Leicester City's dream won't end in Madrid.

I am not a Leicester City Football Club fan, but I have followed their run from relegation survivors to Premier League champions like a hawk hovering its prey. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off them for a number of reasons; their underdog tag, their battler archetype, and their fighting grind. But when they face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final, the Foxes’ dream is finally at risk of coming to an end. 

Christian Fuchs celebrates the Foxes win over Sevilla.

Leicester’s decisive midfielder and last season’s Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year, Riyad Mahrez, suggested late last week that winning the Champions League was ‘impossible’. A fair suggestion given the clubs’ they would have to surpass to even get to the final. 

With Atletico their next hurdle, Leicester would be looking at tackling the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Juventus, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, or Real Madrid should they move past the quarter-final stage. 

While Mahrez has no doubt played down his side’s chances of even progressing to the final four, he did pay recognition to what his side are capable of on their day. 

"We're capable of the best and the worst. We won the league last year when no-one believed in us, no-one expected us. This season, we're in the quarter-finals even though we're 14th, 15th in the Premier League,” the Algerian told SFR Sport. 

“We're a crazy team, we can do everything. We're capable of going I don't know where.”

It’s been just one month since the Leicester City owners made the difficult decision to cut ties with manager Claudio Ranieri following a shocking run of results. Down and out in 16^th place on the Premier League ladder, the Foxes had not won a League game since New Year’s Day; were barrelled out of the FA Cup against Millwall; and had just lost 2-1 away to Sevilla in the Champions League. 

A tremendously bold decision by the King Power hierarchy given the sentiment surrounding their 133-year wait for a title, but one that has now been vindicated. The Foxes have won all four matches since assistant Craig Shakespeare took over, and importantly, seem to have their mojo back. You know; that fearless fight, relentless aspiration, and never-say-die attitude. 

Against Sevilla, before Claudio Ranieri was sacked, something happened at halftime that led to Leicester returning more determined than they’d played all year. Jamie Vardy looked like the greyhound chasing a hare he can be when pressing the ball; and crucially, he broke a goal-scoring drought, providing much-needed confidence to himself and handing the Foxes a vital away goal. In the stands high above the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Vardy’s goal also gave 2,500 travelling Leicester fans some hope. And that’s all they needed. 

Two weeks later when Sevilla arrived to the King Power Stadium in Leicester for the return leg, it was evident the fans had their mojo back. The atmosphere was labelled the best of the year, the players played like the team of old, two goals were put in the back of the net, and a quarter-final birth was secured. The King Power Stadium was buzzing. 

Leicester player celebrate after progressing to the Champions League final 8.

Following that night in Sevilla and with Ranieri sacked just a couple of days after, Leicester have gone on to embarrass Liverpool, put three through Hull and edge past West Ham. Furthermore, they’ve had seven different goal scorers across their four games. Vardy & Mahrez have also scored more than once, proving their attacking threat has resumed. 

Both actually look like themselves again; Vardy up to his usual antics of getting penalties and people sent off, Mahrez twisting and turning players inside out like a washing machine. The influence of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel can not be undersold either, his performances over the last month have been nothing short of brilliant.

So when Leicester return from the international break to take on Stoke, Sunderland and Everton before they head to Vicente Calderón Stadium to take on Atletico in the Champions League, will they keep their form alive? 

The Vicente Calderón Stadium - No easy place to play.

If they can, they remain a realistic chance of keeping the dream alive. While Mahrez gave a grim outlook of their chances, make no mistake – Leicester can get past Atletico if they want to. It will come down to their desire, their belief and whether they refuse to give up. 

The Champions League is a knockout competition and teams can falter in a game and be out the back door the next. If Leicester turn up in Spain ready for a fight, anything could happen. Impossible is only a suggestion until it’s done, just like 5000-to-1 right? 

Bring on Thursday April 13, because the dream’s not dead.  

Foxes Never Quit.

