Revolution from UEFA: the away goal rule has been abolished
In the European club football an event occurred that could become key in the playoff matches of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference Leagues. UEFA has decided revoke away goal privilege, which operated for 55 years.
Reasons for this decision
Now, in the event of a tie in goals in a 2-game confrontation, the winner will be determined in additional halves of 15 minutes, and if a draw is recorded here, in a penalty shootout. The innovation applies to all club tournaments held under the auspices of UEFA, including competitions of youth and women's teams. This will make the matches more spectacular for ordinary and passionate fans, who, having studied bookmaker rating, bet on football.
The President of the Union of European Football Associations, Aleksander Čeferin, spoke about the reforms:
“This issue has been raised many times at UEFA congresses over several years. Well-known coaches and experts, many fans asked to abolish the advantage of away goals. There is logic in this - the team playing at home in the first match of the confrontation was forced to focus a lot of attention on defending its own goal. Especially, the rule “worked” for the guests in overtime, when one goal was often scored, to which the hosts already had to respond with two. This is unfair".
The away goals rule was first applied in the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup tournament in the 1965/1966 season. Then the majority of members of the organization supported this idea, since in those days there was no concept of “extra time” - in a draw, the teams played the third match. These are unnecessary financial costs, and soon overtime and a series of post-match penalty kicks were introduced in relegation matches.
Arsene Wenger has long talked about abolishing the away goals rule
One of the initiators of the abolition of this rule back in 2015 was Arsene Wenger, heading the London Arsenal. Then the famous French specialist proposed leaving the rule in effect only for overtime, as it works in the English League Cup.
In the fall of 2019, Wenger headed the global football development department at FIFA. He immediately became involved in discussions with influential officials about the abolition of the rule for European Cup matches. A. Wenger:
“Many teams play home matches carefully, understanding that even one missed goal turns the favorite into an outsider. This is not possible, both teams must play to attack, and not with thoughts, just so as not to concede at home. The entertainment value of football is being lost".
Wenger was also supported by the current coach of Atlético Madrid, Diego Simeone, and set an example on the success of his team:
– “Remember our duel with Liverpool.” We got a chance to score a goal in overtime, and we took advantage of it, which is why we advanced. This is unfair - it turns out that the visiting team in the second match has 30 minutes more to score an away goal, the British did not have such a chance. We need to even the odds.".
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