Legia Warsaw's stadium ban will mark Real Madrid's match in Poland on Wednesday night in a unique manner, but it's not the first time Los Merengues have been forced to play in an empty arena.
Indeed, Real have two wins from two in their outings behind closed doors, both of which have come in the Champions League in the last 30 years.
Crowd trouble in the Spaniards' semi-final clash with Bayern Munich in the 1986/87 European Cup led to Madrid receiving a stadium closure of their own for their following home game in the competition, which fell against Napoli in September 1987.
Facing a side featuring Argentine maestro Diego Maradona, who remarked that he'd rather play in front of 100,000 such was his fearlessness, Real ran out 2-0 winners thanks to a Michel penalty and Fernando de Napoli own goal.
The next part of the punishment saw Los Blancos forced to play away from the capital, but with fans present in Valencia's Estadio Mestalla, which saw holders Porto beaten 2-1.Roma were to blame for the next empty stadium that Real played in, with the Italians handed a two-game ban after referee Anders Frisk was forced to abandon their tie with Dynamo Kyiv when hit by a coin in the Stadio Olimpico.
Luis Figo helped himself to a brace against the Giallorossi, along with Ronaldo Nazario, to secure a 3-0 group stage win in the 2004/05 edition of the Champions League.Real Madrid to prepare for their Champions League match-up with Legia Warsaw.
A UEFA stadium ban has hit Los Blancos' Polish hosts and as such just a couple hundred specified visitors will be present in the 31,000-seater arena.
Fortunately for Real the final session passed by without incident, although the chilly Warsaw winds meant that the players were warmed up warm with tonight's match to be played in just 4°C.
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