It may not be a feeling they are used to, but Manchester City have got what they wanted from UEFA.
Pep Guardiola was keen to put on record that his team would complete their Champions League tie with Real Madrid wherever it was deemed safe to do so, yet the venue will be unchanged from the original plan; Real will have to come to the Etihad.
While there may be no fans to cheer the Blues on, that feels more significant than it would have been before football was suspended.
City's players were trying to play down their victory at the Bernabeu as soon as they had achieved it, and anyone who thinks the tie is over would do well to look at the form of Zinedine Zidane's side.
Their Champions League loss was their fourth in seven games in all competitions between February and March, with a Clasico win just about keeping them in the title race. Since the pause, they have won seven straight league matches and kept clean sheets in the past six and can move four points clear of Barcelona with three to go if they win their game in hand.
In a competition where the small details have repeatedly gone against them, Guardiola knows that his City team needs every scrap of help they can get to make the quarter-finals and there can be no denying that the empty Etihad has provided that.
Since the restart, City have played Arsenal, Burnley, Liverpool and Newcastle at their home and the cumulative scoreline is 17-0. On their travels, they beat Newcastle 2-0 in the FA Cup but have lost to Chelsea (2-1) and Southampton (1-0) in their only league games.
Even if home advantage has been diminished by the lack of fans, City still appear to take more comfort playing at home than they would another ground. A neutral venue would have been preferable to an away game, but playing at the Etihad is easily the best option.
Guardiola has made it obvious that the rest of this season is about the Champions League since the team started training again. If they are to be denied from competing in the tournament in future years should their ban be upheld, the manager wants to do everything possible to make a mark before then.
That means qualifying for next season through a top-four finish, which was achieved with the tonking of Newcastle given the teams in fourth and fifth place play each other on the final day of the season.
And it means the Blues going as far as they can in this year's knockout rounds. If they can make it past Madrid there should not be any teams to fear from the last-eight beyond, and concerns over the Spanish champions should be reduced because of the Etihad factor.
