Leicester ready for Atletico clash
Leicester City have shown a remarkable ability to defy the odds but face their sternest test yet in the Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid, the team they have replaced as European football’s most fashionable underdogs.
Before Leicester enchanted the sporting world last year with their miraculous Premier League title win, Atletico had worked similar wonders in 2014 by breaking the strangehold of Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga.
Now the two sides who have punched delightfully above their weight meet in the first leg in Madrid on Wednesday -- but it is Leicester who remain the European novices while Atletico have grown into true continental heavyweights under Diego Simeone.
Unlike Leicester, who after their barely believable title win experienced an emphatic downturn in results which ultimately cost coach Claudio Ranieri his job in February, there was no difficult follow-up campaign for Atletico.
Charismatic coach Simeone has gone on to turn Madrid’s ‘other’ team into perennially formidable opponents in his five-year tenure, taking them to two Champions League finals in the last three years and four successive quarter-finals.
Atletico have also hit form just at the right time as they aim to land a first European Cup after losing in three finals (to Real in 2014 and 2016 and to Bayern Munich in 1974), winning five of their last seven games and conceding just two goals.
They held La Liga leaders Real to a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu on Saturday. “The Champions League is the best competition in the world and it always motivates you,” Atletico defender Filipe Luis told reporters on Monday. “You can really feel the good atmosphere in the team at the moment and we’re feeling very confident after what we have done in our last few games. It’s going to be difficult, but we’re in our best form.”
India will have to travel to Canada for a tough Davis Cup World Group Playoffs encounter in September this year. This is the first meeting between the two countries, and Canada -- a seeded team ranked higher than India -- got the right to host the match through draw of lots.
India had defeated Uzbekistan 4-1 in Bangalore over the weekend to reach the playoffs round for the fourth successive year. India would be happy to have avoided higher-ranked countries such as Argentina, Germany and Czech Republic in the draw,