SANTO CLAWS
Nuno is Ranieri’s worst nightmare
NUNO ESPIRITO SANTO aims to heap more misery on Claudio Ranieri today after sentencing him to his biggest Leicester loss.
Santo (above) was boss of Porto when they smashed Premier League champs Leicester 5-0 at home in the Champions League in December 2016.
It was the worst defeat for an English team in the Champions League.
Ranieri made 10 changes for the final Group G game as the Foxes had qualified already and saw his side humiliated.
The loss added to the Italian’s woes at the King Power – he was sacked within two months despite a stunning title triumph less than a year earlier.
And Santo, who quit Porto for Wolves in 2017 before masterminding promotion from the Championship, wants to pile on the misery for Ranieri, now gaffer at rock- bottom Fulham. Santo recalled: “It was a good win at home against Leicester but they had already qualified. That is the truth. Claudio is fantastic.”
Santo’s Wolves played against Fulham twice last term in the Championship, with each club winning 2-0 at home. Wolves have roughly the same squad but Fulham spent big in the summer, a strategy that looks to have backfired given their current plight.
The Molineux coach added: “We have stayed more with the core of our side. I don’t know the decisions Fulham made but it is not the same team we faced last season.
“What I can see is they have a very good manager and I see a better side.
“Now all the teams start fighting for their lives.
“What I expect is a very well-organised team who are managed by a man who was champion of the Premier League. It is going to be very difficult.”
Promoted Wolves, midtable, have been tipped to challenge for Europe despite Friday’s defeat at home to Liverpool that ended a run of three wins on the spin.
But skipper Conor Coady urged his teammates, and Wolves fans, to keep their feet on the ground.
“We’ve gone from being in the Championship to people talking about Europe,” he said.
“We need to stay levelheaded. We want to make sure we look at it game by game.”