Away goals rule abolished for UEFA club competitions from 2021-22 season
The away goals rule has been in place in UEFA competitions since 1965; UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin stated that the decision to eliminate the rule was not unanimous, but that there was a preference for it to be removed.
What is the rule regarding away goals?
In the event of a tie, the away goals rule is one of three FIFA-approved ways for determining the victor of a game, the others being extra time and penalties.
When the scores are level, the away goals rule is used in ties with home and away legs, such as the Champions League knockout stage. It means that any goals scored away from home essentially count twice when the scores are level. If the aggregate score after two legs is tied, the side with the most away goals is declared the winner.
Some Examples of How Away Goal Works
First Leg: Team A (home) 1-2 Team B (away)
Second Leg: Team B (home) 0-1 Team A (away)
In the above example, Team B progresses thanks to the away goals rule.
The aggregate score of the tie between Team A and Team B is 2-2, but Team B scored twice away from home as opposed to Team A, who only scored once away.
First Leg: Team A (home) 0-2 Team B (away)
Second Leg: Team B (home) 0-2 Team A (away)
In this example the aggregate score is also 2-2, but no team progresses by virtue of the away goals rule and the game must go to either extra time or penalties.
The reason for this is because both teams scored the same number of goals away from home and thus neither enjoys an advantage.
First Leg: Team A (home) 2-3 Team B (away)
Second Leg: Team B (home) 0-1 Team A (away)
This example, Team B wins the tie on away goals.
While the teams are locked at 3-3 on aggregate, the three goals scored by Team B away from home is more than the one scored away by Team A.
When did the away goals rule come into effect?
The away goals rule has been in use in football for more than half a century, initially been used in the 1965-66 Cup Winners Cup.
It was originally used in the tournament’s second round, in a game between Dukla Prague of Czechoslovakia and Budapest Honved of Hungary, in November 1965.
Budapest Honved advanced despite the tie ending 4-4 because they scored three goals in Czechoslovakia compared to Dukla’s two in Hungary.
In 1967, it was expanded to the European Cup (now Champions League) and has since been used in a variety of knockout tournaments around the world.
Why was the away-goal rule implemented?
The regulation was implemented for two reasons:
1) to eliminate the necessity for a tie-breaker at a neutral site, and
2) to encourage teams to attack away from home.
Why did UEFA abolish the away goals rule?
From the 2021-22 season forward, UEFA confirmed that the away goals rule would no longer be utilized in its club championships.
“The impact of the rule now runs counter to its original purpose because, in fact, it dissuades home teams – especially in first legs – from attacking because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin explained.
Since the mid-1970s, statistics in men’s competitions show a clear trend of decreasing the gap between the number of home-away wins (from 61 percent -19 percent to 47 percent -30 percent) and the average number of goals per match scored at home-away (from 2.02-0.95 to 1.58-1.15).