Crowd to lift Muscat

Melbourne Victory skipper Kevin Muscat says even Australia's galaxy of superstars plying their trade in the world's biggest football leagues will be envious of players taking part in the culmination of the Australian domestic season on Saturday night - the Hyundai A-League grand final.

The Victory will be aiming to become the first A-League club to win back-to-back titles as well as the first to win three championships overall when they take on arch-rivals Sydney FC in front of an expected 50,000 plus crowd at Etihad Stadium.

Melbourne's past two championship wins also came on home soil but for the first time their Docklands' home will be configured in the rectangular format for a grand final, which should ensure an atmosphere worthy of the great stadiums in Europe.

Muscat, who played in the Scottish Premier League for Rangers as well as in the English Premier League with Crystal Palace, says the atmosphere at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night would be as special as anything he had experienced in his long and decorated career.

"There will be many Australians playing abroad and probably most of the national team that will be playing in front of smaller crowds this weekend than what we will be playing in front of on Saturday night." Muscat said.

"It will be an unbelievable atmosphere and it’s a real pat on the back to the FFA."

"It will be a full house and the stands will be bought in (in the rectangular format ensuring the crowd is closer to the pitch) so the atmosphere in that stadium will be the best it’s ever been."

Muscat said the Victory had been desperate to play the grand final at home to reward its loyal fans, which had consistently made the Melbourne club the best supported team in the A-League throughout the first five years of the competition.

"We are fully aware we represent Melbourne and Victoria and we always try and go out and put on a good show for our fans," he said.

"We said it two weeks ago (after the thrilling major semi-final win over Sydney to earn hosting rights fro the grand final) that we wanted to bring the grand final home to the best fans in the country and that was always a big motivating factor for us."