Away goals are no more as UEFA have today confirmed the rule will be scrapped in the Champions League and Europa League from the start of the new season.
The European football governing body have now stated that games will be decided by extra time and penalties if scores are still level are both legs of a knockout tie.
MORE: Liverpool transfer target decides on his future
See below for UEFA’s statement, which brings to an end a big part of European football that had divided opinion but which nevertheless provided some great entertainment down the years…
? The away goals rule will be removed from all UEFA club competitions from the 2021/22 season.
Ties in which the two teams score the same number of goals over the two legs will now have two 15-minute periods of extra time, and, if required, penalty kicks.#UCL #UWCL #UEL #UYL
— UEFA (@UEFA) June 24, 2021
On the one hand, it’s a shame to change the rules in such a way that might mean games are more likely to go to penalties, but the away goal rule perhaps also felt a little outdated.
The rule perhaps made sense in an era when travelling away from home against opponents that were a bit more of an unknown was more of a thing, but that’s certainly not true in the modern game.
It will be interesting to see how this affects the competition and if it might one day seem like it’s worth bringing back.
Wasn’t the rule created to force more attacking in the first leg? Otherwise you get away teams playing for 0-0 in first leg, going for home advantage in the second leg