MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City played in front of thousands of empty seats as fans stayed away from the Champions League clash against AEK Athens on Tuesday.
A well-below capacity crowd of 40,042 attended City's 5-1 win, with swathes of empty rows visible inside the newly-expanded 61,000-seater Etihad Stadium.
The lowest attendance for a City home game this season is around 32,000 for the English League Cup match against second-division Norwich last month.
All other home matches this season have had attendances of 60,000-plus.
“I think the ones that were in the stadium, they were good,” City coach Enzo Maresca said. “In the last game against Ipswich they were top, and now we have next week two games at home against Brighton and I have no doubt that the environment will be top again.”
The low turnout was a surprise given City fans have been in defiant mood since the club was found guilty of widespread financial wrongdoing, which could see it face a range of punishments including a huge fine, points deduction or even expulsion from the Premier League.
More than 60,000 attended City's last Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain, when the embattled club put on a pre-match fireworks show and a highlights reel of its greatest moments on the stadium’s big screens in what could be interpreted as a defiant response to the ruling, which it has appealed.
Fans have turned up with inflatable bananas, resurrecting a craze from the 1980s long before it became the dominant force in English soccer via the backing of its Emerati ownership. But there were few on show on this occasion.
Perhaps the low turnout reflected the fact it was City’s third home game in less than a week, following matches against Ipswich and PSG.
The traveling AEK fans chanted relentlessly despite its heavy loss.
“I don’t want to comment on the home team attendance. This is their thing,” AEK coach Marko Nikolić said. "I was focused on our fans and our team because I really enjoy being coach of this team.
"I hope you’re familiar with the ambience in our stadium. It’s sold out practically every game in the league and in Europe. These people follow us and I can remember now some away games during the last two years. It’s amazing and I am proud of how they follow the team. And you see after a big defeat also in the end of the game, how they escort the team from the pitch.
“It’s an obligation for us next time to be a bit more brave.”
The City fans who did stay away missed another slick performance from Maresca's team, which tops the Premier League and quickly bounced back from defeat to PSG with another win in the Champions League.
In the absence of the benched Erling Haaland, Phil Foden scored a hat trick, with Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki also on target.
Stavros Pilios replied for AEK.
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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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