It came in the form of a 3-0 win over Belgian champions Club Brugge in the Champions League and a realization that they can still to play up to their championship-winning form that was synonymous with the Foxes last season.
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The beginning of Leicester City’s title defence has been less than impressive but last night, the Foxes embarked on their maiden Champions League voyage with a comprehensive 3-0 win over an abject Club Brugge outfit.
Ranieri was delighted with the victory and he felt it was the ideal response to the 4-1 defeat at Liverpool at the weekend.
“It was some feeling, something I never thought I’d achieve”, said Albrighton, who has won a Premier League medal, played against Barcelona and now scored in the Champions League since being released by Aston Villa two years ago.
“It was very important to start our story with a victory and show the reaction after the Liverpool defeat”.
Brugge’s Bjorn Engels, second left, sits on the pitch after being injured during the Champions League Group G soccer match between Club Brugge and Leicester at the Jan Breydel stadium in Brugge, Belgium on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016. “It wasn’t easy. If they’d scored early it would have changed the match”.
And Leicester now boast a two-point advantage at the top of the group following Porto’s 1-1 draw with Copenhagen, with the Portuguese side their next opponents on September 27. It’s a trend that is expected to continue this weekend for Leicester as they look to battle back to the head of the Premier League table.
The squad flew back on Wednesday night and Ranieri insisted they can not have any excuses if they fail to perform on Saturday.
“After this, we were more calm and we could play our own match”. We have taken confidence.
With their team in front so soon into their first ever Champions League game, it was little wonder the Leicester fans in two corners of the stadium were delirious.
“We know he’s capable of that”, Albrighton said of the free kick. 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.
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Claudio Ranieri has warned he will go dilly ding, dilly dong again if his players are still basking in the Champions League’s afterglow instead of concentrating on visitors Burnley. “No fear, we just played our football and let that do the talking”.
