Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri says the Champions League anthem must have inspired Riyad Mahrez following the midfielder’s brace in the 3-0 victory over Club Brugge.
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Leicester’s record of four points from four games is the joint-second lowest return for reigning Premier League champions; tied with Chelsea who had four at the same stage last season, and one better than Blackburn who had scored just 3 in 1995-96.
The Foxes earned a solid 2-1 win against Swansea in their last fixture before the worldwide break, however, that result was prefaced with a 2-1 defeat at Hull and a 0-0 draw at home against Arsenal and they were thumped 4-1 at Anfield last weekend.
“I said from the beginning the Champions League will be an experience for us – we hope to get through and play again”, Ranieri said.
“It’s important because now we have another target man, he can flick the ball and is unsafe in the area”, said Ranieri. We scored very early and that gave us more confidence during all the match.
Champions League regulars FC Porto were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Copenhagen to complete Group G’s first round of matches.
“If teams look at us and maybe think we’re a weaker team than what they could have got I don’t think that’ll be wise”.
Like we saw last year and the year before with Leicester, it’s awesome what one win can do for this team’s confidence.
“It’s a coach’s job to make substitutions and we’re happy that they paid off”, Zidane said. Moreover, Leicester, now lying in 16th spot in the Premier League, appear to be suffering an extended hangover from last season’s title triumph.
While Ranieri insisted it was not an easy evening, Club Brugge were certainly accommodating for Leicester, making it an unforgettable trip for their supporters, who had spent the afternoon enjoying the scorching sunshine and the pleasant ambience in the picturesque Belgian city.
“Now we restart, don’t think what happened last season”.
Mahrez might have gone too but he didn’t and is still the creative spark which could take the Foxes a long, long way in this competition.
“We’ve just played the first match; there’s another five to go. Of course we want to show our best and our desire is to win but we have to stay calm with a lot of respect for everyone”.
Club Brugge won just one game in the Europa League last season and have not been in the Champions League for a decade. Another momentous week in the extraordinary recent history of Leicester City ends tomorrow with the prospect of a seemingly mundane Premier League game.
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“After two minutes we could have scored and the game was totally different”, lamented their coach Michel Preud homme.
