PSV 1-2 Leicester: Three noticeable Foxes things

Leicester City reached their first-ever semi-finals of a European competition in their history. The dreams became a reality only after the last thirteen minutes of the UEFA Europa Conference League Quarter-Finals’ 2nd leg.

The Foxes made things particularly difficult for themselves by handling over a 1-0 lead to the hosts, only later to redeem themselves from their arrears and earn a berth for the penultimate rounds of their European competition.

Even with the least number of Premier League games played, the King Power club doesn’t have a lot of chances to end up within the European spots. Having missed qualifying for the UEFA Champions League for two back-to-back seasons, the Foxes need to earn a berth through the only remaining alternative means.

Naturally, the quest for the Conference League becomes an utmost necessity for the outfit, if they are to be active participants in the second-tier European competition by managing to win the whole thing this year. Chances indicate a fair amount of possibility.

After putting on an inspiring performance in bits and pieces against title contenders Napoli, one cannot help but wonder if the earlier tussles would benefit the East Midlanders to prepare for a Jose Mourinho side that trails at 5th in the Serie A standings.

It is easier said than done, and the squad knows its implications. On the brink of an upcoming revamp, Leicester City would not want to miss out on a lucrative European spot. It would clinically hinder their recruitment process in the summer rebuild. It’s all or nothing now as the club looks to be in it to win it.

3 Noticeable Things for Leicester City

After PSV capitalized on a costly mistake, things looked demoralizing for the Blue Army as hopes soon turned bleak. We talk about the three noticeable things that served as the main takeaways from a tight European contest.

Youri Tielemans needs to get his mind into the game- Like a fair share of previous games, this game did not get to witness the Belgian midfielder contribute in positive ways as the fans would have appreciated. Tielemans, under no immediate threat, attempted a back pass which led to a quick PSV attack, yielding the hosts with their first goal. There was a visible lack of decision-making, which caught the Foxes off-guard. It wasn’t his first time either. We have seen Youri get away with similar mistakes several times this season. After a point, you can’t help but wonder if all the transfer talks are getting into his head.

The questionable line-up- Though Brendan Rodgers had a great set of players available to him, he didn’t come out with the ideal starting line-up.  On a single glance, starting Marc Albrighton and not Ademola Lookman raised many eyebrows. The second issue was not giving Patson Daka a start because we know Kelechi Iheanacho alone lacks to be a proper threat to the opposition on his own.

Look around you Harvey Barnes- We don’t know how many more times we have to talk about the one mistake that he makes in every game. Not utilizing his options and not having any second guess about the chances of his conversion has been a recurring problem for Harvey Barnes. Yesterday the game didn’t have to be this hard for the Foxes. A simple pass to the open player from Barnes would have put the visitors with an early lead. Instead, Harvey Barnes, as he regularly does, went for glory only to fail.

The thing that ultimately won us the game to progress further was the collective resiliency of this bunch of players. Despite all the things not falling in order, the boys never gave up trying. Now, an ambitious Roma side awaits Leicester City at their cross-hairs for earning a ticket to the finals at Tirana, Albania.