Ranieri: Sevilla game can be a turning point for Leicester

Claudio Ranieri is hopeful Leicester City’s Champions League clash with Sevilla can prove a turning point for his side’s season.

Having won the Premier League title last term, Leicester have endured a tough domestic campaign as they find themselves in a relegation battle, just one point and one place above the bottom three.

However, their European form has been impressive – they won their Champions League group ahead of Porto – and Ranieri is determined that another big result on Wednesday could be crucial for Leicester’s fortunes at home and abroad.

“The Premier League is a priority when there is a match in the Premier League,” Ranieri said ahead of the game. “Now there is a match in the Champions League. The priority is always the next match.

“[Wednesday] could be the turning point. It could be everything. If we win, something could change. We need one match like this.

“We know in our mind we are the underdog. If you see, in the last 10 years, what Sevilla has achieved, it’s amazing.

“They are used to staying at the top. They have good players, but we are ready to fight and ready to play our football.”

Ranieri has acknowledged that this season has been tougher than he expected, even if he had foreseen some drop-off from their title-winning exploits.

“Last year was marvellous; this season nothing has come off for us,” he said. “It is strange given how many of us are the same at the club.

“This was the first time in our history we had won the title and I knew that there might be an after-effect; I just did not think it might be like this.”