Numerous players remain the same, but the Leicester City team that takes to the field at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday should be treated as a very different side from last year’s surprise Premier League winners, according to Sevilla’s bullish coach Jorge Sampaoli.
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Jamie Vardy’s second-half goal – his first strike in 748 minutes – gave them hope after Pablo Sarabia’s classy first-half opener and Joaquin Correa’s goal put Sevilla into a commanding lead.
Sevilla coach Jorge Sampaoli did not hide his disappointment at his side’s failure to make their dominance count and kill off the tie. “I know the Champions League is a big competition but the Premier League is the bread and butter and we’ve got Liverpool next which is a massive game”.
Jamie Vardy has told his Leicester City teammates to forget its Premier League success of previous year in order to advance past Sevilla in the Champions League.
“We knew we had to be patient and take our chances but we knew we could hurt them on the press and that’s what Danny did”.
The two teams met again for the second leg on March 14th at the King Power Stadium in what should be a cracking game.
He said: “Maybe without the heavy league, we have clear minds and we know we are underdogs”.
Previous year the team stunned the world, outlasting all the biggest teams to win the Premier League title – but since then it had all gone wrong for Leicester.
“It’s a defeat. The first half was very tough, we were a little scared, nobody wanted to show for the ball and Kasper kept the team live, saving the penalty and some shots, and slowly we got better. We did both. Getting the away goal was very important and it keeps the tie alive”.
The visitors were struggling to keep the ball and, after they had given it away in a unsafe position, Schmeichel pushed Correa’s low shot past the post. Then we go back and score a goal which was important. “We’d be calmer with a 2-0 lead, but now we’re certainly not”.
Claudio Ranieri took off the disappointing Ahmed Musa and replaced him with Demarai Gray as he tried to conjure some threat from his side. It gave us strength and reopens the match for the second leg.
“Kasper was fantastic because he saved the penalty and he gave a lot of support to his defenders, but I am satisfied with everybody”, Ranieri said.
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Leicester have gone from the surprise package to the prize scalp in the Premier League, but are likely to be able to play the way they did last season against Sevilla.
