Abstract
The Union of European Football Associations is currently reviewing the away goals rule during extra time in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. We model extra time as a two-stage contest. Assuming a home-field advantage we analyze the effect of the away goals rule on the competitive balance between teams. Our analysis suggests that the away goals rule levels the competitive imbalance introduced by the home-field advantage in the quarter and semi-finals and that in the round of 16 weaker teams should play first home and then away so that they benefit from the away goals rule during extra time.
Highlights
On March 11, 2020, Liverpool F.C., winner of the 2019 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League final, played its second leg in the round of 16 of the 2019-2020 Champions League at Anfield Road against Atletico Madrid after a 1-0 loss in the first leg in Spain
The paper is organized as follows: In the “Model” section, we introduce the basic model that describes play in extra time with and without the away goals rule
The present paper investigated the effect of the away goals rule as a tiebreaker during extra time in a game-theoretic model
Summary
On March 11, 2020, Liverpool F.C., winner of the 2019 Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League final, played its second leg in the round of 16 of the 2019-2020 Champions League at Anfield Road against Atletico Madrid after a 1-0 loss in the first leg in Spain. After 90 min and a goal by Liverpool in the first half, the match went into extra time. Atletico Madrid used these additional 30 min to score. The reaction of Diego Simeone, coach of Atletico Madrid, was somewhat surprising: “What I have to say, and will be saying at the UEFA coaches’ meeting, is what I think is unfair. Today we had 30 minutes of extra time to score. We had 30 more minutes to score an away goal. Liverpool had 30 minutes fewer to score an away goal.
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