The Champions League Round of 16 draw and redraw fiasco, explained
What a mess.
Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. You may have seen some stuff about the Champions League Round of 16 matchups getting drawn, scrapped and then redrawn and wondered what the heck happened. That’s what we’re here for.
It’s been a weird morning in soccer. The UEFA Champions League is down to its Round of 16, with a draw on Monday to decide the matchups. All went well, everyone was thrilled Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi would face off as Paris Saint-Germain would play Manchester United.
But … then it was all voided and a redraw went down. What happened? Let’s explain: