CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
English Premiership champions, Leicester City is on the brink of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages after a 1-0 win over Copenhagen yesterday continued to defy their domestic woes and kept up a perfect record in Group G.
For the third time this term Leicester went into a Champions League game on the back of a heavy Premier League defeat but shrugged off the disappointment to secure a third straight win in the competition thanks to Riyad Mahrez’s 40th-minute goal.
It was no vintage show from Claudio Ranieri’s men, who lost 3-0 at Chelsea on Saturday, although they were unfortunate not to triumph by a bigger margin after Islam Slimani had a goal harshly ruled out for offside in the second half.
In Madrid, defending champion, Real Madrid ensured that minnows, Warsaw Legia FC of Poland maintained their pointless record in the group with an emphatic 5-1 win at the Santiago Bernabue.
Once the action got underway, Madrid had way too much firepower as Gareth Bale, a Tomasz Jodlowiec own goal and Marco Asensio handed the hosts a comfortable half-time lead despite Miroslav Radovic’s penalty.
Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata came off the bench to round off the scoring after the break.
Dortmund beat Sporting Lisbon 2-1 in the other game in the group, meaning Madrid and the Germans remain tied at the top of the pool on seven points.
Elsewhere on the night, Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made a string of saves to secure a Champions League draw against Bayer Leverkusen.
The France international superbly kept out Javier Hernandez’s close-range shot, and pushed away low drives from Stefan Kiessling and Charles Aranguiz.
Dele Alli should have done better at the other end when he powerfully headed wide from six yards out.
Team-mate Vincent Janssen hit the bar and Erik Lamela had an effort from the rebound tipped over by Bernd Leno.
RESULTS
Leverkusen 0 – 0 Tottenham
CSKA 1 – 1 Monaco
Brugge 1 – 2 Porto
D’Zagreb 0 – 1 Sevilla
Leicester 1 – 0 Copenhagen
Lyon 0 – 1 Juventus
Real Madrid 5 – 1 Warsaw
Sporting 1 – 2 Dortmund
