The Foxes

Club Brugge 0-3 Leicester: Foxes Cruise To Win On Champions League Debut

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• published: 15 Sep 2016
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Club Brugge 0-3 Leicester: Foxes cruise to win on Champions League debut Marc Albrighton and Riyad Mahrez both found the net as the English champions triumphed 3-0 Life in the Champions League began with a bang for Leicester as they made light work of Club Brugge in Belgium. Marc Albrighton and Riyad Mahrez both found the net as the English champions triumphed 3-0. But Claudio Ranieri's side could easily have been behind within the opening minutes, José Izquierdo was played through on goal but spurned his chance with Kasper Schmeichel rushing out to meet him. And the Belgian supporters had their heads in their hands again minutes later when Albrighton gave Leicester the lead. Brugge failed to deal with a long throw and Albrighton capitalised on the subsequent confusion to tap the ball home from three yards out. Mahrez then provided a timely reminder of his considerable talent on the half-hour mark, curling a free-kick past Ludovic Butelle and into the far corner. Leicester switched to cruise control thereafter and found themselves 3-0 up 15 minutes after the break. Jamie Vardy was brought down in the area and Mahrez tucked away the resulting spot kick. Here are five talking points from the game.. 1. Foxes rise to the occasion After a season of near-constant dizzying delight there has been comparatively little to celebrate for Leicester fans in the new season. Four Premier League matches have yielded just one win and they're currently sitting just outside the relegation places. But this season isn't about domestic competition, is it? Not for Leicester, anyway. The Foxes have their sights set on the Champions League and they made a blistering start to their debut dinner at Europe's top table. 2. Mahrez finding his feet Any doubts about whether Mahrez's spectacular season was a one-off are quickly dissipating. The Algerian has looked lively for Leicester despite the team's under-whelming form and he's only getting better. He scored a sensational free-kick for Algeria during the international break and replicated that feat for his club tonight in Belgium. Leicester fans can't expect the entire squad to repeat last season's heroics but there's no reason why the likes of Mahrez and Jamie Vardy can't light up both English and European tournaments in 2016/17. 3. Slimani deserves time Of course there's a correlation between how much a player costs and the expectations that go with his performances, but a dose of realism is always necesssary. Leicester don't seem to do realism these days but they may need to remind themselves when it comes to Islam Slimani. The Algerian scored 32 goals for Sporting Lisbon last season, leading Leicester to break their transfer record and pay £29million for him. He was given his debut tonight against Brugge but failed to impress. The Foxes have been burned before in this department, seeing little return for previous transfer record Andrej Kramaric. Slimani cost three times as much as Kramaric, but unlike the Croat, has what it takes to make it Leicester. Don't judge him too soon. 4. Ranieri's experience an unexpected bonus When Leicester appointed Ranieri as manager they certainly weren't thinking that his Champions League experience would come in handy. It has, though. This squad may lack exposure to Europe's elite club's and players but Ranieri doesn't. Leicester have developed a air of nothing-to-lose bravado over the past 12 months but be in no doubt there would have been nerves before tonight's game. Ranieri's experience would have been key to calming that and will continue to be in the, no doubt tougher, games ahead. 5. There will be tougher tests to come The narrative before tonight's game was that Leicester were 'joining Europe's elite' when they played in Bruges tonight. Actually you won't find much elite football in the capital of West Flanders, nor in the among the rest of thir Group G opponents. There will, however, be tougher tests than this. Porto will be formidable and unusual challenge for Leicester while Copenhagen are capable of an upset at Telia Park. Leicester have made a good start to the competition, but there's no room for complacency. Club Brugge XI: Butelle, van Rhijn, Engels (Poulain 53), Denswil, De Boack, Simons, Vormer, Pina, Vanaken, Diaby (Vossen 63), Izquierdo (Gedoz 78). Unused subs: Bruzzese, Claudemir, Cools, Bolingoli. Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Hernández, Huth, Morgan, Fuchs, Mahrez (Gray 81), Drinkwater, Amartey, Albrighton, Slimani (Ulloa 63), Vardy (Musa 70). Unused subs: Zieler, Chilwell, King, Wasilewski.