“Dilly Ding, Dilly Dong”, here comes the Champions League song!
The King Power Stadium, on Tuesday night, will welcome Champions League football for the first time, when Premier League champions Leicester City, play host to Portuguese side Porto. This group G tie of the UEFA Champions League 2016-17 will be the first Champions League home game played by the Foxes and it will truly be a historic moment for everyone at the King Power Stadium.
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Leicester City kicked off their maiden Champions League campaign with an emphatic 0-3 victory away against Belgian club Brugge. It was an authoritative performance by a strong Foxes side with goals coming from Marc Albrighton and a special Riyad Mahrez double.
A dream 2015-16 campaign
There would hardly have been a single soul who could have predicted Leicester City qualifying for the Champions League last season, let alone go on to win the Premier League. But Claudio Ranieri, “The Tinkerman”, as he is fondly known, took the Premier League by surprise. The Italian took his team, the fans and entire England on a journey so wonderful, it was the stuff of dreams.
Leicester City, who had managed to survive a relegation battle under Nigel Pearson the previous season, were the Champions of England! The King Power Stadium was going to play host to the giants of Europe in the Champions League.
Ranieri put out such a tight-knit bunch of players, players who played for one another, under the strong and inspiring leadership of Wes Morgan alongside Robert Huth at the back. Kasper Schmeichel, who is a doubtful starter for the upcoming game, brought back memories of another giant Dane, named Schmeichel, who had been there and done it all before.
The endless energy, the relentless running of N’Golo Kante, the predatory goal-scoring instincts of a certain Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez’s silky smooth skills and powerful runs all contributed in the culmination of one of the biggest sporting surprises in recent history.
Jamie Vardy ended the last season with 24 goals in 36 appearances while Riyad Mahrez, who scored 17 goals himself, won the prestigious PFA Player of the Year Award. N’Golo Kante, who was signed from French side Caen in the summer, played a vital role in the title run for The Foxes.
Leicester does well to hold on to their stars
However, come the 2016-17 transfer window, the big clubs started circling around the title winners. Vardy was almost tempted on joining Arsenal, with the Gunners also showing an interest in Riyad Mahrez as well. But Leicester City managed to hold on to their stars, and now both of them having signed contract extensions, will look to stay at the King Power for the foreseeable future. Leicester, though, had to let Kante go, who joined Antonio Conte’s Chelsea who will not be part of any European football this season.
Ranieri invested some funds to strengthen his squad in the summer, with the signings of goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler, defender Luis Hernandez, midfielder Nampalys Mendy, Ahmed Musa and the deadline day big-money signature of Algerian striker Islam Slimani to name a few, indicating Leicester will be a force to be reckoned with.
A faltering start to the current campaign
The current league campaign has not started well for the English champions as an opening day defeat to a beleaguered Hull City side and further losses against Liverpool and Manchester United have somewhat derailed their season. There have been impressive performances in between, a 2-1 victory against Swansea City, 3-0 win against Burnley. But Leicester are yet to put a consistent run of games together.
Leicester, on Saturday, were thoroughly dismantled by Mourinho’s Manchester United at Old Trafford, conceding four goals in the first 45 minutes. Ranieri, keeping in sight the CL fixture, withdrew Vardy and Mahrez at half-time, as the match had been lost by then. Confidence seems to be low for Ranieri’s side after Saturday’s performance which came after a 4-2 beating at home at the hands of Chelsea in the midweek League cup fixture.
However, the opening night Champions League victory will have given them some boost ahead of their home debut against FC Porto who are coming on the back of a 1-1 draw in their previous CL fixture against FC Kobenhavn.
Half-time substitute Demarai Gray impressed everyone at Old Trafford with his energy and will be hoping to start on Tuesday night.
Islam Slimani has hit the ground running for The Foxes, by grabbing a brace against Burnley and will be expected to start alongside Vardy in attack. Slimani, while playing for Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, has scored six goals against Porto and ‘The Dragon Slayer’, as he’s called by the locals there, will be looking to continue his impressive form against the 2004 Champions League winners.
Come Tuesday night, Claudio Ranieri’s imaginary bell will be heard loud and clear at the King Power Stadium, as the Champions League anthem will be echoing around for the first time. And the fans will be hoping that their team delivers a performance worthy of the occasion.
“Dilly Ding, Dilly Dong!”, the crowd will go in Leicestershire, as they play the Champions League song.
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