Villarreal and Atletico Madrid the victims of botched Champions League draw

NYON, SWITZERLAND - JULY 18: Draw balls are shuffled during the UEFA 2014/15 Champions League third qualifying rounds draw at the UEFA headquarters, The House of European Football, on July 18, 2014 in Nyon, Switzerland. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images for UEFA)

Villarreal were the victims of a botched Champions League draw this afternoon.

The draw for the Champions League Round of 16 was made in Nyon at midday, and the Yellow Submarine, along with Atletico and Real Madrid learned their opponents for the first knockout round.

But the draw didn’t exactly go smoothly.

With Real Madrid already drawn, Villarreal should have been able to draw six of the remaining seven group winners, excluding Manchester United, who were in their group.

But there was an error in the draw, and Villarreal were drawn against Manchester United.

After realising the error, guest Andrey Arshavin was asked to reach back into the bowl to draw another team, and Premier League leaders Manchester City were pulled out.

Who knows if things would have been different if the right team were pulled out first time.

But as it is, Villarreal are left with a very tough draw, and the controversy didn’t end there.

It is also claimed Manchester United weren’t included in Atletico Madrid’s possible opponents, and having ended up with PSG, the Premier League club don’t appear to be happy with the situation.

Tags Champions League Champions League draw Villarreal
La Liga - Club News