It is one of the worst ways to lose. It is arguably just as heartbreaking and unjust as the dreaded penalty shoot-out or a referee's ineptitude. To lose on the basis of the geographical location of a goal is truly sickening.
Sound ludicrous when you put it like that, but that is what it is. And with the Champions League's knockout stages starting tomorrow evening, there is a decent chance similar agony will await undeserving teams.
The away goals rule itself is flawed. Football is football. It is not more impressive at an away ground. It is not as if, especially with the competitive nature of the Champions League, home teams have a significant advantage - since each team gets a crack each on their own grounds anyway.
Presumably introduced as a deterrent for penalty shoot-outs (which for some reason, are frowned upon by the big guys upstairs), the away goals rule has plagued the Champions League and the like for nearly 50 years, and while all good things must come to an end, some bad ones should too.
The difference between winning and losing should not be determined by where a goal is scored. You can even take the League Cup Semi-Finals as an example. Would it have been more impressive for Manchester City to score three at West Ham, or the Hammers to nab one at The Etihad? The latter, right? But City, a team fuelled by oil money, would get the 'away goals advantage' (just in case West Ham, you know, made a game of it).
And there's another thing. What makes it even more absurd is that UEFA give home advantage to teams in the second leg in the first knockout round of the Champions League as a reward for winning their groups. But surely, if a second leg is potentially longer, where away goals still count, the advantage would be to play away last?
It is incredibly harsh and downright wrong to determine a victor through this method. Teams have bad days, decisions go for and against you; the rule is about luck as much as anything else.
Sepp Blatter moronically argues that penalty shoot-outs take the "essence" out of football - and while that is an opinion, the away goals rule - implemented to avoid penalties - has the brutal ability to kill games dead - a stone-cold fact.
Over two games of football last season, Arsenal and Bayern Munich had scored a total of three goals each. However, because away goals are more of a deciding factor than, say, a clean sheet or just good, old-fashioned extra-time, Bayern prevailed despite having a real off-day.
The reason - or probable one, at least - that they failed to turn up that evening was because, thanks to the ruling, they thought they had the tie sewn up despite only being at the halfway stage. A two-goal defeat would not have been totally out of the question (clearly) but three? Never in a million years, or so they thought.
Still don't think abolishing this rule will not make much difference? How about this then? Cast your mind back to the Football League play-offs, a land where away goals are nowhere to be seen:
Leicester City are one up going into the second leg of their Championship semi-final against Watford. The winner gets to Wembley for a chance to get into the Premier League. This is big.
Watford take an early lead, but are pegged back almost immediately by Leicester. In Champions League land, this game hits a brick wall. Watford would then need two goals with a quarter of the game already gone. Fans get restless, Leicester gain confidence and the game peters out into unwatchable mediocrity.
For those of you who do not know where this is going, without the away goals rule, chaos ensues. Look it up just to relive the magic one more time. Watford levelled it again but Leicester had a chance to win it from the spot, only to miss it and Watford scored on the counter in the craziest and most climactic 30 seconds of the season. Cue pitch invasion and wild celebrations.
Now that is quite a difference.
The away goals rule is unethical and unfair. Thankfully, we do not live in a world where it is harder to score on one football pitch than another. Football is football. Football is universal. Football is a language that is spoken all over the world. Geography is irrelevant. FIFA have a problem with kicking a ball into a goal from 12 yards but offer this trash as an alternative?
Do me a favour.
Sound ludicrous when you put it like that, but that is what it is. And with the Champions League's knockout stages starting tomorrow evening, there is a decent chance similar agony will await undeserving teams.
The away goals rule itself is flawed. Football is football. It is not more impressive at an away ground. It is not as if, especially with the competitive nature of the Champions League, home teams have a significant advantage - since each team gets a crack each on their own grounds anyway.
Presumably introduced as a deterrent for penalty shoot-outs (which for some reason, are frowned upon by the big guys upstairs), the away goals rule has plagued the Champions League and the like for nearly 50 years, and while all good things must come to an end, some bad ones should too.
The difference between winning and losing should not be determined by where a goal is scored. You can even take the League Cup Semi-Finals as an example. Would it have been more impressive for Manchester City to score three at West Ham, or the Hammers to nab one at The Etihad? The latter, right? But City, a team fuelled by oil money, would get the 'away goals advantage' (just in case West Ham, you know, made a game of it).
And there's another thing. What makes it even more absurd is that UEFA give home advantage to teams in the second leg in the first knockout round of the Champions League as a reward for winning their groups. But surely, if a second leg is potentially longer, where away goals still count, the advantage would be to play away last?
It is incredibly harsh and downright wrong to determine a victor through this method. Teams have bad days, decisions go for and against you; the rule is about luck as much as anything else.
Sepp Blatter moronically argues that penalty shoot-outs take the "essence" out of football - and while that is an opinion, the away goals rule - implemented to avoid penalties - has the brutal ability to kill games dead - a stone-cold fact.
Over two games of football last season, Arsenal and Bayern Munich had scored a total of three goals each. However, because away goals are more of a deciding factor than, say, a clean sheet or just good, old-fashioned extra-time, Bayern prevailed despite having a real off-day.
The reason - or probable one, at least - that they failed to turn up that evening was because, thanks to the ruling, they thought they had the tie sewn up despite only being at the halfway stage. A two-goal defeat would not have been totally out of the question (clearly) but three? Never in a million years, or so they thought.
Still don't think abolishing this rule will not make much difference? How about this then? Cast your mind back to the Football League play-offs, a land where away goals are nowhere to be seen:
Leicester City are one up going into the second leg of their Championship semi-final against Watford. The winner gets to Wembley for a chance to get into the Premier League. This is big.
Watford take an early lead, but are pegged back almost immediately by Leicester. In Champions League land, this game hits a brick wall. Watford would then need two goals with a quarter of the game already gone. Fans get restless, Leicester gain confidence and the game peters out into unwatchable mediocrity.
For those of you who do not know where this is going, without the away goals rule, chaos ensues. Look it up just to relive the magic one more time. Watford levelled it again but Leicester had a chance to win it from the spot, only to miss it and Watford scored on the counter in the craziest and most climactic 30 seconds of the season. Cue pitch invasion and wild celebrations.
Now that is quite a difference.
The away goals rule is unethical and unfair. Thankfully, we do not live in a world where it is harder to score on one football pitch than another. Football is football. Football is universal. Football is a language that is spoken all over the world. Geography is irrelevant. FIFA have a problem with kicking a ball into a goal from 12 yards but offer this trash as an alternative?
Do me a favour.
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