NYON, Switzerland – European soccer’s gods of fortune clearly have a wicked sense of humor.

As the draw for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League unfolded on Friday and the countless permutations shrank, the contest everyone wanted to see remained on the table until the last possible moment before being snatched away.

Any meeting between Manchester United and Real Madrid, the world’s two biggest and most illustrious teams, would be a blockbuster. However, in the current climate of undisguised hatred between the two giant clubs, such a clash would have been a heavyweight battle of epic proportions.

In the end it came down to a 50-50 shot, with the Spanish side destined to face either United or Liverpool as the draw headed towards its conclusion. To collective groans from a soccer public craving fireworks, it was Liverpool’s name that was plucked from the Swiss goldfish bowl that so often holds European club dreams within its confines.

Make no mistake, this draw sets up some intriguing marquee matchups and can only be considered a disappointment in one way: that it denied us the opportunity to see Sir Alex Ferguson’s United square off against the club to which he “wouldn’t sell a virus, let alone Cristiano Ronaldo.”

The ongoing furor surrounding Real’s attempts to pry away United’s best player is reminiscent of the scenario involving David Beckham in 2003.

Beckham was left on the bench for the second leg of the quarterfinal between the teams before coming on late and scoring twice to spearhead a gallant but ultimately futile United comeback. Multiply the ill feeling between United and Real back then by about a hundred, and you might be close to grasping the simmering tension currently flying backwards and forwards between the clubs.

But if Real Madrid vs. Manchester United was the one that got away on Friday, there are still plenty of fascinating subplots to look forward to in February.