ChrisNelson
Full Member
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- Feb 9, 2009
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I noticed Wenger's comments recently regarding him having to change his whole way of thinking for the Moscow tie because the previous 2 matches Arsenal played the first leg away first.
Back in the day a manager's preference was always to play away first because 'you had a better idea of what you needed to do back at home'. That's fair enough but the same applies the other way around. And I understand that if the tie goes to extra time/ penalties it's an advantage to have that at your own ground.
But look at the City/ Liverpool tie. Liverpool by not conceding an away goal are effectively 1 goal away from killing off the tie completely. They might not even need that.
I think there is a huge upside to getting the home leg out of the way, knowing after 90 minutes that you cannot possibly concede any further away goals in the tie. Look at United v Porto in 2004, we got stung that year and Sevilla this year another example.
Is it still the case that everyone prefers the second leg at home or is there more of an argument these days that it can work both ways?
Back in the day a manager's preference was always to play away first because 'you had a better idea of what you needed to do back at home'. That's fair enough but the same applies the other way around. And I understand that if the tie goes to extra time/ penalties it's an advantage to have that at your own ground.
But look at the City/ Liverpool tie. Liverpool by not conceding an away goal are effectively 1 goal away from killing off the tie completely. They might not even need that.
I think there is a huge upside to getting the home leg out of the way, knowing after 90 minutes that you cannot possibly concede any further away goals in the tie. Look at United v Porto in 2004, we got stung that year and Sevilla this year another example.
Is it still the case that everyone prefers the second leg at home or is there more of an argument these days that it can work both ways?