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Manchester City will face Monaco in the Champions League at the Stade Louis II... one of the most curious top level stadiums in Europe

The Stade Louis II in Monte Carlo, where Manchester City will aim to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday evening, is one of football's enduring curiosities.

Typically at this stage of Europe's elite competition, you'd expect to be playing in front of upwards of 60,000 roaring fans housed in towering grandstands.

Instead, City will play Monaco in front of just 18,000 spectators - double the average - in an venue that makes up for its low capacity with architectural style.

An aerial view of the Stade Louis II in Monte Carlo, where Manchester City will play Monaco in the Champions Leagueu00a0
An aerial view of the Stade Louis II in Monte Carlo, where Manchester City will play Monaco in the Champions League
The nine arches at one end of the Stade Louis II offer views of the Mediterranean Sea below and the steep rock faces behindu00a0
The nine arches at one end of the Stade Louis II offer views of the Mediterranean Sea below and the steep rock faces behind
A rare double rainbow appears over the stadium ahead of the Super Cup final between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid in 2012
A rare double rainbow appears over the stadium ahead of the Super Cup final between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid in 2012

It's really something that the Stade Louis II exists at all, given how the whole of the principality is squeezed onto a tiny slither of land between the Mediterranean and the sheer rock cliffs behind.