Ranieri wants more from European ‘holiday’
LEICESTER City manager Claudio Ranieri believes his side can continue their “holiday” from the reality of a Premier League relegation battle in the Champions League after Jamie Vardy’s away goal gave them a lifeline against Sevilla on Wednesday.
Despite being thoroughly outplayed in southern Spain, Leicester emerged with just a 2-1 last-16, first-leg defeat, leaving the tie finely balanced ahead of the return leg on March 14.
“The Champions League is like a holiday and the most important thing is the Premier League,” said Ranieri, with Leicester perilously placed just one point above the drop zone.
“If we can do something important in the Champions League then great. Football is great because the best and biggest team doesn’t always win.”
On top of Vardy’s first goal since December, Leicester were thankful to a stunning display from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel as he made a string of saves, including from Joaquin Correa’s first-half penalty.
However, he was powerless to stop Pablo Sarabia and Correa putting Sevilla into a 2-0 lead before Vardy’s reply 17 minutes from time.
Sevilla were left to rue a slew of missed chances.
“We were the better side, we had a lot of chances and we should have scored more because, as it is, the tie is still open,” said forward Stefan Jovetic.
And Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli claimed he never expected the gulf between the sides to be so great despite Leicester’s struggles of late.
“It is difficult to imagine such a big difference in a Champions League game,” said the Argentine.
“We were dominant and we found Schmeichel in great form. If it wasn’t for him, it would have been a very different story.”