Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez wraps up the Foxes’ 3-0 Champions League against Club Brugge from the penalty spot.
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They may be labouring domestically with just four points from four games but Leicester returned to form in the Champions League with a 3-0 thrashing of Brugge.
While their fans celebrated a ideal Champions League debut, Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri called for nobody to get carried away after Wednesday s 3-0 romp away to Club Brugge in Belgium.
The goal secured his position in the club’s history as their first-ever scorer in the competition, and their first in Europe since 2000.
‘The problem is if someone is thinking of the (Champions League) music, then I ring my bell. “We have to perform better offensively and defensively if we want to win that kind of game”.
Jamie Vardy looked set to have a one-on-one opportunity of his own when he seized on a loose pass in the 29th minute, only for Timmy Simons’s late lunge to halt his progress towards the penalty area. See our take on Leicester’s European bow above.
Record signing Islam Slimani could make his Premier League debut for Leicester, while Ranieri revealed regular right-back Danny Simpson is fit to return.
Mahrez stepped up and converted from 12 yards out to put the contest to bed, although Diaby almost pulled one back for Brugge as the second half wore on, but his strike clipped the frame of the goal. What exactly was it that was glinting under the floodlights on the lapel of Claudio Ranieri?
“For us everything is new”, Ranieri said at his pre-match news conference on Friday.
“Brugge had control of the ball and moved it well, but we had control of the match”. “But if not, we want to get in the Europa League – that’s the target”.
But nonetheless, Leicester continued their remarkable rise in Belgium as they top Group G before welcoming Burnley to the King Power Stadium in the Premier League on Saturday. “Now we have to stay calm and put our mind to the next match ion Saturday, ” he added.
“We’ve got to this level of football life where that would normally be done down, but because they won at Man City and then went on to win the league it’s been rightly lauded”.
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Although Club Brugge’s captain escaped with just a yellow card for the cynical foul, Mahrez sent the resulting free-kick beyond Butelle’s desperate dive to double Leicester’s advantage. “Everyone was happy and now we focus on the Premier League”.
