Historic was that double Milan derby in the 2002-2003 season valid for a place in the Champions League final. In the double confrontation between Inter and Milan at San Siro it ends 0-0 in the first leg and 1-1 in the return. Despite the double parity, the Rossoneri reach Juve in the final and, thanks to the away goal rule, eliminate the “cousins”.
But it was not only the derby between the Milanese that was decided by away goals: it would be enough to scroll through the games of this season to realize how much this rule – often discussed and criticized – is decisive in European competitions and beyond. Juventus, for example, were eliminated by Porto after the 2-1 in Portugal and the 3-2 at the Stadium (total 4-4). Also this season, Bayern Munich said goodbye to the Champions dream following a double confrontation with PSG which saw them lose 3-2 at home and win 1-0 at the Parco dei Principi.
UEFA press release
Today is the turning point: UEFA has in fact made official that it has approved the proposal to eliminate the away goals rule from every international competition (Champions League, Europa League and Conference League) starting from the 2021-2022 season. With the new formula, in the event of a tie between home and away matches, it will go to extra time and then to penalties.
“Many different factors may have influenced this decline in the ‘home factor’ – reads the note on the UEFA website -, including a better quality of the pitch and standardized dimensions of the pitch, better stadium infrastructure, higher safety conditions , greater protection of referees, a broader and more articulated television coverage of the matches, more comfortable travel conditions, a tight football calendar that imposes turnover and changes in competition formats ».
⚽ The away goals rule will be removed from all UEFA club competitions from the 2021/22 season.
Ties in which the two teams score the same number of goals over the two legs will now have two 15-minute periods of extra time, and, if required, penalty kicks.#UCL #UWCL #UEL #UYL
— UEFA (@UEFA) June 24, 2021