Manchester City's Champions League game with AEK Athens saw just 40,000 at the Etihad but the issue is not as simple as making easy Empty-had jokes

Well, it made a change from the cheating accusations.

On a night when Enzo Maresca’s side sparkled in a 5-1 Champions League victory over AEK Athens, there was plenty of talk about empty seats. The official attendance was 40,042, more than 20,000 shy of the expanded Etihad Stadium capacity of 61,038.

Tuesday’s figure was higher than the Carabao Cup victory over Championship side Norwich City last month and came just a few days on from a stadium record crowd of 60,817 who watched the Blues beat Ipswich Town in the Premier League. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t make too many waves on social media.

“I think the ones in the stadium were good,” said Maresca when asked about the attendance after the AEK tie. “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.”

And while the Empty-had jokes are not new, they are also often made without context.

This was City’s third home game inside six days and, in a newly expanded Champions League which includes four home fixtures in the league phase and a potential four more to come in the knockouts, the visit of Greek champions AEK was comfortably the least appetising option for fans who are having to pick and choose their trips.

Adult tickets for the tie started at £30, not an unreasonable price point for a European encounter, but the cost of watching several home matches in a short space of time - City still have two more home matches to come this month for a total of five in 18 days - adds up.

Make sure you never miss the latest Manchester City news and opinion by making Manchester Evening News one of your Google preferred sources.

City welcome Brighton in the Carabao Cup next week, with adult tickets starting at £20 and it's kid for a quid prices given the half-term break with a bumper crowd expected as a result, while the Seagulls are again the visitors the following Saturday in the Premier League when prices start at £43.

Then there’s the travel, the food, the weather, the option of watching on television and a myriad of other factors which influence supporter decisions to varying levels.

Nights like Tuesday might make a quick jibe for opposition supporters on social media but it’s a snapshot of a far wider picture that is nothing new at City, and impacts plenty of other top-flight teams.

Tickets, tourist fans, kick-off times, pricing strategies and modern football all play a part in supporter decision-making up and down the country.

City may be the butt of the joke but there is far more to this debate than tying up empty seats and the 115 charges case into a sentence or two on social media.