Marc Albrighton also got a goal on a flawless night for the Premier League champions as they ran out 3-0 winners against a poor Club Brugge side.
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A brace from Riyad Mahrez after Marc Albrighton’s opener allowed them to win 3-0 at Club Brugge and give a nod towards another unexpected run of success.
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.
“Brugge had control of the ball and moved it well, but we had control of the match”. “We don’t have excuses because if they beat us, they are better than us”.
“Now we play the first match, there are another five”.
Riyad Mahrez put them in the driving seat just before the half-hour mark with his well-executed free-kick and the Algerian winger added his second and his team’s third goal from the penalty spot early in the second half to cap off a fine debut from Claudio Ranieri’s men.
Also in Leicester’s group are Porto and FC Copenhagen, so progressing to the knockout stages should be a realistic ambition, regardless of how events are unfolding at home.
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.
“From the beginning whenever something was wrong I would say: ‘Dilly ding dilly dong – hey!”
What made the win all the more remarkable was that it was only the ninth European match in Leicester’s history, and their first victory since beating Glenavon of Northern Ireland in the preliminary round of the 1961-62 Cup Winners’ Cup.
Keeping most of last season’s side together looks to be paying off for now – how far can they go? “If they think about the music I ring my bell”, Ranieri said. “If he hadn’t scored I’d take his neck and crush his neck!”
They face Burnley next at the King Power Stadium on Saturday.
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Ranieri seemed to acknowledge Mahrez’s slightly underwhelming domestic form by saying: “Maybe the music woke him up!” “Maybe he’s very exhausted of listening to the “dilly-ding dilly-dong” and he prefers to listen to the Champions League music”.
