BADDIE DIEGO SEIZES POWER

Simeone pulls plug on Leicester dream

EVERY fairytale has to have a villain and last night Diego Simeone excelled in the role.

The Argentine even looked the part, dressed all in black and looking, as usual, like the bad guy in a Spaghetti Western.

Jamie Vardy may be having a movie made about him but Atletico’s boss was determined there was to be no Hollywood ending at the King Power Stadium for the Leicester ace and his team.

He was a brooding presence on the touchline all match, bouncing around throughout and making Chelsea’s Antonio Conte look like a librarian.

When Saul Niguez headed the key away goal in the 26th minute, he celebrated in unusual style.

Thriller

He walked briskly from the technical area back to his bench, pausing only to shove his assistant, German Burgos, in the chest with both hands.

His countryman is also quite a character – he once threatened to rip Jose Mourinho’s head off when he they were rivals in the city of Madrid.

Nicknamed “the Bull”, he wore a red baseball cap last night, maybe thinking he could wave it at himself if he needed to get fired up.

The scene was all set for a thriller, with Leicester hoping the extras – as in the fans – could play their part in a sensational turnaround, with the Foxes 1-0 down from the away leg.

The Slade song Cum On Feel The Noize rang out before kick-off – and you certainly could. For a few seconds the stadium was a sea of blue, white and gold flags and a massive banner dropped down at the Family Stand showing the eyes of a fox, flanked by the message “Fearless”.

Fearless, though, is an adjective you can use for Simeone. Within seconds he was getting narky about a Vardy challenge on Gabi. At times you could see him kicking the air, imagining the ball was at his feet.

Just before half-time, he was literally hopping up and down as he tried to make a defensive point prior to Christian Fuchs hurling in a long throw.

And even before that, Italian fourth official Gianluca Rocchi summoned up the courage to have a word with Simeone about straying out of his technical area. It did not seem to have too much of an impact.

But whatever your views are on the