If a number of top managers have their way then you could easily see the away goal rule being scrapped during the coming seasons.
Yes, as weird as it may sound, some top European managers have voiced their opinions about the elimination of away goals from European fixtures and want them to go away.
The managers believe that scoring away goals is not as difficult as it used to be and that this rule prevents the home team from playing attacking football.
When and why was the away goal introduced?
The away goals rule was introduced in the former European Cup Winners’ Cup competition in 1965 as an alternative to coin tossing and playing a replay but back then it made a lot of sense.
Teams have to make difficult journeys across Europe and play in conditions in which they were not totally familiar with. But now European games are considered as any other fixture and the teams involved do not sweat about it too much.
So in such a scenario, the managers think using the away goal rule takes out a lot of fun from the games.
Which managers want the away goal to go?
Recently UEFA held an annual meeting of managers which was attended by the following managers:
Jose Mourinho(Manchester United), Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus), Carlo Ancelotti (Napoli), Unai Emery (Arsenal), Paulo Fonseca (Shakhtar Donetsk), Julen Lopetegui (Real Madrid), Thomas Tuchel (Paris Saint-Germain) and former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger.
While we are not pretty sure which were the manager who are in favour of this decision but the name of Jose Mourinho has popped up in multiple reports. But it is also being believed that a couple of other bosses are also in favour of this decision.
What will UEFA do now?
Well, the governing body of football in Europe clearly are not rushing to make any decision and Uefa’s deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti has confirmed that they will open a discussion regarding this matter.
“The coaches think that scoring goals away is not as difficult as it was in the past… so they think the rule should be reviewed and that’s what we will do,” Marchetti told reporters.
“They consider the situation in football has changed and the weight of the away goals is not the same as many years ago when the rule was introduced.”
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