PLEASURE TO PLAY YOU, SAYS SIMEONE

DIEGO SIMEONE admitted his side were ‘living in fear’ of what Leicester might achieve when Jamie Vardy equalised Saul Niguez’s opener with half an hour of the game left. Leicester needed two more goals to progress and ultimately came up short, but subjected a team who have reached two of the past three Champions League finals to a sustained attacking assault. ‘I have to say what a great performance from Leicester,’ said Simeone. ‘It was a pleasure to compete against them, they never gave up for one minute, they never let their heads drop. ‘We were living in fear all night about what they might achieve as they were coming forwards. They pushed us all the way.’ Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare made the bold choice to send on Leonardo Ulloa and Ben Chilwell at half-time, switching to 3-4-3, and was rewarded with a stirring display mustering 20 second-half attempts at goal. ‘Second half we played really well,’ said Shakespeare. ‘We talked about different scenarios and we had to go more direct. We had them rattled at times and it’s no discredit to lose to a team of that calibre. ‘The change was earlier than I thought, the application as a group was tremendous. We needed the second goal when the opportunity came but it wasn’t to be. ‘The whole club from the supporters, owners and players, should be immensely proud but they should want more of this. The players have agreed to a man that is what they want.’ Vardy said: ‘We gave it our all. They are probably used to playing teams who like to keep the ball more, so going direct caused them problems. It was a very entertaining display and we can hold our heads high.’