<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Brave Leicester’s Champions League dream ended as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atletico Madrid. <\/p>\n
Jamie Vardy’s second-half goal secured a 1-1 second-leg draw but could not force a stunning comeback after Saul Niguez’s opener. <\/p>\n
Atletico reached the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate but only after they survived a scare following the Foxes’ second-half bombardment at the King Power Stadium. <\/p>\n
The visitors controlled the tie until Vardy struck and the hosts were reinvigorated as Vardy, Leonardo Ulloa and Riyad Mahrez all went close to adding a second. <\/p>\n
Saul’s header proved crucial though as Diego Simeone’s side – beaten finalists in two of the last three years – squeezed into the semi-finals in search of their maiden Champions League crown. <\/p>\n
And Leicester may now be without captain Wes Morgan – who returned after a six-game absence with a back injury – for the rest of the season after he limped out late with an apparent hamstring injury. <\/p>\n
The hosts brought out the pyrotechnics and smoke before kick-off but Atletico remained unmoved and engineered a nerveless start where neither side fashioned an opening. <\/p>\n
Noticeably they looked to get players behind the ball when Leicester were in possession, condensing the space and refusing to offer the Foxes a high defensive line to exploit. <\/p>\n
Strikers Yannick Carrasco and Antoine Griezmann showed flashes of a partnership but it was the hosts who created the first chance when Shinji Okazaki prodded Vardy’s cross high and wide after 20 minutes. <\/p>\n
The Foxes were encouraged but the life was sucked out of the King Power Stadium after 26 minutes when Atletico took the lead on the night. <\/p>\n
There had been nothing to suggest either side would break the deadlock but Atletico grabbed a crucial away goal when Filipe Luis crossed and Saul, having lost Marc Albrighton, produced a brilliant low header from 16 yards which dropped into the corner. <\/p>\n
Leading 2-0 on aggregate, Atletico could relax knowing they had conceded just seven times in their previous 17 Champions League outings. <\/p>\n
Mahrez volleyed straight at Jan Oblak as the Foxes tried to respond but the visitors began to offer the kind of European masterclass Leicester had not experienced this season. <\/p>\n
Their second string lost 5-0 in Porto in December but this time they came up against a force in Atletico whose game management rendered the Foxes impotent in the first half.<\/p>\n
Atletico looked like they could pick Leicester off at will as they kept the ball and almost killed the tie with Griezmann’s exceptional work rate underpinning their performance. <\/p>\n
The France international was a class above and he almost created a second for Carrasco five minutes after half-time when he breezed past four defenders only for his cross to drift ahead of his strike partner. <\/p>\n
Soon afterwards Ben Chilwell, on for Yohan Benalouane at the break, volleyed over before Leicester kept their hopes alive by levelling on the night after 61 minutes.<\/p>\n
Again, as in Seville in the last 16, it was Vardy who came up with the goods when he rammed in from close range after Chilwell’s deflected drive bounced into his path. <\/p>\n
Tails up, the fighting Foxes went for it and Ulloa’s goalbound drive was blocked as they pinned Atletico back. <\/p>\n
For the first time Atletico were flustered and Vardy nearly grabbed a second in the 67th minute, only for Stefan Savic to throw a leg out at his snap shot. <\/p>\n
A different game emerged from one Atletico had so much control over as Leicester rediscovered their belief and Mahrez bent a free-kick just over. <\/p>\n
The Foxes relentlessly pressed but could not find another goal and, with Atletico content to rely on their away goal, the visitors offered little going forward. <\/p>\n
It was ultimately enough as Craig Shakespeare’s Leicester gallantly bowed out. <\/p>\n
Source: PA<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\t\tPlease enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n From Football.co.uk<\/a>
Brave Leicester’s Champions League dream ended as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atletico Madrid. Jamie Vardy’s second-half goal secured a 1-1 second-leg draw but could not force a stunning comeback after Saul Niguez’s opener. Atletico reached the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate but only after they survived a scare following the Foxes’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[371,30,120,80,188],"class_list":["post-4503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-premier-league","tag-football-news","tag-news","tag-south-africa-today-sport","tag-sport","tag-sport-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
South Africa Today Sport \u2013 Sport News Football<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
