The day UEFA had to cancel and redo the Champions League draw

The day UEFA had to cancel and redo the Champions League draw As the football world turns its attention to the Champions League draw this Thursday, August 27, 2026, it is impossible not to think back to one of the biggest blunders in the history of draws. One extra ball, then one forgotten ball. It was December 13, 2021, in Nyon: the draw for the Champions League round of 16. What was supposed to be a smooth, well-rehearsed ceremonial event quickly turned into a fiasco, under the stunned gaze of club officials and viewers around the world. The first blunder came when Villarreal’s ball was drawn. In the bowl containing the potential opponents, Michael Heselschwerdt, UEFA’s director of competitions, mistakenly inserted Manchester United’s ball. The problem: the two clubs had been in the same group and could not face each other! The mistake was corrected on the spot, and Villarreal was ultimately paired with Manchester City. But the chain reaction was only just beginning. A few moments later, when it was time to determine Atlético de Madrid’s opponent: - Manchester United’s ball was forgotten and not put back into the bowl of possible opponents. - Liverpool’s ball was wrongly inserted, even though Liverpool and Atlético had come from the same group. As a result, Atlético was paired with Bayern Munich, while Manchester United was later drawn against Paris Saint-Germain, briefly giving fans the prospect of a Messi-Ronaldo clash. Wronged by this handling error, which deprived them of a one-in-six chance of being drawn against Manchester United, Atlético de Madrid immediately requested an official explanation. Faced with the growing scandal, UEFA explained that the problem stemmed from a technical incident involving the software of an external service provider. The decision came shortly afterward: the initial draw was declared void and redone in full three hours later. This second draw completely reshuffled the deck. PSG, initially paired with Manchester United, was ultimately drawn against Real Madrid, sparking anger from the Madrid side, whose original draw against Benfica had taken place before the errors. This time, Manchester United was paired with Atlético de Madrid. Only the Lille-Chelsea matchup came out exactly the same in both draws! A memorable mix-up that serves as a reminder that before full automation, balls and bowls could still produce plenty of surprises… This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.