Going off their domestic form, few would’ve predicted Leicester City to be the last of the five British teams standing in the Champions League this season.
After their title heroics last season, the Foxes have struggled in the Premier League this season, something which ultimately cost Claudio Ranieri his job a few weeks back.
In the Champions League however, there’ve been no such problems. After recording a couple of league wins over Liverpool and Hull to ease relegation concerns, Craig Shakespeare’s Leicester managed to overturn a first leg defeat to Sevilla, securing them a quarter finals berth at the first time of asking.
On Friday morning, they learned that they’d face another (inevitably) tough task, facing last year’s beaten finalists Atletico Madrid for a place in the last four.
One man keeping a close eye on matters was Gary Lineker who, after starting his professional career with the club, was as delighted as anyone at their league successes last season.
Within minutes of the draw being made, Lineker tweeted that he’d been keen for a match-up with another of his former clubs, Barcelona.
Lineker played more than 100 times for the Catalan club, winning the 1989 Cup Winners’ Cup under Johan Cruyff, and will surely have loved to watch the Foxes test their mettle at Camp Nou.
However he is staying optimistic, and why wouldn’t he after the 18 months Leicester have just had.
Was really hoping for Leicester to draw Barça. That will have to wait for the Semifinals.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) March 17, 2017
