

“As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone.”

As you may have expected, several clubs were not pleased with the incident, notably Real Madrid, who were initially paired with Benfica before the redraw saw them drawn against PSG.

Real Madrid have won 15 Champions League crowns (Credit:Getty)

Real Madrid's Director of Institutional Relations Emilio Butragueno described the situation as "surprising, regrettable and very hard to understand, when you take into account the millions of fans who were following the draw."

A Real Madrid source also told ESPN: "It is a lie that it was a software error. It is human error, beginning with the second pairing. Our pairing [Real Madrid-Benfica] was legal."

But the draw did not end up having a negative impact on Los Blancos as they went on to win the competition.