Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca brushed aside questions over a high number of empty seats at the Etihad Stadium in the 5-1 UEFA Champions League win over AEK Athens.
Manchester City supporters have waited a while to see Phil Foden back to his brilliant best. On Tuesday night the academy graduate delivered it, lighting up a 5-1 rout of AEK Athens with a first Champions League hat-trick to continue the renaissance he had begun only days earlier against Ipswich Town.
Foden’s treble dominated the highlights, but another one of the evening’s main talking points came from the stands rather than the pitch. Large pockets of empty seats were visible around the ground on a European night, and the subject was put to Enzo Maresca once the game was won.
Maresca plays down the empty seats
It was hard to miss the unoccupied seats as Manchester City ran riot, and Maresca was asked about the turnout at his post-match press conference. The Italian saw little cause for concern, praising those who did make the trip into the Etihad Stadium and pointing out that a busier run of home fixtures is still to come.
The 46-year-old said: “I think the ones that were in the stadium were good! The last game also 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 backdrop to the empty seats
Midweek European ties against less familiar opponents have always been a harder sell than the marquee domestic fixtures, and AEK Athens - back in the Champions League for only the second time in two decades - are perhaps more likely for Season Ticket Holders to skip than Ipswich Town or Aston Villa.
The cost of going to games is an undeniable concern for many supporters, too, with household budgets stretched and matchday prices across the league still rising.
The fact remains that Manchester City would prefer to have a full stadium in as many fixtures as possible, and many have pointed out there are steps the club can take (many of which are related to reducing ticket prices) to fill the gaps in the crowds. It is a balance the club, like many of their rivals, are constantly trying to find.
A fuller house to come?
The result was Manchester City’s second win of the Champions League league phase, a strong response to that disappointing 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain a week earlier. Maresca’s side, top of the Premier League after seven straight league wins, travel to Villa Park on Saturday .
The Etihad Stadium will welcome supporters back for two home games next week, a cup-and-league-double against Brighton and Hove Albion, in good shape in both competitions. So soon after the club set an attendance record against Ipswich, their new manager is betting the Etihad Stadium will be full again before long.