The knockout stages of the Champions League conclude this week with the first round of the knockout phase to be decided.
Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Porto reserved their places in the next round last week and there is much more action in the days to come.
Goals away from home will continue to count in the Champions League this season
Manchester City and Chelsea are among the teams hoping to advance to the quarterfinals.
Now that the group stage is over, we get into the real business of knockout football.
This phase of European elite competition is always exciting and introduces the danger of the away goal rule.
But there is an added complication this season, as some heats will take place on natural settings, raising the question of whether or not away goals will count.
Do away goals count in neutral places?
And.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, several games will be held in neutral venues this season.
Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea played their first leg ties at neutral venues.
Even though ‘home’ teams lose the advantage of playing in their own stadiums, away goals will still count and will be used as a tiebreaker if necessary.
This is because UEFA has opted for a general rule for all qualifiers, as the other matches are proceeding normally.
Liverpool faced RB Leipzig in Budapest for both stages, but they did light work with the Germans and quickly progressed to the next round.
Chelsea leads Atlético de Madrid 1-0 in the round of 16 clash
Chelsea’s second leg against Atlético de Madrid will be played at Stamford Bridge, but Man City will lose their home advantage and face Borussia Monchengladbach again at the Puskas Arena.
Chelsea and City scored away goals in their first leg ties and will be sure to pass.
The away goal rule will take effect if a tie is tied after extra time in the second leg, for example in a 2-2 draw.
Last season, Lyon beat Juventus to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League. They lost their second leg 2-1 in Turin, but went through away goals in a 2-2 aggregate draw.
In addition, goals away from home continue to count in extra time. If a visiting team takes the lead in extra time, the home team would have to score twice to progress under the away goal rule.
Jason Cundy says it is “remarkable” how much Thomas Tuchel has improved Chelsea in such a short time and highlights how Frank Lampard was not listening to the players Champions League knockout tie Sevilla 4-5 (agg) Borussia Dortmund Porto 4-4 (aggregate) Juventus – Porto win by goals away RB Leipzig 0-4 (aggregate) Liverpool Barcelona 2-5 (aggregate) Paris Saint-Germain Atalanta vs Real Madrid: First leg – 0-1 / Match of Second leg – March 16 Borussia Monchengladbach vs Manchester City: First leg – 0-2 / Second leg – March 16 Lazio vs Bayern Munich: First leg – 1-4 / Second leg – March 17 Atlético de Madrid vs Chelsea: First leg – 0-1 / Second leg – March 17
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