Manchester City saw off AEK Athens in front of an Etihad crowd that had pockets of empty seats, prompting Enzo Maresca to comment on the drop in attendance

Manchester City hammered AEK Athens on Tuesday night but the post-match talk was dominated by the rafts of empty seats at the Etihad Stadium, which was only two thirds full.

After continued renovation, the Etihad now boasts a capacity of 61,038, and yet the official attendance was a mere 40,024. That came as no surprise with the match action often showing pockets of empty blue seats whilst large parts of the upper tier remained unsold. The match was City’s third at home in seven days following defeat by Paris Saint-Germain and victory over Ipswich.

It must also be said that AEK Athens are not the biggest sell on the fixture list, with City always expected to win relatively comfortably, which they did thanks to a Phil Foden hat-trick. He scored three in their 5-1 success with Elliot Anderson and Rayan Cherki also getting in on the act.

Enzo Maresca wasn’t concerned by the attendance, however, and told reporters after the game: “I think the ones in the stadium were good. The last game against Ipswich they were top and next week two games against Brighton and I’ve no doubt the environment will be good again.”

City fans have rallied recently in light of the guilty verdict, which was handed down by an independent panel and now threatens their place in the Premier League. An appeal has been lodged, but a major points deduction and relegation remains on the cards.

Amid accusations of cheating during a nine-year period that spanned from 2009 to 2018, City have come out fighting and their fans have waved large inflatable bananas during games, which stems back to the 1980s when fans took them to games following relegation.

City remain perfect in the Premier League, winning seven from seven to boast a three point lead over Arsenal in second. Maresca’s side face a challenging trip to Aston Villa at the weekend, they’ve lost their last three visits to Villa Park.

After Barcelona’s 4-2 away loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, Barça forward Raphinha has revealed that the team was expecting it’s first defeat of the season.

“We knew that losing was a possibility. After all, we were facing two-time Champions League winners playing at home, so they are very strong. Of course, we wanted to take home a win or at least a point, but a loss was bound to come sooner or later. We just dropped three points. Let’s see what the coach tells us, try to improve, and approach El Clásico in good form

“They are a well-coached team, and even though we lost, we showed competitiveness. Both teams wanted to control possession. I think this was a good test and proved that we have the strength to compete. I think we played well.

‘I trained for less than a week, and playing limited minutes was something I had discussed with the coaching staff beforehand. I don’t know what happened with Olmo. I feel very good after the match, and now I need to adjust well to be in the best physical condition for El Clásico.

” Definitely,conceding four goals and suffering a defeat won’t affect El Clásico. No, it won’t affect it at all”

In the third round of the Champions League group stage, Liverpool defeated Villarreal 4-3 at home. 18-year-old Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha delivered 2 assists in the match, and his outstanding performance earned him the official UEFA Champions League Player of the Match award.

In this match, Ngumoha performed exceptionally well in attack, providing two assists in a single game and helping Araújo and Mac Allister find the back of the net.

At just 18 years and 52 days old, Ngumoha set a record in this match, becoming Liverpool’s youngest player to provide an assist in a European competition and the third youngest player in Champions League history to provide at least two assists in a single game.

Following his standout display, Ngumoha was named the Player of the Match.