Do we really think playing 2nd leg home matters at this stage?

With such 4 quality teams i really don't all 4 can win the away leg very easily and vice versa.

Of course it matters with smaller teams but at this level it really means close to f*ck all imo.

No, It doesn't. You still have to score more goals over 180 minutes and perform better, doesn't matter which stadium you do it in. The team that generally performs better over the 180 minutes will go through.

It doesn't matter at any stage. There have been statistical analysis and it's irrelevant. It's just a myth.

Hardly, it depends on the teams styles a bit but overall its not that big a deal. I know for me, when the draws are being done, I dont care if we come out first or second.

It still matters a little, imo.

It's easier to do what you need to do at home than away.

Imagine BVB-Madrid in extra time in second leg at Bernabeu and the missing link blasts one and takes BVB to CL final

GL would explode

**I guess he can't play vs Real **

It matters if you are Barca and hatters need something to dis you about

It matters in the group stage or in the KO round. Means f**k all now.

I think it depends on styles of the two teams my self. Overall though I don't think there is a huge advantage. However depending on the result in the first leg it could be a huge advantage (or disadvantage)

It matters a lot. You have to take a lot more risks if you play at home first. If you play away, you can be more conservative and adjust as needed. If you get a good result away, you don't need to take a lot of risks in the home return game.

For great tacticians, playing at home in the second game is a big advantage.

Why do you have to take more risks at home?

0-0 is a good home result these days with the away goal.

Everyone pushes to win the first game if they're at home. Nobody (at least none of the teams i follow) play for the 0-0 at home in the first game.

They generally dont, but they could if they wanted to.

0-0's at home usually happen when for example, your doing okay, but not playing your best level and the other team is threatening to get an away goal. Play more conservative the last 15 minutes, 0-0 aint that bad.

Let's take Madrid for example.

If they had the first game at home, they would go on the full out attack and try to score as many goals as possible. Based on the result, they would then adjust their tactics in the return game.

In an away first game, Madrid is going to sit back and counter attack (which we are much more comfortable doing). We could easily win the game this way. If we win, we may not sit back again... but we would cautiously push for a goal and then protect the lead at home.

At least for teams who play like Madrid, it's a huge difference.

True, it does depend on who you are to a degree. But I think most teams arent that worried if they get home or away first honestly.

sportsczy wrote:Let's take Madrid for example.

If they had the first game at home, they would go on the full out attack and try to score as many goals as possible. Based on the result, they would then adjust their tactics in the return game.

In an away first game, Madrid is going to sit back and counter attack (which we are much more comfortable doing). We could easily win the game this way. If we win, we may not sit back again... but we would cautiously push for a goal and then protect the lead at home.

At least for teams who play like Madrid, it's a huge difference.

I would have actually preferred the first scenario. I think we have what it takes to beat Dortmund at home and going into the away game with the aggregate lead would have been great because then Dortmund would be chasing the game and we'd have our chance to score the away goals needed to effectively seal the tie.

If we can get a win or scoring draw in Germany in the first leg then I think we'll have a clear advantage but until then I would have preferred playing at home first.

We're going to be fresh this time Z. Against Bayern last year, we had Bayern leg 1 - Clasico -bayern Leg 2. Barca was close enough that we had to play our regulars in every La Liga game other than Barca too. We were completely out of steam in the second leg.

This time, i expect everyone to get plenty of rest. We were better than Bayern to start both games last year. We gave up a stupid 90+ min goal in the first leg and then just ran out steam in the second half of of the second game.

That won't happen again.

Extra-time is better to have at home I think, any statistics on that?

sportsczy wrote:We're going to be fresh this time Z. Against Bayern last year, we had Bayern leg 1 - Clasico -bayern Leg 2. Barca was close enough that we had to play our regulars in every La Liga game other than Barca too. We were completely out of steam in the second leg.

This time, i expect everyone to get plenty of rest. We were better than Bayern to start both games last year. We gave up a stupid 90+ min goal in the first leg and then just ran out steam in the second half of of the second game.

That won't happen again.

Good point we'll have to wait and see how much rest affects the teams this time.

This year our Dortmund clashes are actually sandwiched between a trip to the Calderon. Would rather we didn't lose the derby although if given the choice between one or the other I rather reach the final.

Wenger in 2006 played for 0-0's at home and reached the final using the away-goal rule, I thought what The Franchise is saying was common knowledge. 0-0 result at home is a good result, Malaga nearly proved it again against BVB.

What is important in such stages is that you simply try not to concede at home, if you do you'll have a much harder time, it doesn't matter if you score or not even a 0-0 will do because of the away-goal rule. If you score the better.

I would take Home the second leg, every. single. time.

Harmonica wrote:Extra-time is better to have at home I think, any statistics on that?

might be but if the opponent scores a goal you have to score twice

if anything its more important as the stakes are raised and the need for heightened tactics increases.

so ya, i agree with sports. i was just about to post something along those lines