“From our first chance we scored and from that point we had the control of the match and Brugge had the control of the ball”, said Ranieri.
Advertisement
“It’s a coach’s job to make substitutions and we’re happy that they paid off”, Zidane said.
Mahrez, 25, scored twice in the Foxes’ first ever Champions League game on Wednesday with a well-taken free kick and a converted penalty.
The Foxes cruised to victory in their Group G opener, sinking Club Brugge 3-0 at the Jan Breydel Stadium thanks to a Marc Albrighton volley and Riyad Mahrez brace.
“Maybe the [Champions League] music woke up him!”
“We can use the result”, said the England midfielder.
Leicester may have had a poor start to their domestic title defence but Club Brugge have also been struggling for form and there was a yawning gulf in class between the sides.
If he had missed, Ranieri joked, “I take the neck and crush the neck!”
The simplicity of Leicester’s approach remains the same and if clubs in the Premier League have had a year to analyse and find ways to beat them, Brugge were caught cold by the vicious counter-attack and intense physical commitment which won them the title. “It was good for us to start our story with a victory”, said Ranieri, whose team bounced back from a 4-1 thumping at Liverpool at the weekend. “Maybe he is very exhausted of “dilly-ding, dilly-dong” and prefers the Champions League music”, Ranieri said, in reference to his famous catchphrase.
Ranieri revealed later that he had wanted Islam Slimani to take the spot-kick but Mahrez chose to shoulder the responsibility. I’ve tried to do that here.
Vardy forced the French stopper into another save on the stroke of half-time after latching onto Slimani’s flick, but Ranieri had to be content with a two-goal cushion going into the break after a vintage performance from his charges in the opening 45 minutes.
“I said from the beginning the Champions League will be an experience for us – we hope to get through and play again”, Ranieri said. “He was a lucky man”.
Twitter went into a frenzy after Kelechi Iheanacho netted his first Champions League goal as Manchester City defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.
“There are another five games, we must stay calm”.
The victory gave Leicester the lead in its group after FC Porto and Copenhagen drew 1-1.
Advertisement
Lyon tops the group after Juventus was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw by Europa League victor Sevilla in their opening match. One we lost, one we won – it’s finished.