![\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Brave Leicester’s Champions League dream ended as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atletico Madrid. <\/p>\nJamie Vardy’s second-half goal secured a 1-1 second-leg draw but could not force a stunning comeback after Saul Niguez’s opener. <\/p>\nAtletico reached the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate but only after they survived a scare following the Foxes’ second-half bombardment at the King Power Stadium. <\/p>\nThe visitors controlled the tie until Vardy struck and the hosts were reinvigorated as Vardy, Leonardo Ulloa and Riyad Mahrez all went close to adding a second. <\/p>\nSaul’s header proved crucial though as Diego Simeone’s side – beaten finalists in two of the last three years – squeezed into the semi-finals in search of their maiden Champions League crown. <\/p>\nAnd Leicester may now be without captain Wes Morgan – who returned after a six-game absence with a back injury – for the rest of the season after he limped out late with an apparent hamstring injury. <\/p>\nThe hosts brought out the pyrotechnics and smoke before kick-off but Atletico remained unmoved and engineered a nerveless start where neither side fashioned an opening. <\/p>\nNoticeably they looked to get players behind the ball when Leicester were in possession, condensing the space and refusing to offer the Foxes a high defensive line to exploit. <\/p>\nStrikers Yannick Carrasco and Antoine Griezmann showed flashes of a partnership but it was the hosts who created the first chance when Shinji Okazaki prodded Vardy’s cross high and wide after 20 minutes. <\/p>\nThe Foxes were encouraged but the life was sucked out of the King Power Stadium after 26 minutes when Atletico took the lead on the night. <\/p>\nThere had been nothing to suggest either side would break the deadlock but Atletico grabbed a crucial away goal when Filipe Luis crossed and Saul, having lost Marc Albrighton, produced a brilliant low header from 16 yards which dropped into the corner. <\/p>\nLeading 2-0 on aggregate, Atletico could relax knowing they had conceded just seven times in their previous 17 Champions League outings. <\/p>\nMahrez volleyed straight at Jan Oblak as the Foxes tried to respond but the visitors began to offer the kind of European masterclass Leicester had not experienced this season. <\/p>\nTheir second string lost 5-0 in Porto in December but this time they came up against a force in Atletico whose game management rendered the Foxes impotent in the first half.<\/p>\nAtletico looked like they could pick Leicester off at will as they kept the ball and almost killed the tie with Griezmann’s exceptional work rate underpinning their performance. <\/p>\nThe France international was a class above and he almost created a second for Carrasco five minutes after half-time when he breezed past four defenders only for his cross to drift ahead of his strike partner. <\/p>\nSoon afterwards Ben Chilwell, on for Yohan Benalouane at the break, volleyed over before Leicester kept their hopes alive by levelling on the night after 61 minutes.<\/p>\nAgain, as in Seville in the last 16, it was Vardy who came up with the goods when he rammed in from close range after Chilwell’s deflected drive bounced into his path. <\/p>\nTails up, the fighting Foxes went for it and Ulloa’s goalbound drive was blocked as they pinned Atletico back. <\/p>\nFor the first time Atletico were flustered and Vardy nearly grabbed a second in the 67th minute, only for Stefan Savic to throw a leg out at his snap shot. <\/p>\nA different game emerged from one Atletico had so much control over as Leicester rediscovered their belief and Mahrez bent a free-kick just over. <\/p>\nThe Foxes relentlessly pressed but could not find another goal and, with Atletico content to rely on their away goal, the visitors offered little going forward. <\/p>\nIt was ultimately enough as Craig Shakespeare’s Leicester gallantly bowed out. <\/p>\nSource: PA<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\t\tPlease enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\nFrom Football.co.uk<\/a>\nSouth Africa Today Sport \u2013 Sport News Football<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Brave Leicester’s Champions League dream ended as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atletico Madrid. Jamie Vardy’s second-half goal secured a 1-1 second-leg draw but could not force a stunning comeback after Saul Niguez’s opener. Atletico reached the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate but only after they survived a scare following the Foxes’ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[371,30,120,80,188],"class_list":["post-4503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-premier-league","tag-football-news","tag-news","tag-south-africa-today-sport","tag-sport","tag-sport-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/2255a136de1f239c1db4012ef050b4bf.jpg\"){kind=link}