Champions League quarter finals: what happens if there’s a tie?

Real Madrid vs Manchester City, Arsenal vs Bayern, PSG vs Barcelona and Atlético vs Dortmund. All looking to progress.

So many mouth watering double-headers lined up for the 2023/24 Champions League quarter finals with Real Madrid welcoming Manchester City and Arsenal hosting Bayern Munich on the Tuesday getting the first legs going. Wednesday’s schedule pitted PSG against Barcelona and Atlético Madrid against Borussia Dortmund.

But with home-and-away games taking place, the same as in the previous round of 16 and in the semi finals when they come, questions remain about what happens if the number of goals scored in the two games cannot separate them. Here’s a breakdown of how those close encounters are decided.

Back when the 2021/22 Champions League knockout stage got underway, an important change to the rules was introduced, one which affected something that had determined so many games in previous editions of the tournament. The decision itself was made in the summer of 2021, when UEFA abolished what was known as ‘the away goals rule’ in all two-legged European ties.

Introduced in 1965, the away goals rule stated that all goals scored by the visiting team in both home and away legs would count as double if the aggregate score ended level.

Obviously the first leg of these knockout clashes is not impacted by this rule – the game ends after normal time – but if the aggregate score is level at the end of regulation time of the second leg, the game will go to extra-time - a total of 30 minutes, teams changing ends after each 15-minute period.

After that, if the score is still tied, the game will be decided from the penalty spot - a shootout involving five players from each side which will go to sudden death if the score