Jamie Vardy has admitted he was relieved that his Leicester side avoided being 'battered' by Sevilla in the first-leg of their Champions Leaguelast-16 tie. Vardy grabbed a crucial away goal in Spain that has placed the second-leg meeting on a knife edge.
The Foxes ultimately lost the first-leg tie 2-1, but could have suffered a heavier defeat if it wasn't for KasperSchmeichel'sheroics in the Leicester goal - he pulledoff a penalty save and a number of other fine stops. The performance wasn't enough to save Claudio Ranieri from losing his job though, and caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare has since been put in charge until the end of the season.
4y 315d “ There was just four years and 315 days between Jamie Vardy's last non-league goal and his Champions League goal tonight. Journey. pic.twitter.com/oM9WyxQTL2
The squad have recently returned from a four-day bonding exercise in Dubai to continue the momentum they have built up in the last few weeks - following some important league wins over Liverpool and Hull City.
Now Vardy hopes their upturn in fortunes can help them overcome Sevilla and book a place in the last eight: "We just wanted to go to Sevilla and make sure we were still in the tie", theMirrorquote him as saying.
"The last thing you want is to get battered when you're away first and then there's nothing to play for in the second leg.
We're definitely still in it, we'll look forward to the next leg and hopefully we can get through. The heat had a bit to do with it as well in Sevilla, they are used to play in it week in week out.
The #lcfc squad are back in the UK after three days of warm weather training in Dubai.
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Let's see what they're like when it's minus three back in Leicester!"
Leicester's PFA player of the year Riyad Mahrez also seemed unfazed about trying to beat a team who are currently sitting third in La Liga. He said: "The most important thing was to score there and to keep the dream awake. It is not that bad to lose there 2-1.
We have all the chance to qualify for the next round.To score away it is never easy and we know the away goal in the Champions League is very important.''