Foxes find themselves again in Champions League triumph

Fearlessness lives on at Leicester City, but the rest of Europe are now running scared.

No one wants to entertain the prospect of a trip to the King Power Stadium in the Champions League quarter-finals, after the Foxes overcame a 2-1 first-leg deficit to stun Sevilla 2-0 in the return leg of the last-16 tie yesterday morning (Singapore time).

Even Gianluigi Buffon, the competition's most impenetrable goalkeeper, is wary.

His trepidation is understandable, even with an impressive six clean sheets to his name.

Yesterday morning's continental clarion call showed why the Foxes are unlikely to be taken lightly when their name is unfurled in the draw for the last eight tomorrow.

Just shy of 240 kilometres separate the King Power Stadium from Cardiff's Millennium Stadium - the venue of this year's final - but there will be greater distances to overcome; immeasurable by the rules of the road or how far the crow flies.

Arguably Leicester's most significant obstacle, however, has been swiftly overcome.

Reinventing the wheel was never likely to strike a chord with this rag-tag bunch, seeking one last thrill on this most remarkable of joy rides.

Claudio Ranieri was a fool to even try. If something isn't broken, why try to fix it?

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  Leicester are the first English side to overcome a first-leg defeat by Spanish opposition in the Champions League knock-out stages since Chelsea in 2005 (v Barcelona).

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  Wes Morgan became the first Jamaican player to score in a Champions League game.

Directness, executed with ruthless discipline, was the bedrock of the tinkering Italian's greatest success.

It worked again for his successor, Craig Shakespeare.

VENGEANCE

Spearheaded by their elder statesmen, the dogs of war returned with a vengeance to punish Sevilla's tepidity.

They had normalised what was previously considered unsightly into something endearing en route to the most unlikely of EPL title triumphs.

Repeating the trick had the desired effect again in Europe's elite club competition, once again bamboozling an unsuspecting opponent.

Nowhere was that ugliness and relentless will to win reflected more than Jamie Vardy.

Snarling and scowling throughout, he was Leicester's designated attack dog; perennially going above and beyond to get under Sevilla's skin as well as in their faces.

He pummelled the Andalusians' defence with an abundance of pace and, when that failed, threw his body on the line to win cheap fouls and spark careless cautions. It worked, too.

Wes Morgan owes a debt of gratitude to his talisman's cunning in drawing Vicente Iborra, that paved the way for Riyad Mahrez's free-kick from which Leicester's captain bundled home in the 27th minute.

Watching from the stands, a returning N'Golo Kante may have picked up a few tips to pass on to Chelsea teammate Diego Costa after seeing Samir Nasri pulled hook, line and sinker into a second bookable offence by Vardy's expertly played histrionics.

The Manchester City loanee was already fired up before he had to be restrained and subsequently ushered off the pitch.

His agitator had merely lit the fuse.

It was gamesmanship at its finest, but Leicester were far more than just dark arts.

Kante's presence allowed a belated changing of the guard to take place, with Wilfred Ndidi's reading of the game mirroring that of the vaunted France enforcer this season.

PARTNERSHIP

The once resolute partnership of Morgan and Robert Huth at the heart of their defence also reverted to its fearsome former glories while Kasper Schmeichel's repeated penalty heroics allowed the King Power to revel in the prospect of four minutes' additional time.

Marc Albrighton's safeguarding strike in the 54th minute added another touch of class to the proceedings in one of many standout individual performances that have made this renewed fairy tale a reality.

A team that previously had nothing to lose now has a renewed belief and reason to dream.

Expectations for Leicester to progress beyond the Champions League group stages were minimal at best. Anything beyond that was always considered to be a bonus.

That alone should give Buffon's Juventus, Bayern Munich and even Barcelona some restless nights.