Why are goals no longer worth double in the Champions League and what happens if there is a draw?

The Champions League ball rolls again and it does so with a vitally important change that should be remembered: goals in the opposite field will no longer have a double value. UEFA approved on June 24, 2021 the suppression of this measure in force since 1965. This was expressed in a statement: “Following the recommendation of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee and the UEFA Women’s Football Committee, The UEFA Executive Committee has approved a proposal to remove the so-called away goals rule from all UEFA club competitions. (men’s, women’s and youth) from the qualifying phases of the 2021/22 competitions”.

Once the goals in the opposite field do not count double Ties that end in a draw will go to extra time with two 15-minute halves at the end of the second leg. If both teams score the same number of goals or do not score any goals in extra time, shots from the penalty spot will decide the name of the team that advances to the next round of the competition.

The elimination of the double value of the goals in the opposite field has also been put into practice in the Copa del Rey since this season. The RFEF decided to take this measure four days after UEFA approved it.

The weight of statistics

The UEFA explained in June the importance of statistics in a historical change like this: “Statistics from the mid-1970s to now show a clear trend of continuous reduction in the difference between the number of wins at home and away (from 61%/19% to 47%/30%) and the average number of goals per game scored at home and away (from 2.02/0.95 to 1.58/1.15) in men’s competitions, while since 2009/10, the average number of goals per game has remained very stable in the women’s Champions League with an average general of 1.92 for the local teams and 1.6 for the visitors”.