GIVE IT A GO, CLAUDIO

ONE hope in Seville is that Leicester give it a go. Not just by trying to recapture some of the bravery and energy that got them there, but also in terms of team selection. Claudio Ranieri put out a second string in the FA Cup because his priorities lay elsewhere — but he cannot claim Monday’s match with Liverpool matters more than the Champions League.

Yes, staying up is important, but Leicester have 13 matches to get safe. This tie could be Leicester’s last appearance in the Champions League for who knows how long? When will they tread a path in Europe again?

There are plenty of European entrants who suddenly went into exile. When Wolves beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 on October 1, 1980, losing their UEFA Cup tie 3-2 on aggregate, could they have imagined that would be their last European fixture?

What of Burnley (Fairs Cup, Eintracht Frankfurt, 1967), Derby County (UEFA Cup, AEK Athens, 1976), Sheffield Wednesday (UEFA Cup, Kaiserslautern, 1992), West Bromwich Albion ( UEFA Cup, Grasshoppers, 1981), Coventry (Fairs Cup, Bayern Munich, 1970), QPR (UEFA Cup, Partizan Belgrade, 1984), or Norwich City (UEFA Cup, Inter Milan, 1993) — did any of them suspect that, 17 years into the next century, they would not have played another match in major European competitions?

Leicester don’t have much chance, we know that. Sevilla are enjoying a good season and are strong in Europe, having won the Europa League three years in succession. It is going to be hard to get anything from the game, and little in Leicester’s current form suggests an upset. Even so, they owe it to their supporters to pick the strongest team possible. The Champions League is the last breath of romance left from last season. When it is gone, only grim reality remains — and for who knows how many years?