Home > Away goals rule

In many competitions, such as knockout phases of the Champions League and UEFA Cup, teams meet in two-legged "ties", defined as matches contested over two legs, one held at each contestant's home ground. The winner is determined by aggregate score over the two legs of the tie. However, in a knockout tournament, there must be a way to determine a winner if the tie is level on aggregate after the end of regular time of the second leg.

In competitions that use the away goals rule, the first tiebreaker is "away goals"—the number of goals scored by each team in its away leg. As an example, let us assume a Champions League tie between Manchester United and Real Madrid, with the first leg in Manchester and the return leg in Madrid.

First leg:

• Man U 3–1 Real Madrid

Second leg:

• Real Madrid 4–2 Man U

At the end of our tie, the two teams are level 5–5 on goals. Under UEFA rules, the first tiebreaker is away goals. Real scored one goal in Manchester, but Man U scored two goals in Madrid; therefore, Man U would lead 2–1 on away goals, thereby advancing to the next round.

If a tie is level on away goals, it then goes to extra time. Under UEFA rules, the away goals rule does not apply at the end of extra time. Let us return to our Man U-Real Madrid tie, under the same conditions as before, but this time the two legs finish as follows:

First leg:

• Man U 1–0 Real Madrid

Second leg:

• Real Madrid 1–0 Man U

Now, the tie is level both on aggregate (1–1) and away goals (0–0). The tie then goes to extra time. Suppose that each team scores once in extra time, making the final of the second leg:

• Real Madrid 2–1 Man U (aet)

Both teams are still level on goals (now 2–2) but not away goals (0-1), but the away goals rule is not applied a second time.

If a tie remains level after extra time, the winner is decided by a penalty shootout.

It is sometimes stated, even by a few football commentators, that away goals are "worth double". This is not true; an away goal is identical in value to a home goal, and only becomes an issue if the tie finishes level on aggregate.

Please note that not all competitions use the away goals rule. For example, CONMEBOL does not use the away goals rule or extra time in any of its competitions, such as the Copa Libertadores. Ties that are level on aggregate go to an immediate penalty shootout.