UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Pits PSG vs. Real Madrid, Liverpool vs. Inter

Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates with Champions League Trophy in 2019
Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates with Champions League Trophy in 2019. Photo by BPI/REX/Shutterstock (10265937vs)

UEFA Champions League matchups for the round of 16 have been unveiled on Monday, with the draw bringing several high-profile pairings. This includes Ligue 1 powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain playing 13-time UCL winners Real Madrid and Premier League heavyweights Liverpool facing Seria A champions Inter Milan.

The defending UCL champs Chelsea will go against reigning Ligue 1 champs Lille while Manchester City faces Sporting Lisbon. Other matchups include Manchester United vs. Atletico Madrid, Villareal vs. Juventus, Benfica vs. Ajax, and Bayern Munich vs. Red Bull Salzburg.

The draw itself was highly controversial with UEFA opting to redo the drawing due to “technical problem with the software of an external service provider.” Everything started when Manchester United was pitted against Villareal, which was an impossible matchup considering the two sides played together on the group stage.

After this mistake was corrected, another followed when United was omitted from the pool of potential opponents for Atletico Madrid despite this being a possible matchup. Instead, Liverpool was added, who already played Atletico in the group stage and couldn’t play them in the round of 16.

UEFA completed the draw despite hiccups but then opted to have a redo after several teams complained about the legitimacy of the process.

The first legs for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 are set to kick off on February 15th. The second-leg matches are scheduled for early March.