2-1 loss vs 0-0 draw as an away team in the first leg of a CL tie.

Dancfc

Full Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2016
Messages
7,642
Supports
Chelsea
I hear this quite a lot with fans of said away team in CL that they would have taken the loss on the night if it meant they got the away goal and something I've never quite got, as much as 0-0 away can be a bit of a dodgy result it's still better than a 1-2 loss.

For people on the side of a fence or preferring a 2-1 loss (if any exist here) what's your reasoning towards it? The only thing I can think of is maybe you believe an away goal is a phsycological boost even if it means you're chasing the tie.
 
Last edited:
2-1 loss all day. Since the away goal counts double you're through with a 0-0 in the second leg.
 
If you’re the home team in the first leg 0-0 is an excellent result.
 
Samid said:
2-1 loss all day. Since the away goal counts double you're through with a 0-0 in the second leg.
Click to expand...
Huh..??

There's actually no difference, you'd still need to win the home leg by at least 1-0
 
A bore draw is no good because if you give up a goal at home you can wind up in trouble.
 
Ikon said:
Huh..??

There's actually no difference, you'd still need to win the home leg by at least 1-0
Click to expand...
There is a difference.

If you draw the away leg 0-0 then a 2-1 home win gets you through where if you lost the away leg 2-1 that result means extra time.

If you draw the home leg 0-0 after the same score away then extra time, had you lost the first leg 2-1 then you're out with that score.

The only thing I can think off is they may believe it's better from a phsycological mindset POV to chase the tie with an away goal as opposed to having to balance chasing a goal without conceding a cruical one because other than that there's no logical sense to prefer a 1-2 over a 0-0.
 
Last edited:
Liver_bird said:
If you’re the home team in the first leg 0-0 is an excellent result.
Click to expand...
It really isn't. It's a "not bad" result but very far from excellent, statistically speaking. The majority of teams are eliminated after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home. It's a better result than a home defeat or a score draw but not excellent.
 
Siorac said:
It really isn't. It's a "not bad" result but very far from excellent, statistically speaking. The majority of teams are eliminated after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at home. It's a better result than a home defeat or a score draw but not excellent.
Click to expand...
There’s only 4 possible types of result. A home 0-0 is better than 2 of the other types. It’s pretty good.
 
Nick7 said:
There’s only 4 possible types of result. A home 0-0 is better than 2 of the other types. It’s pretty good.
Click to expand...
Yeah yeah I had this debate before. Putting results into four types (I assume you mean win, bore draw, score draw, defeat) is a useless distinction - it implies that 6-0 and 4-3 are both "home wins" and thus they are the same. They are obviously not. 1-1 and 4-4 are also quite massively different.

An excellent result is winning at home by more than one goal without conceding. A pretty good result is any win - at least you won. A 0-0 draw is not a disaster but that's the best you can say about it. Again, the stats bear this out: the majority of teams that draw the first leg 0-0 at home are eliminated.
 
Siorac said:
Yeah yeah I had this debate before. Putting results into four types (I assume you mean win, bore draw, score draw, defeat) is a useless distinction - it implies that 6-0 and 4-3 are both "home wins" and thus they are the same. They are obviously not. 1-1 and 4-4 are also quite massively different.

An excellent result is winning at home by more than one goal without conceding. A pretty good result is any win - at least you won. A 0-0 draw is not a disaster but that's the best you can say about it. Again, the stats bear this out: the majority of teams that draw the first leg 0-0 at home are eliminated.
Click to expand...
It’s a good result I’d say, not excellent but it’s good. The tie is still in your hands.

honestly, I read the exchange wrong, I thought it was 0-0 for an away side which is in my opinion an excellent result.
 
Nick7 said:
It’s a good result I’d say, not excellent but it’s good. The tie is still in your hands.

honestly, I read the exchange wrong, I thought it was 0-0 for an away side which is in my opinion an excellent result.
Click to expand...
Fair enough.

Of course, in these things, context always matters. I'm going to go off on a useless tangent now because I enjoy that; you've been warned.

Let's take Guardiola's Barcelona. Fearsome, absolutely powerful team but its away record in the Champions League was patchy, at best. Their home record, on the other hand... that was absolutely stellar. Now, against that team, a 0-0 result at home in the first leg is an awful result. It simply cannot be argued otherwise: they're more than likely to overwhelm and destroy you at their own place.

But let's take a great counter-attacking side that has some trouble breaking down settled defences. Now, for them, simply keeping it 0-0 at home might be considered a very good result, even: they will be comfortable playing on the counter and trust themselves to get a score draw at least.

Since the majority of teams in the history of football were and are stronger at home than away, it's relatively rare , even with all the context in the world, that a home draw can be considered a good result for the home team. Because most of the time the simple logic of "we couldn't beat them at home and we're even worse away" applies.
 
Any result that involves you scoring a goal away from home is better than not.
 
We have been on the receiving end of both outcomes

Rotor (0-0 away, 2-2 at home)
Porto (1-2 away, 1-1 at home)
 
Drawing the first leg at home 0-0 creates a negative outlook for the home team in the second leg imo. The home team is more concerned with conceding a goal because any goal conceded creates a larger mountain to climb. It eliminates a score draw as a favorable result for the home side.
 
Bayern Munich players said they were happy with the 0-0 draw when they came to Anfield last year and that is was a good result to go back with and look how that panned out. Away goal is crucial in the first leg.
 
It all comes down to your preference of food really. It's like choosing between a sausage and a donut; Some prefer the donut even though it is the slightly less healthy choice.
 
Cheech Wizard said:
Bayern Munich players said they were happy with the 0-0 draw when they came to Anfield last year and that is was a good result to go back with and look how that panned out. Away goal is crucial in the first leg.
Click to expand...
How would a loss in the 1st game have helped them in that cherrypicked example?
 
This is rubbish. Obviously a 0-0 draw is better. If you win 3-2 at home you go through. Away goals only count double if the agg score is tied you clowns.
 
0-0 draw as all you simply need to do is win at your home stadium. No complications, no permutations, just go out and win irrespective of how much the opposition score.

A 2-1 loss is clearly more complicated as if you win at your own stadium it can’t be 2-1 or 3-2 etc as it’ll either go to extra time or the other team will go through on away goals.
 
Because of the latest trend with the cup game styles and the technologically assisted refereeing, any first leg result within 3-0 is playable on the 2nd leg without hiding or dark arts... we even saw a 4-0 not being enough recently ffs!! :lol:
 
Of course draw is a better result but I'm sure 0-0 away is nerving come the second leg. One slip and you need to score twice for the home team. I'm sure it affects the tactics as well. Losing 1-2 you're given the rights to attack more freely.
 
Roosney said:
Of course draw is a better result but I'm sure 0-0 away is nerving come the second leg. One slip and you need to score twice for the home team. I'm sure it affects the tactics as well. Losing 1-2 you're given the rights to attack more freely.
Click to expand...
You'd need to score twice anyway if you lost 2-1 away and concede 1 at home.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.