Away goals are no more in European football following Uefa's decision to scrap the longstanding rule.
Uefa's Executive Committee (ExCo) announced the rule change today after the sporting body's Club Competitions Committee voted to do away with it last month.
It means that matches in European competitions that finish all square will no longer be decided by which team scored more goals in the away leg. Instead they will go straight to extra time and then to a penalty shootout if needed.
The change comes into effect this coming season and will affect Manchester United and Manchester City when their Champions League campaigns begin.
While this may prove an unpopular move with viewers who love the tension that away goals bring, Uefa cites the downward trend of its importance over the years as reason behind its decision.
In a statement released today the organisation found that the away side win on average 30 per cent of the time compared with just 19 percent in the mid-seventies, while the gap between goals scored by the home and away side has shrunk considerably.
There are a number of reasons for this - better travel conditions, better pitches, better stadium infrastructure, etc. - but it's clear that home advantage is not as stark as it once was.
Uefa President Aleksander Čeferin stated that "Although there was no unanimity of views (on this issue), many coaches, fans and other football stakeholders have questioned its fairness and have expressed a preference for the rule to be abolished.”
He added: “It is fair to say that home advantage is nowadays no longer as significant as it once was.
“Taking into consideration the consistency across Europe in terms of styles of play, and many different factors which have led to a decline in home advantage, the UEFA Executive Committee has taken the correct decision in adopting the view that it is no longer appropriate for an away goal to carry more weight than one scored at home.”
While the data may back up that argument, there will be a sense of excitement and drama lost in the qualifying and knockout rounds, as was the case in two famous ties involving both Manchester clubs in 2019.
The last time United reached the last 16 of the Champions League, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side knocked out PSG on away goals thanks to a late penalty from Marcus Rashford at the Parc Des Princes.
That same season City were dumped out in the quarter-finals by Tottenham Hotspur after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate. In both cases the match would have gone to extra-time to decide a winner.
