The Foxes make their bow in the competition when they face Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday after last season’s shock Premier League title victory.
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Only winning the Champions League would replicate the scenes that accompanied securing the Premier League title last term, and though even Leicester’s most ardent supporters would admit that is nearly impossible for the Foxes this term, there is a belief that they can still mix it with Europe’s good and great over the coming season.
Leicester go into the game on the back of a 1-4 defeat by Liverpool, but their players believe the team can replicate their Premier League success in Europe.
“To be stood here as Premier League champions, in the Champions League, you have to reflect as well and think we have done all right”.
“It was important to show a reaction after the Liverpool defeat”.
“After this, we were more calm and we could play our own match. We’ve set a new target in the club’s mind and we’ve reached a goal that probably thought they could never get to so early”.
“If he doesn’t score I take the neck and I crush the neck”, he joked. “He was a lucky man!”
“There are so many big teams involved in this competition and to win the Champions League we have to write a big fairytale, the second story”.
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.
– Leicester scored with their first ever shot in the Champions League.
It looks as though in the Premier League teams are starting to find them out but in Europe numerous clubs will still be working on that.
“Maybe the [Champions League] music woke up him!” We’ve just played the first match; there’s another five to go.
“Maybe he is exhausted of hearing dilly ding, dilly dong all the time”. We want to get back in the the form we were in when we won the title last season.
“We failed because after two minutes we could have scored and the game was totally different”.
Now Ranieri’s side were able to play to their strengths on the counter-attack, and the Club Brugge defence could not cope with the searing pace of Jamie Vardy.
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The Algerian winger came close again 10 minutes later, flashing a curling effort wide of the far post after he had exchanged passes with countryman Slimani before Danny Drinkwater sent a sumptuous left-footed volley goal-wards from 30 yards that Butelle had to be alert to tip over the bar.
