The draw for the 1/8 round of the 2023/2024 Champions League in Nyon, Switzerland took place on the evening of December 18 (Vietnam time). The matches have all been determined.
Besides the matches, what remained after the draw ceremony was the reason Real Madrid was not allowed to meet PSV, even though the two teams were not in the same group nor the same country. Let’s find out the reason.
PSV meets Dortmund in round 1/8 of Champions League 2023/2024. Photo: Getty.
Why can’t Real Madrid meet PSV?
This is not an error, because UEFA’s announcement also confirmed that PSV could only meet Dortmund, Man City or Bayern Munich, while the name Real Madrid was omitted. This makes many Los Blancos fans wonder.
According to UEFA regulations, teams in the same group or country will not be able to meet in the round of 16. However, Real Madrid is the winner of Group C and comes from Spain, while PSV is the second team in Group B and comes from the Netherlands. The two teams have no problem and could have met in the round of 16. However, due to the rules and criteria of the draw, this match cannot take place.
At that time, there were only 4 undetermined matches left. In particular, Bayern Munich can still meet RB Leipzig (same country) or Copenhagen (same group). Man City can also meet Leipzig again (same group). If the match between PSV and Real Madrid takes place, one of the above two possibilities will happen, and it goes against the tournament’s draw rules. If so, UEFA may have to cancel all previous results and draw again from the beginning.
This is a quite rare case, and removing Real Madrid from PSV’s list of opponents was UEFA’s best option at that time. In the final result, PSV met Dortmund – the team leading Group F. While Real Madrid met RB Leipzig, the team ranked second in Group G.
Result of draw for round 1/8 of Champions League 2023/2024
Porto vs Arsenal
Napoli vs Barcelona
Paris Saint-Germain vs Real Sociedad
Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven vs Borussia Dortmund
Lazio vs Bayern Munich
Copenhagen vs Man City
RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid