NYON: The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League proved to be an eventful and rather chaotic affair, with Manchester United unwittingly finding themselves at the centre of a European storm after initially being paired with Paris Saint-Germain.

That contest, which would have seen Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi rekindle their long-running rivalry, was eventually wiped out after UEFA admitted to a “technical problem” which forced them to carry out the entire procedure again.

Just one tie had been pulled out of the hat when the last-16 draw descended into farce. Real Madrid had been paired with Benfica, before Villarreal became the third ball to be extracted from a pot of group-stage runners-up.

Ex-Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin then proceeded to unfurl the name of Manchester United, but the Red Devils had already faced supposed La Liga opposition in this season’s competition.

That error was quickly spotted, leading to Manchester City being lined up against Villarreal, but United were not added back in for the next tie to be drawn against Atletico Madrid – as Bayern Munich were handed a heavyweight encounter with Spanish foes.

The draw was eventually completed, with Messi and PSG left until last alongside Ronaldo and United, but concerns were already being raised behind the scenes, with Atletico among those to lodge an official complaint.

UEFA then announced that the initial fixture list was null and void and a redraw would take place.

This time Manchester United were paired with Atletico Madrid in the second attempt at the draw while their initial opponents PSG were paired with Real Madrid.

Holders Chelsea will face French champions Lille, Manchester City take on Sporting Lisbon and Liverpool will meet Inter Milan. Bayern Munich take on Salzburg, Benfica face Ajax and Italian giants Juventus meet Europa League champions Villarreal.

The draw:

Salzburg v Bayern Munich
Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City
Benfica v Ajax
Chelsea v Lille
Atletico Madrid v Manchester United
Villarreal v Juventus
Inter Milan v Liverpool
PSG v Real Madrid

Europa League knockout round play-off draw
.

Sevilla v Dinamo Zagreb
Atalanta v Olympiakos
RB Leipzig v Real Sociedad
Barcelona v Napoli
Zenit St Petersburg v Real Betis
Borussia Dortmund v Rangers
Sheriff Tiraspol v Braga
Porto v Lazio
.

Europa Conference League knockout round play-off draw
.

Marseille v Qarabag
PSV Eindhoven v Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Fenerbahce v Slavia Prague
Midtjylland v POAK
Leicester City v Randers
Celtic v Bodo/Glimt
Sparta Prague v Partizan Belgrade
Rapid Vienna v Tottenham Hotspur or Vitesse Arnhem.

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