Outfox Sevilla? No way Claudio
REIGNING champions of England Leicester City make their return to Champions League action tonight, but they could hardly have a tougher assignment than a trip to take on Sevilla.
Surely the Champions League will no longer be the top priority for Leicester given their precarious position in the Premier League. To be relegated after being champions last season would be a massive blow and a huge crash back down to earth for Claudio Ranieri and his men, and it is a very real possibility given their current form. Remaining in the top division has to be their No.1 priority.
I actually thought that Leicester wouldn’t do very well in the Champions League this season. I felt that they wouldn’t be ready for it, it would be a new experience for them and they would have to focus so much on the domestic front that they wouldn’t be able to cope with it.
I got that the wrong way around, because they actually did very well in the group stage, progressing with relative ease, while on the domestic front they have really toiled.
In a country like England where you have three domestic competitions, and then you are dealing with the world’s most challenging competition in the Champions League, then it takes its toll.
I’d be astonished if Leicester managed to knock out Sevilla. The Spanish side are an excellent team, and crucially, they are vastly experienced on the European stage. They have done it time and time again in the Europa League.
If Leicester can come home with anything better than a two-nil defeat then I’ll be very surprised.