You might be asking yourself does the away goal advantage apply in the champions league. The answer is No! Teams no longer have an advantage for scoring i away matches. The away goals acted as a tiebreaker if aggregate scores of games finished level.
So why was the away rule abolished?
According to the UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, the rule was removed to dissuade teams from over defending while at home and not attacking for fear of conceding a potentially crucial away goal. This of course results in a boring experience of football for the fans and general football community.
The impact of the rule now runs counter to its original purpose as, in fact, it now dissuades home teams – especially in first legs – from attacking, because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage. There is also criticism of the unfairness, especially in extra time, of obliging the home team to score twice when the away team has scored.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin
He further added that taking into consideration the consistency across Europe in terms of styles of play, and many different factors which have led to a decline in home advantage, the UEFA Executive Committee has taken the correct decision in adopting the view that it is no longer appropriate for an away goal to carry more weight than one scored at home.
The history of away game
History of the Away Goal
Before the away goal was introduced, teams that tied on aggregate had to go to a playoff on a neutral ground. This was a nightmare logistically considering the planning and preparations required considering the increasing number of matches in the football calendar year.
To resolve this, the away goals rule was introduced which required that the team who scored more away goals qualify to next round incase of an aggregate draw. The rule was first applied in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup when Budapest Honvéd beat Dukla Prague in the second round in 1965–66. It was introduced in the Fairs Cup in 1966–67, and in the European Cup in 1967–68 for the first round, 1968–69 for the second round, and 1970–71 for later rounds.
On 24 June 2021, UEFA approved the proposal to abolish the away goals rule in all UEFA club competitions from the 2021–22 season.
