THIERRY HENRY has claimed he’d like to see the away goals rule return after Barcelona and Inter Milan’s goal-laden Champions League semi-final.
Inter Milan were millimetres away from securing an historic win in the first leg after former Arsenal and Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan was flagged offside after scoring late in the second half.
Thierry Henry has called for the away goal rule to be reinstated
GettyThuram’s clever flick gave Inter Milan the lead after just 30 seconds[/caption]
The semi-automated offside showed just how close Mkhitaryan came to giving the visitors the lead going into the second leg at the San Siro next week.
Barcelona twice fought back to restore parity in the match and were behind within the first minute after Marcus Thuram‘s clever back-heeled flick left Wojciech Szczesny rooted.
Then Denzel Dumfries doubled the visitor’s lead with an acrobatic overhead kick following a corner.
But only minutes later Lamine Yamal came to life and pulled one back for Barcelona.
The 17-year-old Yamal was electric all match, and Ferran Torres pulled Barcelona level before half-time.
Against the run of play, Dumfries scored his second to put Inter ahead once more, but a thunderous strike from Raphinha pegged back the visitors once more.
After a breathless display from both sides, Henry suggested that Inter Milan should have perhaps deserved more for their effort.
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Speaking about the away goals rule, Henry said: “I know it’s been like that for a very [long] time, and we have to accept it.
“But off air I was talking to Jamie [Carragher], and I was like, ‘how can you score three goals away from home and you don’t have an advantage?’
AlamyBut Yamal’s strike brought the hosts back into the game[/caption]
“Away goals for me were massive, you score three goals away and you still don’t have an advantage 0-0 at home.”
The rule was scrapped by Uefa in 2021, but gave added weight to goals scored by visiting teams, acting as a tiebreaker in the case that knockout ties ended level on aggregate.
During his time as Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger argued that the away goals rule had too much weight and it encouraged the home team to take fewer risks.
Without the rule, this semi-final will go to extra-time and penalties if the teams cannot be separated, meaning Inter’s three away goals go unrewarded.
The winner will proceed to the Champions League final, with Henry admitting he was surprised by this Inter Milan performance.
The French icon said: “I didn’t think that Inter Milan was going to perform how they did for how they played recently.
“You have to give them a lot of credit for matching up what Barcelona gave them, coming strong in the game. To be honest, I didn’t expect that.”
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