The away goals rule has been a staple of UEFA competitions for more than half a century
The away goals rule is a big part of European club competition. If it did not exist, Sergi Roberto’s winner against Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 would not have held such importance. I can throw a spanner in the works of a tie that was otherwise quite straightforward.
However, is it necessary? Really? It was initially introduced because playing away from home in Europe would often mean teams travelling to foreign countries to play teams they knew nothing about. Teams from the UK would be flying to Hungary to play MTK Budapest, unaware of what threats this team might pose them. They’d naturally play more cautiously, the away goals rule was introduced to encourage teams to play more adventurously away from home in Europe.
But is it still needed, or has the sport outgrown it? With the extensive scouting that all big European clubs do on their opposition these days, it is arguable that the rule is redundant now, and only leads to teams unfairly edging through ties because one leg happened to end 3-3 and the other 2-2.
Some of Europe’s leading coaches believe it’s time to do away with the rule. The annual gathering of top coaches in Switzerland heard that top bosses want the rule scrapped, citing that football has moved on since it was first introduced in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965.
Managers present included Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho, Arsenal ‘s Unai Emery, Napoli’s Carlo Ancelotti, PSG boss Thomas Tuchel , new Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui, Atlético Madrid’s Diego Simeone and Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“The coaches think that scoring goals away is not as difficult as it was in the past,” said UEFA’s deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti.
“They think the rule should be reviewed and that’s what we will do.”
Another topic discussed at the summit was the summer transfer window. The Premier League opted to close its transfer window early this summer, before the season kicked off.
At the summit, most coaches were reportedly in favour of European transfer windows close at the same time, prior to the start of the season.
