Announced Thursday by The Times, the abolition of the mythical away goal rule in the European Cup was decided on Friday by the UEFA Club Competitions Committee. The decision will become official following a vote by the executive committee.
PSG took advantage of the rule against Bayern this season, in C1.
Thunderclap confirmed. On Thursday, the very serious British daily The Times announced that the mythical rule of the away goal in the European Cup was undoubtedly living its last hours, and our colleagues were right.
The next day, the UEFA club competitions committee decided to abolish this measure, introduced in 1965. A decision which remains however subject to a vote by the executive committee, but the latter will undoubtedly give its approval.
Paris, in good memory of Bayern
And for good reason: since the closed doors generalized by the Covid-19 pandemic, the rule has indeed lost all its meaning and its interest. As a reminder, this consists of giving the advantage to the team which has scored the most away goals in the event of a tie at the end of the 180 minutes of a double confrontation. Because it is actually harder to shake the nets outside your bases when the opposing supporters push the local team to surpass themselves, and the visiting players precisely outsmart.
Otherwise, why offer qualification to a team that will have more impact on neutral ground rather than another? This season, Paris Saint-Germain, for example, took the opportunity to eliminate Bayern Munich (3-2, 0-1) in the knockout stages of the Champions League. But in the future, the two teams will have to go through the extra time box, because there is no doubt that the executive committee will validate the decision taken this Friday. Because even before the pandemic, the debate was already open.
Before the pandemic, the debate was already open
Throughout the history of the round ball since the introduction of this polemic measure 56 years ago, many players have indeed spoken out against the outside goal rule, which is considered unfair and today obsolete. It is true that a club with a hot crowd will always have the advantage over apathetic spectators on the opponent’s side. But this essence which galvanizes the greatest players is also part of the magic of the European Cup … which is therefore about to experience big changes. For the best or for the worst ?
In your opinion, is UEFA right in wanting to abolish the away goals rule? Do not hesitate to react and discuss in the area add a comment…
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