UEFA wants to abolish away goals rule in next season’s Champions League

Porto –

UEFA intend to remove the rules away goals of Champions League which has lasted more than half a century. This system is considered obsolete.

The Times reported on Saturday (29/5/2021) WIB, this decision was taken at a meeting in Porto which was held before the Champions League final. Now UEFA is just waiting for a recommendation from the executive committee to give the green light regarding its implementation from next season.

Changes in the world of football, especially recently, have led to the desire to break the rules away goals the greater it is. In the middle of a pandemic COVID-19, not a few matches were moved to a neutral venue.

For example, the last 16 match between Borrussia Moenchengladbach vs Manchester City. The two teams played two legs at the same stadium, namely the Puskas Arena, Budapest. The same applies to the RB Leipzig vs Liverpool match.

Another case is Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea, where Chelsea may play at Stamford Bridge, but Atletico play their home matches at the Arena Națională, Bucharest.

Even though the neutral venue was considered the home of a certain team, the absence of spectator support made the pressure to play as a guest no longer feel. In addition, print away goals considered no longer as difficult as in the past.

“The thought is that it’s easier for teams to score away goals now than it was in the 1970s or 80s, when the game scores were often low and the stadium atmosphere was more tense,” said a source. UEFA.

“In the past, the visibility of matches related to referees, field quality and organization was still lacking. Today, the advantage of playing at home is no longer significant,” he continued.

Rules away goals was first used by UEFA in 1965, and continues to this day. This season, the away goals victims are Juventus in the last 16 and Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.

The idea of ​​abolishing the away goals rule has been put forward for years, but has always not received enough support. If it is implemented next season, then there will be no more two-legged matches in the knockout phase that have an aggregate draw.

Not just in Champions League, this rule will also be applied in Europa League.

(adp/bay)

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