Manchester City harnessed the star power of Paris Saint-Germain forwards Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Angel Di Maria in a late bid to fill the stadium for Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal.
On the eve of the second leg, adverts aired on Manchester radio stations calling the match "unmissable" and highlighting the chance to see Ibrahimovic and Di Maria in action. The day started with more than 1,500 seats available but the advertising blitz and late appeal by City manager Manuel Pellegrini succeeded in eventually selling out the Etihad Stadium for the hosts' biggest-ever Champions League fixture.
City will be hoping Ibrahimovic and Di Maria don't provide too many "unmissable" moments in the game.
Ibrahimovic scored in the first leg in Paris last week when City grabbed important away goals to draw 2-2.
"He is someone very demanding of himself ... he wants to be more clinical in front of goal tomorrow," PSG coach Laurent Blanc said Monday through a translator. "I think his conversion rate will be higher."
Both teams are trying to win the Champions League for the first time - a key objective for City's big-spending Abu Dhabi owner and PSG's Qatari investor.
PSG has already wrapped up the title in the French league it completely dominates.
But winning the European Cup could be the only route back into the competition next season when Pep Guardiola succeeds Manuel Pellegrini, with City's place in the top four of the Premier League not yet secured.
The inability to sell out the stadium long ago was the latest sign of an uneasy relationship with theChampions League and competition organizer UEFA, which sanctioned City - and PSG - because the owners spent too much to strengthen their squads.
Throughout the season City has booed the Champions League anthem when it is played before games. But it has coincided with City's best run in Europe's elite competition.
"If you are superstitious, we continue winning when they boo the anthem," Pellegrini said.
Real Madrid is going to need a "perfect" performance to overcome Wolfsburg in theChampions League quarterfinals.
The teams meet Tuesday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with Madrid trailing 2-0 from the first leg and trying to reach the semifinals for the sixth straight time.
"It must be a perfect night," Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo said. "Those of us on the pitch need to run, fight and play with intensity for 90 minutes. Obviously, with the fans helping and supporting us, it will be easier. I hope that it will be a magical night and I am very excited."
Ronaldo said Madrid will also need "patience" to get the goals it needs, which shouldn't be a problem considering the team's impressive record at the Bernabeu recently.
The 10-time European champions have scored at least two goals in 12 of their last 13 games at the stadium, with an average of almost five goals per match. They have won every game except for a 1-0 loss to city rival Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league in February.
Among the victories were a 7-1 rout of Celta Vigo, a 10-2 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano and an 8-0 trouncing of Malmo in the group stage of the Champions League.
"This is a big match, but you need a cool head to play in it," Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Monday. "We are not going to win it in 10 or 15 minutes. We have to score, but we have 90 minutes to do so. We need to be patient."
Madrid has won 18 of its 21 games at the Bernabeu this season, with the setbacks coming against Atletico (1-0 loss), Malaga (0-0) and Barcelona (4-0 loss).
"We don't care that there will be 80,000 fans supporting Real Madrid, we are here to play football," Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking said. "We knew we would need two magnificent days to advance in the competition, now we just need one. I think we can do our bit."
Real Madrid won all of its four games at home in this season's Champions League by outscoring opponents 15-0.
"Everyone thinks Real will score three, four goals," Wolfsburg defender Naldo said. "But if we stay compact, we can make it very difficult for them."