Craig Shakespeare’s side raise the roof but mastery of visitors hauls down the shutters on a glorious Champions League campaignAnd, breathe again. For Leicester City the dream did not so much die at the King Power Stadium as bleed away, at first quietly before expiring in a defiant blizzard of noise and hustle. With an hour gone at a ground that crackled all night Jamie Vardy revived this second leg with an equaliser to make it 1-1, and 2-1 to Atlético Madrid overall, as the score would stay to the end. Related: Saúl Ñíguez gives Atlético Madrid the edge and valiant Leicester fall just short Related: Leicester’s taste of Champions League can spark return, says Shakespeare Continue reading...
Lukaku and Barkley owe Koeman a lot, Wilshere’s Bournemouth loan has proved a damp squib and Mignolet finally proving a positive game-changer for LiverpoolThe focus so often fixes upon Wilfried Zaha at Crystal Palace but over their seven-game revival under Sam Allardyce, they have posed as much threat from the opposite flank. Andros Townsend had rather grumbled through his first seven months at Selhurst Park, unhappy to be operating from the left and only offering flashes of his quality. The past seven weeks have been more reflective of a winger with 13 England caps. “Against Arsenal, Andros shut down three Arsenal players on his own, one after the other,” Allardyce said. “He ran from the right side to the left,...
Premier League side did not manage a shot on target in Madrid and, with Robert Huth banned and Wes Morgan injured, face a defensive crisis in the second legAs Leicester City’s players drifted out of Estadio Vicente Calderón shortly before midnight, a TV reporter mentioned to Danny Simpson that there was no need for such a long face after a narrow defeat against a team who have reached the Champions League final twice in the past three seasons, especially when there is still so much to play for in the second leg.It was a fair point to make after a 1-0 defeat that could have been worse, yet it also overlooked the fact that Simpson and his team-mates had just...
Foxes keep their Champions League dreams alive by restricting Atlético Madrid to narrow lead after official awards home side controversial penaltyBruges, Copenhagen, Porto, Seville and now Madrid. Leicester City’s European adventure has already exceeded all expectations but it will need something special under the floodlights at the King Power Stadium next Tuesday if Craig Shakespeare and his players are to extend their journey in the Champions League once more.The damage Atlético Madrid inflicted in the first leg is far from irretrievable as far as Leicester are concerned, yet in many ways they could not be playing catch-up against a worse team given the Spanish club’s fondness for letting opponents come on to them before breaking with alacrity. Related: Antoine Griezmann...
The Frenchman improved on his recent penalty record to keep his team’s hopes of Champions League redemption on track against the English championsAt first it was just a few but very soon everyone joined in, good news travelling fast around the Vicente Calderón, all the way from the Allianz Arena in Munich. The scoreboard was almost as swift: Bayern Munich 1-0 Real Madrid flashed up and this stadium, in its 50th and final year, erupted. The noise, loud from the start, rose a level. Then, moments later, it somehow rose again when Antoine Griezmann put Atlético ahead. They were enjoying this: it had been quite a minute.Their city rivals were trailing 1,500km away while they themselves led. Twice in three...