Guardiola pleas with stayaway Man City fans as 17,000 blank RB Leipzig thriller | OneFootball

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has made a plea to fans after the empty seats for last night's Champions League victory over RB Leipzig.

A crowd of 38,062 watched at the 55,000-capacity Etihad Stadium.

But with Southampton up next for the Premier League champions on Saturday, Guardiola admitted he wanted to see more home fans cheering on his side.

After the 6-3 thriller, Guardiola said: "The last three games we've played here we've scored 16 goals. I would like more people to come to the next game on Saturday.

"We need the people, please, because we will be tired. I know the team from Ralph (Hasenhuttl) is quite similar, they way they play. They're so dangerous and it's a really important game. So I invite all our people to come next Saturday at 3pm to watch."

He added: "It's not normal, nine goals. We knew they never give up. They have a special way to attack and play, they play absolutely all or nothing. Of course they allow you to run and who is more clinical and better in the final third wins the game.

"It's a young team, so aggressive, really strong. So it's a fantastic team. The way they play… part of me is a big fan because they give a good message to football that it doesn't matter what happens, you can play, but of course the quality of (our) players was better today and that's why we won."