Thousands of Feyenoord fans walk to the Etihad for Man City Champions League tie

Thousands of supporters of Dutch side Feyenoord were pictured in Manchester city centre tonight ahead of the Champions League tie with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Photographs showed masses of fans in high spirits walking to the ground heavily policed prior to kick-off, with reports suggesting the city centre was very busy as a result.

Transport bosses had previously warned of 'another very busy night' at the Etihad Campus on Tuesday.

READ MORE: What really happened in town on Saturday afternoon

The Champions League tie at the Etihad kicks off at 8pm and just next door at Co-op Live, British metal band Sleep Token are taking to the stage.

Doors for the concert opened at 6.30pm, with the gig set to begin at the same time as the football at 8pm.

It's estimated more than 3,000 Feyenoord were expected to walk to the Etihad from Shambles Square.

Transport bosses said the walk - a fixture for European teams visiting Manchester to play ties - would affect journeys on Great Ancoats Street from around 5pm.

"The confluence of events will put significant pressure on the highway and transport network, so if you’re making a journey, it’s vital that you plan ahead," said TfGM.

"We are strongly dissuading people from driving to either the Man City fixture or Co-op Live event. For anyone that does have to drive to either event, we are encouraging them to park away from the area, at a Park and Ride site, and then complete their journey to the venue on foot or by public transport.

"There will be a significant increase in journey times (of 20-30 minutes) around the city centre, in particular on Great Ancoats Street, the Mancunian Way, Ashton New Road, Ashton Old Road and Alan Turing Way. Background users of the network should re-route to avoid these areas or re-time their journey to travel earlier when the network will be quieter.

"Frequent tram services will be operating to Etihad Campus from the city centre (every six minutes) but the increased number of users will mean trams will be busier and additional time should be allowed for travel.

"We’re encouraging as many people as possible to walk to the venue, or for shorter trips. A signposted, well-lit and stewarded walking route exists between the city centre and Etihad Campus. Journeys on foot take around 25 minutes."

City, meanwhile, will be looking to return to winning ways against Feyenoord.

The Blues have lost five games in a row in all competitions, with Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Tottenham marking the end of their two-year unbeaten run at home.

Having lost at Sporting last time out in the Champions League, Pep Guardiola's men must return to winning ways in their penultimate home game, with daunting away trips to Juventus and PSG to come as they try and finish in the top eight of the expanded league phase.