Leicester City fans have several new additions to their songbook this season. They are enjoying their moment as champions and singing “Champions of England, we know who we are” wherever they play.
They have also taken to singing that they are going to win the European Cup – a chant which could be laughable, but you cannot blame them for being so optimistic given their Premier League-title winning achievements last season. And the season before when they escaped relegation to finish 13th.
Over 2,000 Leicester supporters are in Sevilla for Wednesday’s Uefa Champions League last-16 game, another large following like the 3,000 plus who saw Leicester in Porto and also Copenhagen as they topped their group.
Circumstances surrounding one of the most important games in Leicester’s history are not ideal. Claudio Ranieri’s side sit 17th in the Premier League with the worst form of any team in the English top flight. Leicester have been leaking goals at a rate of more than twice that of when they won the title, the absence of the departed N’Golo Kante, who was adapt at making interceptions in midfield, hitting them hard.
Up front, they are scoring less than a goal a game, well down on the 1.79 from last term. Jamie Vardy’s goals have dried up along with the service from Riyad Mahrez. There are suggestions that the players are not happy with Ranieri and that they have become a too complacent after becoming champions. Leicester have failed to win any of their 13 away games in the league and failed to score in 11 league games against only three this time last season. They sit only one point above the relegation zone.
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Read more
■ FA Cup fifth round results: More misery for Leicester
■ Porto v Juventus: Keepers Casillas and Buffon meet yet again in Champions League
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Things have been different in Europe, though. Leicester were the first team in the competition to qualify from their Champions League group and could afford to field a weakened side for their final game, which they lost 5-0 in Porto.
They have averaged almost twice as many goals per game in Europe and conceded at half the rate they have in domestic competition, even with those five goals shipped in Portugal. Their championship-winning form may have deserted them in the Premier League, but it has continued during their first foray into European football’s biggest club competition. Mahrez has played his best games in the Champions League, but Sevilla, who have won the last three Europa League titles, will be their toughest foes encountered so far.
Despite incorporating almost an entirely new team and manager after once again selling their best player – Kevin Gameiro – Jorge Sampaoli’s side have been the most entertaining to watch in Spain this season.
They are also, according to their club president Jose Castro, in better financial health than they have ever been. They are investing in a secondary stadium for their first team and reserve side; Sevilla are the only club in Spain with a reserve team in the second tier.
Sevilla’s first team finished second in their Champions League group to Juventus, who won 3-1 in Sevilla in arguably the most impressive away performance this season in the competition. They were the only three goals that Sevilla conceded in all six group games.
Sevilla are famous for their home form in Spain, with nine wins, one draw and a defeat from their 11 matches at the Sanchez Pizjuan (or Nervion, as it’s known locally) so far this season. That form has helped them sit second in the Primera Liga, sandwiched between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Only twice in 23 games have another side enjoyed more possession against the attack-minded Sevilla,
Sampaoli, who is being linked with the Barcelona job, can call on a nearly full-strength squad with the exception of the suspended defender Gabi Mercado. Defender Nico Pareja is fit, but Sampaoli stated on Tuesday that his lack of matches recently means the Argentine is not ready to face the "pace and power" of Leicester. That may be kidology to make Leicester think Sevilla have defensive problems, but regardless, Leicester will do well to survive one of Spain's most atmospheric stadiums, with the local paper Estadio Deportivo's front page stating "Let the Nervion Roar!" ahead of the game.
Barcelona fans too quick to jump on Luis Enrique’s back
Barcelona’s game against Leganes was five minutes old when the first “Luis Enrique” chants started from the most vocal fans behind the goal.
The Catalans had just gone a goal up through Lionel Messi, yet the enthusiasm for singing the manager’s name was minimal in the rest of the stadium.
By the time they sang his name for a second time, before half time, many elsewhere around the stadium jeered. That set the pattern for the rest of the game where Barcelona struggled to overcome the side with the worst form in the league. After keeping goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen busy, Leganes deservedly equalised in the 71st minute. The vocal fans became more emboldened with their Enrique chants, the jeerers too.
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■ In pictures: Barca fans unhappy despite Lionel Messi securing victory against Leganes
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It was not a happy night. Andre Gomes was showered with invectives when he was substituted for Andres Iniesta. Barca got the win, which keeps them in the title race, after a 90th-minute Lionel Messi penalty, but they did not play well and Enrique’s future is now in doubt. It is ridiculous that some fans are doubting a man who won the treble in his first season and the double in his next; who has won eighth of the 10 competitions his side have entered since 2014. They have been so spoilt by success that many Barca fans have stopped becoming supporters. Instead, they are critics, who set the bar so unrealistically high that they will inevitably end up disappointed. Other teams are allowed – and do – win football trophies apart from Barcelona.
The hardcore fans behind the goal know this, yet the argument is also more nuanced. The jeerers claimed it was no time to sing the name of a manager who is, in their eyes, failing them. It goes to the heart of what a football fan should be. Do you support your team and hope that support is reflected when they do well? Or is the emphasis on the team to earn that support, that adulation, like in the theatre where praise is lavished on great acts. It is the chicken and egg problem, but at the first sign of a wobble many Barca fans are not covering themselves in glory.
Enrique can be tetchy with the media, but he will look people the eye, he doesn’t curry favour or have favourites. He was very successful as a player, as he has been as a manager. He has a system and it works, but too many Barca fans think the grass is always greener elsewhere.
There was a chance for Barca fans to show their displeasure at the end of the game, but the club cut to a booming club anthem within a millisecond of the referee blowing his whistle. It was done with a speed and decisiveness that had been lacking on the pitch.
Game of the week
Atletico Madrid v Barcelona. Fourth vs second. If Barca lose and Real Madrid triumph in their difficult away fixtures this week at Valencia and Villarreal, it could be curtains for the Catalans’ title hopes. Barca, a point behind their rivals having played two games more, will be hoping that Madrid do not prosper on those difficult away trips, and that by winning in the Vicente Calderon they will become title favourites again. Despite the mood around Camp Nou, it is still close at the top.
Player of the week
Kevin Gameiro came off the bench after 61 minutes with his Atletico Madrid side drawing 1-1 at Sporting Gijon. The Frenchman then scored a hat-trick in four minutes, 45 seconds – the fastest since Bebeto for Deportivo La Coruna 22 years ago.
What else?
■ In part due to a Nani opener, Valencia won a second consecutive game and kept a second consecutive clean sheet. Their 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao moved them well clear of the relegation zone, though they remain in 15th place. They host Real Madrid in a rearranged league game on Wednesday.
■ Gareth Bale made his Real Madrid comeback in a 2-0 win over Espanyol. He did not push himself too much and risk pulling a hamstring after three months out, but if he can get to full fitness he will be a major addition as Madrid aim to retain the European Cup and win a first title since 2012.
■ Second bottom Granada hammered Real Betis 4-1 for their best result of the season. They are now only two points behind fast-fading Leganes in 17th.
■ Leganes were very unlucky at Camp Nou and the sight of their defenders punching the pitch in frustration was reminiscent of Bayern Munich's Sami Kuffour in the 1999 Champions League final at the same venue.
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