It works, I can see it working. Teams play defensive anyway in these continental ties so whenever a goal does squeak through, it changes everything and the game opens up considerably.
By that I mean, does it succeed in encouraging attacking play / discourage playing for the draw?
I personally don't see it but hey, it's not a rhetorical question, really.
I think it helps the away team to play a more attacking game. And even if the game is e.g. 3-0, the away losing team still has the knowledge of if we get at least one goal this tie is still very much on.
It beats deciding ties on a coin toss and it's more to do with actual football than penalty shootouts.
One solution would be if the Champions League was contracted. Then there'd be space in the calendar for neutral venue replays. The only thing standing in the way of such a reform is the clubs' rampant, merciless, unappeasible greed.
The best solution would be a regime of brutal torture to be inflicted upon all coaches who insist upon defence-first tactics, but for some obscure reason that isn't allowed.
It beats deciding ties on a coin toss and it's more to do with actual football than penalty shootouts.
This.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stray Wasp
One solution would be if the Champions League was contracted. Then there'd be space in the calendar for neutral venue replays. The only thing standing in the way of such a reform is the clubs' rampant, merciless, unappeasible greed.
This. Seeded, 64-team, two-legged straight knockout for the European Cup.
I don't have an issue with it, but it sometimes create a wierd situation where even the home team plays very defensively (usually when they are not the favorites) and hope for a 0:0 draw at home and all they need to do away is getting at least a scoring draw
I'd like to try a "home goal" rule... I don't think many away teams really try to score very much, away goal rule or not, but the away goal forces the home team to be extra careful too... and in the end, both are happy with a goalless draw. lame
This wouldn't work because the smaller UEFA member countries wouldn't have any chance of getting teams into the CL.
64 is twice as many teams as there are now. You cap it at 4 per league, same as now, with a graded scale. This wouldn't affect a smaller team's ability to get in, it would only reduce the guaranteed home fixtures that everyone gets and increases the chances of upsets. Also completely removes dead-rubber 5th and 6th group games being played in late-November and December that nobody attends.
