Riyad Mahrez bags brace for Leicester City in win over Club Brugge

Rampant Leicester marked their Champions League debut in stunning style as they thrashed Club Brugge 3-0.

Boss Claudio Ranieri had warned against expecting another fairytale but it was dream night in Belgium after Leicester scored twice inside the first half an hour.

Marc Albrighton netted the Foxes’ first-ever Champions League goal, and first in Europe since 2000, before Riyad Mahrez crashed in a brilliant free-kick.

Mahrez made it 3-0 with a second-half penalty with Leicester, who dominated at the Jan Breydel Stadium, top of Group G after Porto and Copenhagen drew 1-1.

Burnley will give the Foxes a sterner test than abject Brugge when they return to the Premier League on Saturday and Leicester must learn to cope with the demands of the league and European football.

But it was the perfect performance from the Foxes, 50-1 to win the competition after last season’s shock Premier League victory, although things could have been so different if the hosts had taken a glorious opportunity after two minutes.

Abdoulay Diaby skipped through Danny Drinkwater’s lunge and slipped in Jose Izquierdo but the forward’s finish was woeful and he was made to pay three minutes later when Albrighton wrote his name into the Foxes’ history books.

It was scrappy stuff and a gift as Brugge got into an almighty mess but sent the travelling 1,400 Leicester fans into raptures.

Luis Hernandez launched a long throw into the box from the right and Ludovic Butelle came to punch but the ball brushed off Hans Vanaken’s head and fell for the onrushing Albrighton to fire in from six yards.

Leicester instantly relaxed with Brugge unnerved at home and looking lost as they struggled to find any fluency. They played into the Foxes’ hands as Mahrez slowly began to exploit the extra space and Jamie Vardy remained an irritant.

Advertisement

Izquierdo blazed well over to underline how weak the hosts were going forward and it then got even better for the Foxes after 29 minutes.

Again, Brugge made a hash of it at the back and captain Timmy Simons was booked for chopping down Vardy on the edge of the box after he lost the ball.

It gave Mahrez the chance and it was one he did not pass up as the winger whipped a delicious 20-yard effort across Butelle into the top corner.

Stunned, Brugge had no response and Leicester went in search of a third as Mahrez curled wide and Drinkwater twice tested Butelle, the second a dipping 30-yard volley.

The lively Vardy almost made it three before the break when Butelle spilled his angled drive as the Belgians continued to be accommodating and generous hosts.

There was little to suggest they would change after the break as record buy Islam Slimani, making his debut, began to threaten, although he was booked for a needless push on Bjorn Engels which saw the defender substituted with a serious looking shoulder injury.

And more defensive calamity from Brugge gifted Leicester a third when Mahrez completed his double with a penalty after 61 minutes.

Vardy hassled Stefano Denswil into losing the ball and the England striker raced through only to be taken out by Butelle and Mahrez gleefully converted from the spot – despite missing three of his previous four penalties.

Diaby clipped the post as powderpuff Brugge tried to find a way back but Leicester even had the luxury of giving Vardy, Mahrez and Slimani a rest as Ahmed Musa, Leonardo Ulloa and Demarai Gray replaced them.

And Gray almost put the gloss on a brilliant team performance when he fired over after a darting run with six minutes left.

Pep Guardiola will make an emotional Champions League return to Barcelona with Man City

It is the third time in four seasons City have faced the Caltalan Club in Europe and means an emotional return to the Nou Camp for Guardiola who led Barca to 14 trophies in his four years in charge, including two Champions League wins In 2009 and 2011.

Under previous boss Manuel Pellegrini, City were drawn with Barca in the last 16 in both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. They lost all four games and had a player sent off in three of the clashes.

But Guardiola will draw on his inside knowledge of the Spanish giants when he seeks revenge for Bayern Munich’s semi-final defeat by Barcelona in 2015.

The draw also means an immediate return to Barca for City’s new goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who yesterday completed his £13.75million move to the Etihad as a replacement for the unwanted Joe Hart.
City’s other Group C opponents will be Borussia Monchengladbach, who they beat twice in the group stage last season, and Scottish champions Celtic.
Sporting director Txiki Begiristain, a former Barcelona player and director, said: “For Bravo, Pep, me and Ferran [Soriano, City’s chief executive] it’s back home again – three times in four seasons! At least we know the way!

“It’s a tough draw but it’s better to face Barcelona in the group stage than in the round of 16 like before. We were in the semi-finals last season and we want to get there again.”
In contrast to City, the three other English clubs – Leicester, Arsenal and Tottenham – were relatively happy with their draws.
The Foxes are in with Porto, Bruges and Copenhagen; the Gunners face Paris Saint-Germain, Basle and Ludogorets while Spurs are up against CSKA Moscow, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco.

Mahrez signs new four-year deal with Leicester

Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez has ended speculation about his immediate future by signing a new four-year contract with the English Premier League champions.

“Leicester City Football Club is delighted to announce that Riyad Mahrez has signed a new contract, committing his future to the Foxes until June, 2020,” said a statement issued by the Midlands club on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Algeria winger was a key figure in Leicester’s shock run to the 2015/16 title, which saw the Foxes defy odds of 5,000/1, scoring 17 goals and being responsible for a further 11 assists.

We didn't play like a team, says Ranieri

Leicester manager identifies reason for shock defeat by Hull City

Claudio Ranieri said his Leicester City side’s failure to play like a team was behind their shock 2-1 defeat by Hull City.

Adama Diomande’s spectacular goal in first-half stoppage time was soon cancelled out by Riyad Mahrez’s penalty but Robert Snodgrass steered in the winner for Hull as the defending champions were beaten on the opening day of a Premier League season for the first time.

“[It] was a very tough match and we tried to do our best but we made a lot of effort individually, but not so well as a team,” Ranieri told LCFC TV.

"I'm very pleased with the number of chances we created but of course I want to see a team. Our strength is as a team. Today we were better, harder, but not like a team.” 

Mike Phelan, the Hull City caretaker manager, praised the character of his players, after the promoted side had a number of players through injury during the summer as well as their manager, Steve Bruce, who had left his job.

“Everything on the outside seemed to be pointing towards us going the other way, so it was important that the players showed the character that they did regardless of the final result,” Phelan told hullcitytigers.com. “They did that really well.”