Football

Arsene Wenger suggests scrapping away goals in new Champions League format


Arsene Wenger has called for UEFA to scrap the away goals rule in any new Champions League format.

Former Arsenal boss Wenger said the current rule discourages home teams from playing attacking football in the first leg of a Champions League or Europa League tie.

Wenger, who is FIFA’S head of global football development, was speaking ahead of Chelsea’s 3-0 defeat at home to Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

The result left Frank Lampard’s side with a huge mountain to climb in the second leg of their last-16 clash on March 18. No team has overcome such a deficit after losing the first leg of a Champions League tie at home.

And the game appears to have added weight to Wenger’s argument that teams who host the first leg are disadvantaged by the rule which sees away goals count double in the event of an aggregate draw over two legs.

Arsene Wenger said ‘the weight of the away goal is too big in the modern game’

“You play at home by thinking every goal you concede, you are half out,” said Wenger while appearing as a pundit on beIN Sports.

“Sometimes I feel that this away goal becomes a big handicap when you play your first game at home because you have to attack with keeping a certain security and not giving away too much.”

Wenger was asked whether a change to the away goal rule was on the cards as part of his new role with FIFA.

The former Gunners boss did not confirm that a rule change was in the offing, but said he felt the current situation was “not justifiable” and was a relic from a different era of football.

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“I proposed that for a long time – to get rid of the away goal at least until you go into extra-time, because the weight of the away goal is too big in the modern game.

“It’s not justifiable any more. That [was brought in at] a time when away from home there was no television, they would kick you off the park, the pitches were bad.

“I think it would be a good decision [to do away with the away goals rule until after extra time].”

Talks have taken place in recent months over a possible new format the Champions League, with a 32-team league among the ideas proposed.





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