Note: This article has been updated in light of UEFA's announcement that the Champions League round of 16 draw is to be rerun due to a technical error.
The 2021/22 Champions League round of 16 draw was like nothing we'd ever been seen before.
UEFA's annual ritual of drawing out European juggernauts to face each other in the knockout rounds of their premier competition looked to be a straightforward affair in Nyon, Switzerland.
Aborted Champions League draw
We previously reported, along with the rest of the world, the original results of the draw that pitted Cristiano Ronaldo against Lionel Messi as Paris Saint-Germain faced Manchester United.
The remaining fixtures drawn were Benfica vs Real Madrid, Villarreal vs Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, Red Bull Salzburg vs Liverpool, Inter Milan vs Ajax, Sporting CP vs Juventus and Lille vs Chelsea.
However, it was confirmed shortly after the ceremony's conclusion that those match-ups would no longer be standing with errors in the original process calling the integrity and legitimacy of the draw.
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Error in UEFA's original draw
There had initially been confusion when Manchester United appeared to have been drawn against Villarreal, which is impossible as they had played against each other in the group stages.
And that led to fans and pundits alike to duly conclude that United had been unfairly absent from the pot when Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich were drawn against each other earlier in the process.
What followed was a period of general confusion and a growing realisation that UEFA would need to rerun the draw in order to ensure that the Champions League round of 16 was fairly arranged.
UEFA confirm redraw
As such, European football's governing body duly confirmed on Twitter: "Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
"As a result of this, the draw has been declared void and will be entirely redone at 1500 CET."
It's a huge blow for fans who were rubbing their hands together at the prospect of Messi facing Ronaldo, but all the evidence points towards UEFA having made the fairest decision possible.
We'll just have to see wait and see how the redraw compares to the original fixtures because it's inevitable that some clubs will be thanking their lucky stars and others will be ruing their misfortune.
Be sure to stay tuned across the GIVEMESPORT social channels to ensure you get all the updates from UEFA's rearranged Champions League draw.
