"It was a shame" - Javier Tebas says Real Madrid were right to protest against UCL re-draw after setting up PSG clash
La Liga president Javier Tebas had his say on the dubious Champions League re-draw involving Real Madrid earlier this week.
The Champions League group stages were completed last week with 16 teams qualifying for the knockouts. The draw for the Round of 16 was scheduled to be held on Monday in Nyon, Switzerland.
According to UEFA, a technical glitch by a third-party resulted in incorrect pot formations, which led to a draw that could have been deemed wrong by the teams. Despite the lack of an obvious error in the first draw, UEFA had to re-do the fixtures due to a mistake in the process.
Teams like Real Madrid and Chelsea were handed easy fixtures in the first draw and resultantly complained against a re-draw. Both clubs had fair grounds as well because their draws were decided before the technical glitch was put into effect. While Los Blancos were set to face Benfica, the Blues were pitted against Lille.
However, UEFA refused to entertain the matter and set up a re-draw. While Chelsea had the same opponents in Lille, the final draw saw Real Madrid face Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
Round of 16 draw ✔️
Which tie are you most excited for?
#UCLdraw | #UCL https://t.co/QvZoT0yxqi
La Liga president Javier Tebas has backed Real Madrid's claim that it was unfair to have the Galacticos participate in the re-draw by saying:
“Maybe Real Madrid are right and the whole draw shouldn’t have been repeated,” Tebas said.. “It was a shame. I don’t know if it was human or technical error, and maybe Real Madrid are right and the whole draw shouldn’t have been repeated."
Tebas had a tongue-in-cheek comment for Real Madrid as well
Official Announcement: Leading European football clubs unveil new Super League.
#RealMadrid
Despite adding his voice to support Real Madrid's claim, Tebas added a cheeky comment to remind Los Blancos of their recent history with the European Super League (ESL).
The ESL was a breakaway league devised by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. It was set to host only the biggest clubs in Europe and was created to take away power from football organizations like UEFA and other domestic associations.
Perez defended the elite nature of the ESL, claiming that fans do not want to see small teams compete. The Real Madrid president added that football is losing fans because they want to watch the big clubs take on each other more frequently.
Going by those comments, Perez' dream should come true now as UEFA has presented Real Madrid with a chance to face PSG. Tebas added fire to the fuel by saying:
"This is a personal opinion. Didn’t they (Real Madrid) want more interesting games? Well, this is more interesting than playing Benfica would have been.”