Sevilla beat Leicester 2-1 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Here are all the highlights from the Champions League match.
The first leg of Leicester’s Champions League round of 16 tie against Sevilla was supposed to be a welcome break for the Foxes, a reminder that this team are better than the Premier League relegation battle in which they’ve become mired over the past several months.
But Claudio Ranieri’s side were dominated by a Sevilla team that has the quality to go far in this competition. They were rampant in the first half, camping out in Leicester’s defensive third and forcing Kasper Schmeichel into several important saves, including one from a 13th-minute Joaquin Correa penalty.
Leicester looked lost. They sat deep, hoping to release Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez on the break, but the two forwards received almost no service. Vardy touched the ball only once in Sevilla’s box in the first half.
The Spanish side took the lead in the 25th minute, Pablo Sarabia placing a header past Schmeichel after an excellent Sergio Escudero cross. When Sevilla doubled their lead in the 62nd minute, Correa making up for his penalty miss after getting played in by Stevan Jovetic, it seemed the tie was over.
That impression may prove correct, but Leicester found a lifeline in the 73rd minute, when Danny Drinkwater set up Vardy for a simple finish the Foxes probably didn’t deserve.
2-1 is a surmountable deficit for Leicester, especially with the second leg at home. But the performance was concerning all the same. Perhaps the second half fight back, tame though it was, will help Ranieri to galvanize his side in the weeks before the second leg. More likely it won’t.
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Highlights
"Beautiful cross, powerful header and a little 😘 off the post. 👌🏼 #SFCLEI #UCL https://t.co/lqMkxQiPlM— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 22, 2017"
"Jamie Vardy FINALLY gets his first #UCL goal! 🙌🏼🙌🏼 #SFCLEI https://t.co/nDuErVFEWs— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 22, 2017"
The second leg of the Champions League round of 16 tie between Leicester and Sevilla is scheduled for March 14.