PSG Get Real, Man Unt vs. Atletico in Revised Champions League Last-16 Draw

UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti draws out the card of Paris St Germain during the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 Round of 16 Draw at the UEFA headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland, Dec. 13, 2021. (Reuters)
UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti draws out the card of Paris St Germain during the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 Round of 16 Draw at the UEFA headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland, Dec. 13, 2021. (Reuters)
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PSG Get Real, Man Unt vs. Atletico in Revised Champions League Last-16 Draw

UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti draws out the card of Paris St Germain during the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 Round of 16 Draw at the UEFA headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland, Dec. 13, 2021. (Reuters)
UEFA Deputy General Secretary Giorgio Marchetti draws out the card of Paris St Germain during the UEFA Champions League 2021/22 Round of 16 Draw at the UEFA headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland, Dec. 13, 2021. (Reuters)

Paris St Germain will face Real Madrid in a titanic clash in the last 16 of the Champions League while Manchester United take on Atletico Madrid after UEFA declared the original draw void due to a technical error in the process on Monday.

Earlier, United were mistakenly drawn with Villarreal, even though both teams had already faced each other in the group stage while the Premier League side's ball was not added to the bowl as a potential opponent for Atletico Madrid.

United were eventually drawn with PSG, Real drew Benfica, while Atletico drew Bayern Munich before the draw was scrapped after the Spanish side complained and UEFA admitted the error caused by a "technical problem with the software".

"It was surprising, unfortunate and very difficult to understand what happened... Millions of people were waiting for the draw," Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno told the club's television channel.

"Having said that, we go into this tie with a lot of excitement... We're also aware of the difficulties, with the quality of players (PSG) have. We believe the team will play two great games, they'll be fantastic for football."

PSG's initial draw with United was a much anticipated battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi -- the competition's two top goal scorers and winners of 12 of the last 13 Ballon d'Or awards, with Messi leading 7-5 after victory in 2021.

Instead, Messi will now face a familiar opponent in Real Madrid, against whom he has scored 26 times in all competitions when he was at Barcelona.

Real Madrid had also attempted to prise French forward Kylian Mbappe from PSG in the close season but ultimately failed after the Ligue 1 side rejected their bids.

United's Ronaldo, meanwhile, will relish a tie against Spanish champions Atletico having scored 25 goals against them for Real and Juventus.

'They had to do it again'

Liverpool take on Inter Milan with another trip to the San Siro after Juergen Klopp's side beat AC Milan twice in the group stage.

"I had to wait 54 years to play at the San Siro for the first time... and now it'll be twice in three months, so that's good news," Klopp told the Liverpool website.

"Of course, it is a tough draw, definitely. They are the league leaders in Italy; a good team in a good moment."

Klopp added UEFA did the right thing in redoing the draw.

"I saw it live and I thought, 'You cannot let it stand like this, there's no chance.' Definitely, they had to do it again."

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola also agreed a redraw was the right course of action.

"I think it's fair," he said. "It was a mistake and these kind of things sometimes happen... (a redraw) makes sense so there are no suspicions."

Last year's runners-up City face Sporting Lisbon while Juventus, who topped their group above Chelsea, face Villarreal.

Holders Chelsea will face French champions Lille, just as they were drawn in the original draw, while six-times champions Bayern Munich will now face RB Salzburg -- the first Austrian side to qualify for the knockout stages.

Benfica will now play high-flying Ajax Amsterdam who impressed in the group stage by winning all six matches.

UEFA also experienced technical issues while conducting the third-tier Conference League draw later.

The botched process was reminiscent of the 1982 World Cup draw where then-FIFA general secretary Sepp Blatter attempted to prevent any of the four South American qualifiers from being placed in the same group.

However, FIFA did not stick to the procedure they had outlined and placed teams drawn in the wrong groups, leading to confusion among those assembled at the Madrid venue.

One of the spinning cages used to mix the balls also broke down during the redraw and caused further embarrassment.



