In theory, it seems that abolishing the "away goals rule" would indeed improve the fairness of European football. However, as with football and life, luck and misfortune always go hand in hand, and an overzealous pursuit of absolute fairness can make the game lose its unique drama.
Under the old rules (let's call them "the old rules"), Real Madrid drew 3-3 at home to Manchester City and were eliminated after a 1-1 draw away from home. In contrast, a 2-2 draw at home to Bayern Munich should have given Real Madrid a huge advantage in the second leg, but with the abolition of the "away goals rule", Real Madrid now only have a general advantage over a home team.
It is known that UEFA has abolished the "away goals rule" from the 2021/22 season. This rule has been in place at the top level for more than half a century since it was introduced in 1965. Many other competitions have followed suit, using the "away goals rule" to distinguish between winners and losers in direct knockout rounds.
A competition rule that has been around for so long and still exists must have its important value and significance. Historically, many of football's rules were quickly repealed because of the independent views of the organizers, only to be proven wrong by subsequent results. Football is a game that blends countless ideas and theories.
Both FIFA and UEFA must admit that the "Ballon d'Or" rule is a misguided attempt to encourage attacking football, but it backfires and kills the excitement of attacking football and the premier game. When the "Golden Ball" was adjusted to the "Silver Ball", it really just covered up the failure of FIFA and UEFA in terms of rulemaking. These rules are discarded as a matter of course.
The "away goals rule" is quite different. Not only does it have a high degree of professional significance and value, but it is also intimately linked to the drama of football – an important element of football's appeal. It's normal to draw with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu (although it's quite remarkable to get a draw in a game like this). But if it was a draw at the Bernabeu and three goals, or two at the Allianz Arena, it would be a completely different story.
Famous courses such as the Bernabeu are often referred to as "holy places". Every course has its own soul. So, what will be the emotions of the visiting players when they score important goals on these 'holy places'?
Now, with UEFA abolishing the "away goals rule", the knockout rounds of the Champions League have become a simple 180-minute match divided into two 45-minute halves. If the score is still tied after 180 minutes, there will be 30 minutes of extra time. A 3-3 draw or 0-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu would have felt exactly the same for the visitors and their fans. This seems cold and strict.
Of course, the change in the rules leads to different goals and tactics. When playing under the new rules, teams no longer need to be absolutely cautious to avoid conceding goals at home (UEFA believes that the new rules encourage attacking football, but this logic remains to be seen).
The excitement and emotion of the visitors when they scored the goal away from home was also clearly affected. With the first leg high scoreline, the expectations of the neutral crowd for the second leg are now different. All of them are back to square one, so to speak, – simple and cold. In principle, the new rules do increase fairness (or, more precisely, less unfairness). Under the old rules, away teams only had 90 minutes to score in the first leg, while their opponents could have up to 120 minutes to score away from home in the second leg. This difference depends almost entirely on the "luck" or "misfortune" of the draw.
Now that we have compared football to life, we also have to admit that the argument for absolute fairness may make the game lose its unique drama! Will Real Madrid's high-scoring draw in this season's Champions League make spectators nostalgic for the "away goals rule" that the UEFA has abolished?