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| Leicester City(Photo : Dean Mouhtaropoulos - Getty Images) |
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Leicester City and Porto meet in the Champions League 2016-17 group stage on Tuesday.
The Foxes played their first ever Champions League game during the first matchday of this year's tournament and came away with a resounding 3-0 win at Club Brugge. The team got two goals from Riyad Mahrez, one from a free kick and another from the penalty spot.
The win proved that this team was ready for the big challenge of the European competition.
Their first home game in the continental showpiece will be against a seasoned veteran of the UCL. Porto's opening game unfortunately was a bit short of a disaster though the team is likely unhappy with a 1-1 draw against minnow FC Copenhagen.
Porto had a 1-0 lead going into half-time, but some shoddy defending and poor positioning from goalie Iker Casillas left the team to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Already qualified Leicester City suffered the worst defeat by an English team in the Champions League as Porto recorded an overwhelming victory to join the Foxes in the last 16.
Leicester were already assured of progressing as Group G winners before the game and boss Claudio Ranieri made 10 changes to his starting XI.
Porto needed to win to guarantee their place in the knockout stage and made the ideal start when Andre Silva headed home.
The Portuguese side dominated throughout, with Leicester rarely making it out of their own half, and added a deserved second through Jesus Corona's stunning volley.
Yacine Brahimi then scored a brilliant third just before half-time, backheeling Maxi Pereira's cross beyond goalkeeper Ben Hamer, before Silva converted a second-half penalty following Danny Drinkwater's foul.
Diogo Jota rounded off the scoring late on, slotting home after being put through on goal.
The result took some of the shine off Leicester's previous performances in the Champions League this season, but they can now look forward to the draw for the last 16, which takes place on Monday at around 11:00 GMT.
Passage to the knockout stage might have been secured before Wednesday's game but Ranieri will still have felt the need for a good performance and result.
While they have exceeded expectations in the Champions League, the Foxes' Premier League title defence has been disappointing and they sit just two points above the relegation zone.
Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have so far been unable to recapture their form of last season and were two of the frontline players not to travel to Portugal. Instead, it was left to Leicester's bit-part players to put on a show.
That, unfortunately, did not happen.
The Foxes had let in just one goal in their five previous Champions League games but looked capable of conceding from every Porto attack. Their defence was disjointed, with Silva allowed to rise too easily for the hosts' first while Corona was left unmarked for the second.
In attack, Shinji Okazaki and Ahmed Musa offered little, with the latter replaced by Leonardo Ulloa at half-time. The change did nothing to improve Leicester's attacking threat as they finished the game without a shot on target, although Ulloa did hit the crossbar late on.
Ranieri would have liked to have seen his fringe players stake a claim for a regular place in his starting XI, but instead their performance may have left the Italian concerned about his side's strength in depth.
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