UEFA is (finally) getting rid of the away goals rule

UEFA has finally done away with the nonsensical rule, which will have a big impact on the Champions League.

As many soccer fans can attest, explaining the away goals rule to someone who doesn’t regularly watch the Champions League can be challenging, but guess what, folks? That will no longer be a problem going forward, as UEFA officially axed the rule Thursday.

From now on, if clubs are level on goals after the conclusion of the second game, regardless of where the goals were scored, we will get extra time (and then penalties if needed.)

Before today, away goals were used as a tie-breaker if teams were level after the two 90-minute games. So, for example, if Team A beat Team B on the road by a score of 2-1 in the first leg, and then Team B won the second leg 1-0 on the road, Team A would advance because of their 2-to-1 advantage in away goals. Now, the two teams would head to extra time and then penalties.

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

UEFA says the decision to change the rule was based on statistical data that shows “a clear trend of continuous reduction in the gap between the number of home-away wins (from 61%-19% to 47%-30%) and the average number of goals per match scored at home-away (from 2.02-0.95 to 1.58-1.15) in men’s competitions.”

In other words, scoring and winning on the road just isn’t as monumental of a task as it used to be.

There were some memorable moments made possible by the away goal rule — like Andres Iniesta’s late leveler against Chelsea which allowed Barcelona to advance after a controversial game — but there have been just as many goals (if not more) that would have created similarly dramatic moments if the away goals rule didn’t exist.

The rule was first implemented back in the late 1960s to avoid having to schedule a third leg to decide a tie. Why extra time/penalties wasn’t the preferred choice is beyond me, but after 60 years, UEFA has finally come to its senses. We have to celebrate these rare moments when they happen.