Foxes Must Take Fearless Fight to Sevilla

Leicester City Football Club are again on the verge of creating world sporting history. Although this time it will be for acheiving the most amazing fall from grace ever. Premier League champions and unstoppable just under a year ago, to sitting two points outside relegation and unable to stop a slide so slippery even Claudio Ranieri’s tinkering can’t put a halt to.

Where has LCFC's spirit gone this season?

Having lost seven games out of their last 12 games in all competitions, and only won three from that same number, Leicester have dropped from sitting comfortably inside the Premier League top ten, to 16^th position and facing the likelihood of relegation. They were also cheaply knocked out of the FA Cup over the weekend by League One side Millwall.

Tonight, they head into the final 16 of the UEFA Champions League against Sevilla FC at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. While the Champions League has been a happy hunting ground for The Foxes, having topped their group and conceded only one goal in six games, their opponents in Spain present a formidable challenge.

What awaits the Foxes in Sevilla, Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium

Sevilla sit third on the La Liga ladder, having won 15 from 23 games and lost only four. They have developed further under new Argentinean coach Jorge Sampaoli this season and look well-placed to achieve their best La Liga finish in over a decade. Basically, they are in red-hot form.

Further compounding the difficulty of the task on Leicester’s hands is the fact Sevilla have form in big matches. Brilliant form, in fact. Europa League champions for the last three years running, Sevilla are used to playing under the bright lights and know how to strike and make it count.

The Foxes only have to look at how Liverpool were destroyed in the Europa League Final in Basel, Switzerland last year. Up by a goal after just 35 minutes, Liverpool looked set to go on and take the title that they had been building towards with some impressive victories throughout the tournament. The Reds knocked off Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund and Villareal before making the final and were carrying serious momentum. Sevilla had other ideas though, and cut Liverpool to pieces in the second half to take the title 3-1 winners.

So with Leicester competing so poorly in recent times, do they have any chance against SFC? The odds would suggest not.

Around 42,500 fans will cram into the Nervión ground tonight, and around 40,000 of them will be wearing red, white and yellow. Crucially, however, about 2,500 will not be.

Foxes' fans at Etihad Stadium against Manchester City in 2016.

And that is wear Leicester City must draw their inspiration from tonight. They can look at nothing else. Two-and-a-half-thousand’ of their fans will have made a 23-hour drive, 30-hour train trip, or 3-hour flight from the East Midlands to Spain, and they will be going there carrying something Claudio Ranieri’s side hast lost this season. Something they built their history-making campaign on last season – Fearlessness.

The fans carry belief. They carry hope. They carry determination. They carry the flag of the Fox. They carry what the players so desperately need to regain; a fighting spirit.

Not since their relegation escape of 2014/15 have Leicester’s backs been more up against the wall. Not since their dreams of 2015/16 became a chance have they needed to step-up to the plate more.

That is why Claudio Ranieri must ‘roll the dice’ in the south-west of Spain tonight and go all-out for a victory. Make no mistake, Leicester City cannot return to the King Power in three weeks with a goal deficit. A draw at least, will put them in prime position to push for the Champions League final 8, while a win could potentially inspire a late season survival charge.

Yes, Leicester lost their linchpin and in hindsight the key to their success in N'Golo Kanté at the start of this season, but he isn’t the reason they lost all the qualities that made them irresistible in 2015/16. That comes from within; within the team and within each individual.

Can Leicester recapture the spirit that led them to a maiden Premier League title?

Spearheading that group of individuals is none other than Jamie Vardy. His work ethic and determination tonight will be a signifier of what the team’s mentality and approach is.

"Anything short of a ruthless, greyhound-like effort from Vardy in Spain tonight will be unacceptable."

He optimizes the fight in The Foxes, and he, along with the rest of the team, owe a barnstorming and committed performance to those 2,500 fans at the ground tonight. They must have a take-no-prisoners approach, they’re not in Sevilla to make friends.

The odds are against them, but they were against them once before too.