The lead story of today’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw was of course the redraw, and the reasons why we needed to have a redraw in the first place. Go here for more on that. UEFA director Giorgio Marchetti said ahead of the redraw: “I apologise we have had to redraw to do the round-of-16 draw. There were some errors made in the original draw.”
An overlooked storyline on Monday was the Chelsea vs. Lille match-up, as it will feature two USMNT star forwards going head to head in Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and Lille’s Tim Weah.
UCL Round of 16 Draw
FC Salzburg vs. Bayern Munich
Sporting CP vs. Manchester City
Benfica vs. Ajax
Chelsea vs. Lille
Atletico Madrid vs. Manchester United
Villarreal vs. Juventus
Inter vs. Liverpool
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Real Madrid
Wow! The GOATs face each other in the #UCL round of 16!!!
Pulisic vs Weah ?????? #USMNT pic.twitter.com/iQnzxC3gm8
— USMNT ?? Thoughts (@USMNT_Thoughts) December 13, 2021
Weah is the son of former professional soccer player, Ballon d’Or winner, and President of Liberia, George Weah. Pulisic is the first true American star player, for a really big club in a big five league, ever. He’s also the first American to play in/win a Champions League clash.
Group winners will be away in the first leg, with ties to be played on Feb. 15-16 and Feb. 22-23. Return legs will be played on March 8-9 and March 15-16.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.