First leg
What is called the “First leg” in football?
What does the “First leg” stand for?
What is the term “First leg” for in football?
1st leg is the first of the two matches which are played between two teams in a football tournament (generally club level).
In competitions like the Champions League and the Cup competitions in some of European top football nations, it is a practice to decide the winner of a clash between two teams (generally in the knockout stages) after two games – each of which is called a leg. Both the teams get to host one game each, i.e. one leg is played at the home ground of one team and the other at the other’s home ground.
For example, if the scores of the two legs are:
First leg: Team A 4–1 Team B
Second leg: Team B 2–1 Team A
Then the aggregate score will be Team A 5–3 Team B, meaning team A wins the tie. In some competitions, a tie is considered to be drawn if each team wins one leg, regardless of the aggregate score. Two-legged ties can be used in knockout cup competitions and playoffs.
In North America, the equivalent term is home-and-home series or, if decided by aggregate, two-game total-goals series.