Sudan Beat Equatorial Guinea for Rare AFCON Win

A woman poses for picture in front of AFCON 2025 symbol outside the Fan Zone in Marrakech city on December 25, 2025, during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football tournament. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)
A woman poses for picture in front of AFCON 2025 symbol outside the Fan Zone in Marrakech city on December 25, 2025, during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football tournament. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)
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Sudan Beat Equatorial Guinea for Rare AFCON Win

A woman poses for picture in front of AFCON 2025 symbol outside the Fan Zone in Marrakech city on December 25, 2025, during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football tournament. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)
A woman poses for picture in front of AFCON 2025 symbol outside the Fan Zone in Marrakech city on December 25, 2025, during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football tournament. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

Sudan boosted their chances of qualifying for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations after a Saul Coco own goal gave them a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea on Sunday.

Unlucky Torino center-back Coco saw the ball come off him and ricochet into the net in the 74th minute in Casablanca when his teammate Luis Asue attempted to clear a Sudan free-kick, AFP reported.

Sudan won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1970 but this is just their second victory in 18 matches across six appearances at the tournament since then.

They lie 117th in the FIFA world rankings, compared to Equatorial Guinea in 97th.

The win leaves Kwesi Appiah's team on three points from two games in Group E, while Equatorial Guinea have lost both matches so far.

Sudan are competing at this AFCON in Morocco despite the country having been devastated since war broke out between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023.

They will play Burkina Faso in their last group game on Wednesday and will be aiming to reach the knockout stages of the Cup of Nations for just the second time since that 1970 triumph -- they got to the quarter-finals in 2012 before losing to eventual winners Zambia.


Hakimi Could Finally Make 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Bow against Zambia

Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS
Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS
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Hakimi Could Finally Make 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Bow against Zambia

Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS
Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS

Morocco coach Walid Regragui has confirmed captain Achraf Hakimi is fit to face Zambia in their final ​Group A clash at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday after two false starts in the competition so far.

Hakimi was crowned Africa’s best player at the Confederation of African Football awards last month but appeared ‌at the ‌ceremony in Rabat ‌on ⁠crutches, ​sparking doubt ‌over whether he would recover in time for the finals, according to Reuters.

The Paris St Germain right-back said he felt ready to play on the eve of the tournament, but has not been used in ⁠host Morocco’s opening two games, a 2-0 victory ‌over Comoros and a ‍1-1 draw against ‍Mali.

However, Regragui said on Sunday that ‍the player is now available and thanked PSG for aiding the player’s recovery and releasing him early to link up with ​the national team and work with their medical staff.

“I want to thank ⁠Paris St Germain. If Hakimi is back with us today, it's thanks to them,” Regragui said.

"There's not a single club in the world that would release a player 15 days before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Morocco need victory over Zambia to ensure they win Group B having ‌last lifted the Cup of Nations trophy in 1976.


Slot: Liverpool's Wirtz Will Score Many More After Wolves Winner

Liverpool's Florian Wirtz scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Liverpool, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Liverpool, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)
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Slot: Liverpool's Wirtz Will Score Many More After Wolves Winner

Liverpool's Florian Wirtz scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Liverpool, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)
Liverpool's Florian Wirtz scores his side's second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Liverpool, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Florian Wirtz is beginning to find his feet at Liverpool and will keep getting better, manager Arne Slot said after the German midfielder scored his first goal for the Premier League champions in their 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Liverpool signed Wirtz in June for a reported fee of 100 million pounds ($135 million), with a further 16 million pounds in potential bonuses.

The 22-year-old had failed to find the net in more than 20 appearances for Liverpool before scoring the winner in Saturday's match, and Slot said his performances ⁠had been undervalued due to football's obsession with statistics.

"I'm quite sure it was a relief for him. This I could see after his reaction after he scored the goal – and the same I saw with his teammates. I think they were really happy for him," Slot told reporters, according to Reuters.

"In football – rightly ⁠so, maybe – we mainly get judged on results, and individuals mainly get judged on goals and assists. Sometimes we tend to forget what else there is to do during a game."

The Dutch manager called on Wirtz to keep going after ending his drought.

"He's had multiple good games for us but I also feel he gets better and better every single game he is playing for us. He gets fitter and fitter and was getting closer and ⁠closer to his first goal," he added.

"Then it was not a surprise to me that he scored one today, but he would probably be the first one to understand that one goal is not enough.

"He will score many more goals for us than only this one, but I also liked his performance during large parts of the game today. I think he was special in a lot of moments."

Liverpool, fourth in the standings, next host 16th-placed Leeds United in a league match on January 1.