“We’ll have a meeting about Burnley now and we’ve got to get our heads switched on to them”, added Albrighton.
Advertisement
But Leicester have yet to get those talents into their best form this season, as exemplified by their heavy 4-1 loss to Liverpool this past weekend.
“It’s important because now we have another target man, he can flick the ball and is risky in the area”, said Ranieri.
“It’s massive. I’m not going to play it down because it’s probably one of the biggest achievements of my career so far”. That’s our target, our desire, to continue in Europe.
It is Leicester’s debut in the competition after last season’s stunning Premier League title triumph, with Porto and Copenhagen completing Group G.
While all the preamble had been about the club’s lack of experience – this was their first European match in 16 years – it was really a chance for the team and their star players to shake off the hangover of the delights of winning the title and start to sparkle properly once more.
Marc Albrighton gave the Premier League champions the ideal start early on with a neat close-range finish after Brugge failed to deal with a long Luis Hernandez throw. “That gives us confidence and now we have to stay calm and put our minds on the next match on Saturday”.
Mahrez had missed three of his previous four penalties, and Ranieri said afterwards that he had wanted Islam Slimani, the club-record signing who made his Leicester debut, to take the spot-kick against Brugge.
Much tougher tests surely await for the Foxes, but this was an accomplished, clinical performance in their first European outing since losing to Red Star Belgrade in the UEFA Cup first round in 2000.
“It s the ideal start”.
“We know it is very important, these matches, because there are two positions to go into the knockout, but also the third position is good for us”, the Italian said.
With the Belgian champion offering little resistance, it proved an easy night for Leicester, and a flawless respite from its Premier League troubles, where it has already lost twice in four games.
“Maybe the music woke him (Mahrez) up. Maybe he was very, very exhausted of listening to dilly ding, dilly dong, maybe he preferred the Champions League music”, said Ranieri, reverting to a classic catchphrase. “When I say that it’s impossible I say that knowing that we showed the impossible actually was possible last season!”
Advertisement
“If he doesn’t score, I take the neck and I crush the neck”, he joked. Ranieri’s side take on Club Brugge in their first group game of the competition on Wednesday evening at the Jan Breydelstadion Stadium in Bruges, Belgium. “He was a lucky man!”
