FOXES WON’T CRACK UP
Joker Fuchs and Vardy out to avoid Euro egg-sit
CHRISTIAN FUCHS says Leicester are ready to write another chapter in their fairy tale.
The Foxes go into tonight’s Champions League quarter-final clash with Atletico Madrid with it all to do after their 1-0 first-leg defeat in Spain last week.
But Fuchs says the club have spent the last two seasons surprising those who have written them off – and they are not about to stop now.
Fuchs said: “Everybody is expecting us to crack under the pressure, but everybody expected that last season when we won the title.
Pressure
“That is what everybody expects from us and it’s what they expected last season but because we have such a great team spirit, we don’t let it affect us.
“There is a lot of pressure all the time, winning the title and then this year fighting against relegation. But we came out of that as well and now it’s the Champions League and we are just looking forward to the game.
“It is something very special to us. We are small Leicester City and playing in the Champions League, which is already great, and being in the quarter-finals is outstanding.
“We might never be here again. We might be at some point, but right now it is one day that we have – and we have to try to give everything to be successful.”
Fuchs says the lion’s share of the pressure will be on the Spaniards.
“I think Madrid are the favourites, given their history and everything ® else,” said the Foxes defender. “We’re here for the first time but the atmosphere in the ground will be incredible.
‘‘I don’t think anybody loves coming to the King Power and that’s something we’ve got going for us but, nevertheless, we are still the underdogs.
“Where we are in the quarter-finals is already a great achievement, the last English team left in the competition.”
Practical joker Fuchs has been trying to lighten the mood ahead of their biggest game of the season by playing team-mate Jamie Vardy at ‘Egg Russian Roulette’.
The two take a box of six eggs – half of which are raw and half hard boiled – and take turns to smash them over their heads. But Fuchs doesn’t intend to be left with egg on his face tonight.
“It’s all down to us now,” he said. “We need a goal, so we have to work to get that. But, also, we know that if we concede one, then it leaves us needing three. You have to find the right balance.
“I’m fired up and looking forward to it. The lads know the Champions League is something special for us.”
Antoine Griezmann will be Atletico’s danger man again after scoring their first-leg goal from a penalty that was wrongly given for a foul outside the box.
Fuchs added: “His movement on the pitch is amazing, he finds pockets always between the lines and it is hard to defend against.
“The question is: do you push up or stay back? In the second half of the first leg we adjusted well to that and it’s something we definitely learned from.”