Leicester City celebrated their first ever Champions League match by romping to victory away to Belgium’s Club Brugge.
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The Premier League champion went into its first European game off the back of a 4-1 loss to Liverpool on Saturday, a result that dropped the Foxes to 16th place in the table.
“It was an important win for us after the Liverpool defeat”. “I said we can not think about the Champions League, it’s an experience for us and we hope to go through the group and play again”.
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.
This was business, the serious business of the Champions League, and it was perhaps the flawless wake-up call for Ranieri’s players to see Jose Izquierdo miss a clear chance for Brugge inside the first three minutes.
Diaby clipped the post as powderpuff Brugge tried to find a way back but Leicester even had the luxury of giving Vardy, Mahrez and Slimani a rest as Ahmed Musa, Leonardo Ulloa and Demarai Gray replaced them.
Mahrez was back to his best, whipping an unstoppable free-kick in from 20 yards then adding another from the penalty spot when Jamie Vardy was fouled by Bruges goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle.
Ranieri’s side settled matters and wrapped up their maiden Champions League victory as Mahrez dispatched a penalty after Vardy, a menace all evening, had been felled by Butelle.
‘If he doesn’t score I take the neck and I crush, ‘ Ranieri said, laughing. “He took the responsibility”.
The Italian manager also admitted that he had wanted debutant club record signing Islam Slimani to take the penalty that Mahrez converted. He was a lucky man.
“Maybe the music woke him up”, Ranieri suggested.
“Maybe he is exhausted of hearing dilly ding, dilly dong all the time”.
“They certainly proved that tonight because the pair of them were very, very good”.
“It’s a coach’s job to make substitutions and we’re happy that they paid off”, Zidane said. Against Brugge there was a team who wanted to react after the bad defeat and it was hard for everyone.
“For us it is very tough to play against teams with very good experience, like Brugge, FC Porto and FC Copenhagen”, Ranieri added in an interview with BBC Radio. It’s not easy but it’s okay. “We scored very early and that gave us more confidence”, Ranieri told UEFA.
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.
Leicester could have won by more on Wednesday.
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Leverkusen missed plenty of opportunities after racing to a two-goal lead in the space of 15 minutes with goals from Admir Mehmedi and Hakan Calhanoglu.
