Under the new rules, Arsenal had to play at home in the second leg against Real Madrid last season. |
From the 2025/26 season, the team ranked higher in the phase league will automatically be given the privilege of playing the second leg at home. The new rule will apply across the Europa League, Conference League and Women's Champions League.
UEFA has abandoned the old method of randomly drawing lots to determine the home team in the second leg. Last season, Real Madrid finished 11th in the qualifying round but still got to play the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Arsenal at the Bernabeu. It is worth noting that the Gunners finished the phase league in third place.
According to the new rules, Arsenal will be the team to play the second leg at Emirates Stadium. Similarly, the Barcelona - Dortmund match also caused controversy because of the luck factor from the draw.
One notable point is that this privilege can be "robbed". If the lower ranked team wins, they will inherit the privilege of the eliminated seeded team. Going back to the case of Real Madrid - Arsenal, if "Los Blancos" beat "The Gunners", they will be considered the third seed in the semi-finals, meaning they will have the advantage of playing at home in the second leg of the next round.
According to UEFA, this change is to increase the value of the qualifying round matches, forcing big clubs to compete seriously from the beginning to achieve the best ranking. The advantage of playing the second leg at home is not only of professional significance, but also helps the strong team maintain the advantage, or the weak team dream of turning the tables.
President Aleksander Ceferin once emphasized that this is part of a new reform direction, opening up big surprises in Europe's top tournaments.
Source: https://znews.vn/thay-doi-lon-o-champions-league-post1567307.html
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