UEFA Champions League 2016-17: Leicester City 1-1 Atletico Madrid (1-2 agg.), 5 Talking Points

Riyad Mahrez thanks the Leicester fans after they bowed out of the Champions League

The Leicester City fairytale in Europe is over, but not before the Foxes put up a valiant fight at the King Power Stadium, as they went down 1-2 on aggregate. Saul Niguez’s goal midway through the first half meant that Leicester had to score three goals to go through.

Against a defense as well-drilled and as compact as Atletico’s, that was always going to be a bridge too far for Craig Shakespeare’s side. 

In the end, the Foxes did not crumble like a lot of people expected them to, and they finished this season’s Champions League as the English side to have progressed the furthest in the tournament, a commendable effort given that it was their first ever appearance in Europe’s premier club competition. 

Here are the major talking points from last night’s game. 

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#1 Leicester can be proud

While it lasted, the Leicester fairytale was scarcely believable. From August 2015 to April 2017, they captivated the world, by showing that nothing can be left unconquered in football. Claudio Ranieri might be gone now, but he would have been so proud of what Leicester achieved and the way they played last night. 

Last night, it was Ranieri’s Leicester on show – togetherness, belief and importantly, unwavering hardwork. From Kasper Schmeichel to Jamie Vardy, Leicester last night were the Leicester that won the Premier League last season.

Jamie Vardy does what he always seems to do, and poached a goal in the 61^st minute to give Leicester hope of writing another chapter in that fairytale, but it was not to be. 

For a team that on April 1^st, 2015, was at the bottom of the Premier League table, “meteoric” would not do justice to this ascent of Leicester City. They have not had the greatest Premier League campaign this year, but why will Leicester fans care?

2015-16 was their season and they would not swap anything for that. Would they have swapped anything for trips to Seville and Madrid to watch their team play the Champions League knockouts, maybe not too. 

The odyssey is over and football fans can only thank and admire Leicester for that. The grit, determination and togetherness in that squad will be hard to match for any other side that were where Leicester were, 21 months ago, when they set out on this incredible journey.