This season’s Champions League is hotting up - but are away goals in play this time around?
The Champions League trophy(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Champions League quarter-finals got off to an exciting start on Tuesday evening, with Arsenal and Manchester City both involved in high-scoring draws that will set up tense second legs.
The Gunners hosted Bayern Munich at the Emirates in a see-saw game that saw an early Bakary Saka strike cancelled out by former Arsenal star Serge Gnabry before Harry Kane put the Germans ahead on his return to north London.
An equaliser from substitute Leandro Trossard means that the tie is delicately poised ahead of the second leg in Germany.
Defending champions Manchester City, meanwhile, also played out an all-action first leg, drawing 3-3 with Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, as the Spanish giants twice came from behind to level the tie.
The slate of quarter-final first legs concludes on Wednesday evening with Atletico Madrid host Borussia Dortmund, while Barcelona visit Paris Saint-Germain, before the ties will all be settled next week.
Do away goals count double in the Champions League knockout stages?
Manchester City and Real Madrid's quarter-final tie is finely poised (Image credit: Jose Manuel Alvarez/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
With at least two of the quarter-finals set to be level going into the second leg, it looks like fans can expect the tension to be racked up next week.
So how will the quarter-finals be settled if the aggregate scores are level at the end of the second legs?
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
Not by using the away goal rule, as UEFA moved to scrap that way of settling matches in all European competitions in 2021.
Previously, if teams were level at the end of the second leg, the side that had scored the most away goals would progress.
Now, level ties will go to extra time and then penalties, if needed.
Why was the away goals rule scrapped?
The away goals rule was the subject of much discussion before UEFA moved to scrap it. It had originally been brought in to encourage teams to attack more away from home, but many believed it had become outdated and also handed an advantage to the team playing away in the second leg, as the 30-minute extra time period handed them more time to score a crucial away goal.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin explained the rationale behind the rule change in 2021.
"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,” he stated.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include tomes on Leeds United and the England national team.
