Does away goal rule still apply in UEFA Champions League knockout stage?

UEFA removed the away goal rule in 2021

Indeed, starting on June 24, 2021, there is no longer an away goal regulation in the UEFA Champions League. The competition’s governing body, UEFA, eliminated the rule because it believed it was improper for an away goal to be worth more than a home goal.

Champions League competitions adopted the away goal rule in 1956. The Welsh team Connah’s Quay Nomads and the Armenian team Alashkert faced off in the first qualifying round of the 2022–2023 Champions League, which was the first match to be impacted by the rule change.

There will be a lot of discussion regarding the away goal rule and how it changed the nature of games leading up to the pivotal UCL matches.

The away goal rule, which was first implemented in the Champions League (formerly known as the European Cup) in 1956, was eliminated in June 2021 by UEFA, the competition’s governing body.

On June 24, 2021, the Champions League’s away goal system was eliminated.

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What made the away goal rule obsolete?

After UEFA determined that it was improper “for an away goal to carry more weight than one scored at home,” the away goal regulation in the Champions League was eliminated.

According to the away goal rule, the side with more goals scored away from home would win the match if both sides scored the same amount of goals throughout two legs (home and away).

Roma’s victory over Barcelona in the 2017–18 Champions League was one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the competition while utilising the away goal rule. Roma scored three goals at home to bring the aggregate score to 4-4, even though Barcelona had a 4-1 advantage after the first leg. Roma had advanced to the quarterfinals since they had scored at Camp Nou.

For some years before the 2021 selection, there had been requests to do away with the away goals rule, especially in the Champions League.

Arsene Wenger declared the regulation “outdated” in 2015 following Arsenal’s Champions League elimination against Monaco.

“It should count, maybe, after extra time,” Wenger told reporters. “This rule was created in the 60s to encourage teams to attack away from home, but football has changed since the 1960s and the weight of the away goal is too big today.”

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