CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Champions League round of 16: away goals rule and what happens if there’s a tie?
Real Madrid vs Liverpool, Napoli vs Frankfurt. With two places remaining, progress targeted towards European football’s most coveted prize.
Last November, the Champions League round of 16 draw took place in Nyon, Switzerland and served up some mouth-watering games for us. We had some international action in Qatar to keep our mind off the prospect, but time moves quickly and we’ve already watched some stunning performances in the first legs, and half the second legs as Europe’s elite battle it out for the biggest prize in the club game. Chelsea, Milan, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Inter are through to the quarters, with just two places remaining...
Do Champions League away goals count as double?
A year ago, as the 2021/22 Champions League knockout stage got underway, an important change to the rules had been introduced, one which affected something that had determined so many games in previous editions of the tournament. The decision itself was made in the summer of 2021, when UEFA abolished what was known as ‘the away goals rule’ in all two-legged European ties.
Introduced in 1965, the away goals rule stated that all goals scored by the visiting team in both home and away legs would count as double if the aggregate score ended level.
Game tied? Extra-time, then penalties
Obviously the first leg of these knockout clashes is not impacted by this rule -- the game ends after normal time -- but if the aggregate score is level at the end of regulation time of the second leg, the game will go to extra-time - a total of 30 minutes, teams changing ends after each 15-minute period.
After that, if the score is still tied, the game will be decided from the penalty spot - a shootout involving five players from each side which will go to sudden death if the score remains level after both teams have taken all of their five spot-kicks.
UEFA gave examples of recent statistics to illustrate their decision to make the historic change. “Statistics since the mid-1970s show a clear trend of continuous reduction in the gap between the number of home-away wins (from 61%-19% to 47%-30%) and the average number of goals per match scored at home-away (from 2.02-0.95 to 1.58-1.15) in men’s competitions”.
Why did UEFA abolish the away goals rule?
The reasons why it was time to get rid of the away goals rule were became clear in the most recent editions of the tournament. Teams playing the first leg at home would often simply focus on avoiding conceding any goals at all - even if that meant putting 10 men behind the ball and defending for 90 minutes. It didn’t make for entertaining football. Teams parking the bus in the first leg put the visiting team at a disadvantage later, when the tie was to be decided at their ground.
But even without the away goals rule, teams who play the second leg at home will have an advantage if the tie ends level after 180 minutes as they will have the comfort of playing extra-time and, if need be, a penalty shootout in front of their own fans. It’s all about finding the right balance for the rules makers.
When does the Champions League round of 16 start?
The first legs are played across the days of 14/15/21/22 February, with the second legs on 7/8/14/15 March. Those teams that won their respective groups are at home in the second leg.
Champions League round of 16 first leg scores
Tuesday, 14 February
Wednesday, 15 February
- Club Brugge 0–2 Benfica
- Borussia Dortmund 1–0 Chelsea
Tuesday, 21 February
- Liverpool 2–5 Real Madrid
- Eintracht 0–2 Napoli
Wednesday, 22 February
- RB Leipzig 1–1 Manchester City
- Inter 1–0 Porto
Non-Europeans with the most Champions League titles
Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
Two with Barcelona (2011 and 2015).
Adriano (Brazil)
Two with Barcelona (2011 and 2015).
James Rodríguez (Colombia)
Two with Real Madrid (2016 and 2017).
Danilo (Brazil)
Two with Real Madrid (2016 and 2017).
Rogelio Domínguez (Argentina)
Three with Real Madrid (1958,1959 and 1960).
Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
Three with Real Madrid (1998, 2000 and 2002).
Sávio (Brazil)
Three with Real Madrid (1998, 2000 and 2002).
Fernando Redondo (Argentina)
Three titles: two with Real Madrid (1998 and 2000) and one with AC Milán (2003).
Eto´o (Cameroon)
Three titles: two with Barcelona (2006 and 2009) and one with Inter (2010).
Dani Alves (Brazil)
Three with FC Barcelona (2009, 2011 and 2015).
Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)
Three with Real Madrid (2016, 2017 and 2018).
José Santamaría (Uruguay)
Four with Real Madrid (1958, 1959, 1960 and 1966).
Messi (Argentina)
Four with Barcelona (2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015).
Casemiro (Brazil)
Five with Real Madrid (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022).
Marcelo (Brazil)
Five with Real Madrid (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022)
Champions League round of 16 second leg dates
Tuesday, 7 March
- Benfica 5–1 Brugge (agg. 7-1 Benfica)
- Chelsea 2–0 Borussia Dortmund (agg. 2-1 Chelsea)
Wednesday, 8 March
- Tottenham 0–0 Milan (agg. 1-0 Milan)
- Bayern 2–0 PSG (agg. 3-0 Bayern)
Tuesday, 14 March
- Manchester City 7–0 RB Leipzig (agg. 8-1 Man City)
- Porto 0–0 Inter (agg. 1-0 Inter)
Wednesday, 15 March
- Real Madrid – Liverpool (3:00 p.m ET)
- Napoli – Eintracht (3:00 p.m. ET)
When is the Champions League quarter-final draw?
The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final (i.e. home/away team) is on Friday 17 March.
UCL quarter-finals
- First legs: April 11-12
- Second legs: April 18-19
UCL semi-finals
- First legs: May 9-10
- Second legs: May 16-17
Final
- June 10