UEFA insist on approving unbalanced rule for Liverpool Champions League tie

RB Leipzig and Liverpool are facing off in Budapest on Tuesday, but if Liverpool score a goal it will in effect be more important than if Leipzig do.

That is the bizarre situation that UEFA have put the two clubs in ahead of their Champions League last-16 tie, with the German authorities' ban on visitors from countries with coronavirus variants meaning that Leipzig's home leg had to be switched.

In effect the situation doesn't make much difference to Liverpool, who know that a goal scored in their designated away leg will count 'double' on the away goals rule, something that has been in place in European football for years now.

But with still no confirmation on where the second leg will take place, with suggestions that it won't be at Anfield due to the amount of quarantining time Leipzig would have to undergo when they returned to Germany, there is a huge question hanging over the tie.

Of course you can debate the existence of any sort of advantage or disadvantage to playing at home and away in these times of playing behind closed doors, with the high percentage of away wins this season certainly a compelling point.

But then what of Leipzig's approach to the game in unfamiliar surroundings?

Would they not be more confident trying to stop Liverpool from scoring in their own stadium?

And then how can Liverpool consider the idea of taking a lead back to Anfield if they don't know that they'll even be playing there for the second leg?

Imagine if that is back in Budapest – one of UEFA's approved neutral venues – with the roles reversed?

It isn't just Tuesday evening's game that will be played out in these odd circumstances.

On February 23 it's Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea in Bucharest and then a day later it is Budapest again for Borussia Moenchengladbach vs Manchester City.

At the time of writing UEFA's website states that all of the Premier League teams will play their second legs at home, which remains the governing body's preferred option.

But the fact that none of them know this for sure at the moment surely affects the way they play in the first legs, while Leipzig, Atletico and Moenchengladbach are well within their rights to argue that the playing field isn't level here.

The UK's handling of the pandemic has been horrendous, and the switching of football matches is way, way down the list of newsworthy consequences to some of the decisions made.

It is a strange one though, and one that promises to make Tuesday night's spectacle all the more interesting.

Can Liverpool score an away goal against the German side in Hungary?

If they do it'll be just another odd chapter in the strangest of seasons.

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