Two goals in either half enough to take Leicester to the next round.
Leicester City, the reigning champions of premier league, beat Europa League title holders Sevilla at the King Power Stadium in Leicester to march into the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Trailing 1-2 from the first leg, the home side won the reverse fixture 2-0 and thereby 3-2 on aggregate.
Leicester took an early lead in the 26th minute through Wes Morgan’s headed goal. Unmarked on a free-kick delivered by Mahrez, the Leicester captain did not disappoint and gave his team the lead.
Early in the second half, a long range effort on goal from Sevilla’s Escudero was deflected off the goalpost. Marc Albrighton scored minutes later to give his side a 2-0 lead. His left-footed shot went through to the corner of goal.
Samir Nasri was sent off for a second yellow following altercations with Jamie Vardy in the 74th minute. Sevilla were awarded a penalty in the 78th minute following Schmeichel’s sweeping challenge to bring down Vitolo. Steven N’Zonzi stepped up to take the penalty and Schmeichel saved the penalty from going in, his second save over the two legs of the contest. No more goals were scored in the match as Leicester’s impenetrable defence managed to nullify all Sevilla’s chances.
Leicester’s captain and goalscorer on the day Wes Morgan said of the match that the result was incredible and unbelievable. He said ”We are newcomers in the Champions League, we didn’t expect to get this far and here we are”. Leicester’s newly appointed manager Craig Shakespeare applauded his team’s efforts. He said “The players and the club can be immensely proud. We rode our luck at times, but the character we showed was incredible.”
Juventus also won the second leg against a fighting Porto side 1-0
In other match of the day, Juventus beat Porto to march through to the quarters. Paulo Dybala’s goal on penalty was enough to take Juventus through to the next round on 3-0 aggregate. Juventus held a 2-0 advantage over Porto through the first leg tie.
Manchester City will face Monaco while Atletico Madrid will face Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday( IST). City have a 5-3 lead against Monaco from the first leg while Atletico hold a 4-2 advantage over Bayer.
