Manchester United were last night eliminated from the Champions League quarter-finals by Bayern Munich, thanks to an incredible volley by Arjen Robben, Bayern's second away goal. This is the fourth time in their history that the Red Devils have been eliminated in such fashion, following away goals defeats to Galatasaray and Monaco in the 1990s and Bayer Leverkusen back in 2002. But what I simply cannot understand is WHY the away goals rule exists?
In the past many away teams would play extremely defensively in European competition. I believe the thinking behind the rule is to make the away team try to attack more than they otherwise would, but surely this in turn makes the home team need to play more defensively. Essentially, the rule says that a 2-1 home win is better than a 3-2 home win, and that a 2-2 home draw is worse than a 1-1 home draw. This is clearly ridiculous, surely all draws should be looked upon as the same, and a victory by a one goal margin should be seen simply as it is - a victory by a one goal margin.
A most ludicrous case comes to mind, back in the Champions League semi-finals of 2003. AC Milan were drawn to play city rivals Internazionale and the two ties took place in their shared stadium, the San Siro. A goalless first leg ensued, and the second leg finished 1-1 after Andriy Shevchenko put the Rossoneri one up before Obafemi Martins grabbed a late equaliser for the Nerazzurri. But as Inter were supposedly the home team in the second leg, it was Milan that went through thanks to Sheva's 'away goal'. Pure folly. Simply put, UEFA should abolish the away goals rule and stick to good old-fashioned extra time and penalties to settle any tied match. At least that way a team has to win by an actual margin.
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