Where to watch the Champions League in Manchester without a crowd

City and United in Europe means a midweek night where half the city wants a screen. Here are the ways to watch the Champions League in Manchester, honestly compared, with what each costs per head.

The pub

The default, and on a big night the worst. You arrive an hour early for a seat, the sound is whatever the room decides, and a group of six spends more on drinks than the room they could have had to themselves. Fine for a Tuesday group-stage game against a side nobody has heard of. Not for the knockouts.

The fan zone

Big screen, big crowd, big atmosphere, and open to the weather. Manchester runs fan events for the biggest fixtures, usually free or a few pounds, and they are worth doing once for the noise. Bring a coat and do not expect to hear the commentary.

Your own private suite

The one most people have not tried. At FOMO Lounge, two minutes from Victoria, a suite comes with a big screen, Sky Sports, TNT Sports and DAZN already installed, your own sound, pool or snooker, PS5 for half time, and food and drinks to the door. The room is private: your group, your volume, your seats.

Cost: a small suite for up to six is £37.50 for a two-hour weekday match, which is £6.25 a head, or £45 at the weekend, £7.50 a head. A large suite includes twelve for double that, so the per-head price is the same. More people are welcome at £5 a head an hour. The whole venue is alcohol-free, so it works for the friend who is driving and the friend who does not drink.

If your group goes every week, the Match Day Pass books the season in one go: pay for four matches and get five, or pay for eight and get ten, with a 25% deposit and swaps up to 48 hours before kick-off.

Which games you can actually watch

Every Champions League game is shown live in the UK on TNT Sports, so any of them can go on a suite screen. For the Premier League the rule is different: Saturday 3pm kick-offs are not shown live in the UK, so no venue can show them legally, and the honest ones will tell you that. Everything else, including the derby, is on Sky or TNT.

Do you need your own subscription?

In a FOMO suite the apps are on the smart TV. Log in with your own Sky, TNT or DAZN account, or ask the desk about pay-per-view for the game you want. Either way it is sorted before kick-off.

The next Manchester fixtures

The football page lists the next United and City games with the suite price for each, straight from our bookings, and says when a night is nearly full. Book a suite for the next one.