The away goals rule is a thing of the past. UEFA announced on Thursday afternoon that the rule will be removed from all competitions organized by the European Football Association from the 2021/22 season. If two clubs are on the same level after a diptych in a knockout phase, there will be two extensions of fifteen minutes. If there is still no winner, penalties will follow.
The rule of double counting away goals was introduced in 1965 and has been in effect in knockout matches ever since. In substantiating the abolition of the rule, UEFA writes that the home advantage has decreased significantly in recent decades. Compared to the mid-seventies, home teams score less (from an average of 2.02 goal per game to an average of 1.58 goal). In addition, home teams win less often (from 61 to 47 percent). The association therefore concludes that it has become less useful to reward away teams for a goal, as there is less home advantage.
This tendency can have various explanations, according to the union. “Better pitch quality, standardized rules on pitch size, better stadium infrastructure, better safety regulations, greater focus on the role of referees (with the recent addition of technological aids), larger scale TV broadcasting of matches, better travel conditions, Tighter schedules and changes to league formats have impacted football and have all contributed to blurring the lines between home and away matches,” UEFA wrote.