After a 4-1 humbling at Liverpool last weekend, Leicester bounced back in fine style with a 3-0 win at Club Brugge on their Champions League bow in midweek, and they were comfortably the better side once again here.
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Marc Albrighton also got a goal on a ideal night for the Premier League champions as they ran out 3-0 winners against a poor Club Brugge side.
Leicester’s core performers in the defensive duo of Robert Huth and Wes Morgan, midfielders Danny Drinkwater, Marc Albrighton and Riyad Mahrez and striker Jamie Vardy will continue to play big minutes for the Foxes in all competitions.
“I said to the players when you hear the Champions League music it charges the battery and makes you fight”, he told BT Sport.
“It was important to show the reaction after the Liverpool defeat”, said Ranieri.
“We have started well and it gives us confidence and now we have to stay calm and put our minds to the next match on Saturday (against Burnley)”.
Leicester have struggled adapting to their new circumstances, often looking caught between trying to play in the deep-defending, rapid-countering, possession-ignoring style that won them the title past year and a more ball-dominant, methodically attacking setup that typifies the play of most big and good teams. “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.
“For us everything is new”, Ranieri said at his pre-match news conference on Friday.
The Premier League defending champions now sit 16th on the log after four rounds of matches, a place above Burnley, though both teams have same number of points.
But nonetheless, Leicester continued their remarkable rise in Belgium as they top Group G before welcoming Burnley to the King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday. Of course the Champions League is much better, but now we play just the first match.
“Now we play the first match, there are another five”.
He had missed three of his last four penalties and Ranieri admitted he wanted debutant Islam Slimani to take this one after his £29million move from Sporting Lisbon. “If they think about the music then I ring my bell”.
“From the beginning whenever something was wrong I would say: ‘Dilly ding dilly dong – hey!” When they go away from home, teams will have a go at them and that’s ideal, it’s when they play at home and have to break teams down that’s the problem.
The PFA Player of the Year conjured 17 goals and 11 assists in league last season and was closely pursued by Arsenal this summer and, reportedly, Barcelona.
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“We have to find different ways to win games now too”.
