A new chapter is written in Leicester’s City’s amazing story, as the English champions beat Sevilla to reach the last eight. Elsewhere, Juventus saw off Porto to progress.Leicester City 2-0 Sevilla (3-2 agg.)
(Morgan 27′, Albrighton 54′)
Leicester’s European adventure continued as they beat 10-man Sevilla to reach the last eight of the Champions League in thrilling style.
The English champions were playing their first European game since firing Premier League-winning coach Claudio Ranieri, and goals from captain Wes Morgan and midfielder Marc Albrighton – and a second half penalty save from Kasper Schmeichel – saw them through.
Leicester were the better team throughout and took a deserved first-half lead in front of a raucous home support, when Morgan took advantage of slack Sevilla marking to turn in Riyad Mahrez’s devilish free kick.
Leicester doubled their lead on the night – and moved ahead overall – with a low strike from Albrighton nine minutes into the second half, after further good work by Mahrez.
Jamie Vardy wasn’t on the score sheet but was involved in one of the game’s key moments, producing an animated reaction when Samir Nasri leaned his head towards him, resulting in the Sevilla playmaker being shown a second yellow card.
Sevilla had a chance to draw level on aggregate when they were awarded a penalty after a foul by Schmeichel on Vitolo, but Schmeichel atoned by saving Steven N’Zonzi’s poor penalty, raising the roof in Leicester as a new chapter is written in their remarkable story.
Juventus 1-0 Porto (3-0 agg.)
(Dybala pen. 42′)
Juventus’ quest for a quarterfinal spot was much less bumpy than Leicester. They saw off 10-man Porto in Turin, with Paulo Dybala scoring a spot-kick to seal the tie.
Former Bayern and Wolfsburg striker Mario Mandzukic tested Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who was making his Champions League record 175th appearance, with a header in the first half. But it was Porto defender Maxi Pereira who provided Juventus with an opening.
The Uruguayan international used his hand to keep out a shot from Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain from point-blank range, receiving a red card in the process. Dybala, who has eight goals in the Italian league this season, sent Casillas the wrong way before netting his penalty.
The second half saw only one shot on target from both teams as the Italian champions reached their third quarterfinal in the last five seasons.
