Days like this makes you proud to be a football fan. Leicester City have achieved the impossible and have given us a story which will be told and retold for generations to follow.
With a little helping hand from Chelsea’s 2-2 draw vs Tottenham at Stamford Bridge, Leicester will now lift the Premier League trophy at King Power Stadium this Saturday.
It does not matter what sport you chose, this achievement from Leicester will never be replicated by any team even if Leicester decide to do it all over again.
Right from the day Claudio Ranieri was appointed, Leicester were ridiculed and laughed out everywhere. According to bookmakers, Ranieri was the favorite to get sacked even before the New Year.
Speaking of the odds, Leicester were 17th favorite with an odd of 5000-1 to win this season’s Premier League title. Nothing has come anywhere close near this kind of achievement in any sport’s history.
Closest I could find was Bradford’s win over Chelsea in FA Cup fourth round last season and it was priced at 500-1. It goes to show what Leicester have managed to achieve here.
Their first and only aim was to survive in the Premier League and get to the 40-point mark. Once achieved, Ranieri played down the possibilities of winning the Premier League title only until 2-3 weeks ago when he admitted his team could go on and get the job done.
Time and time this season Leicester have come back from behind to win vital points. Two results stand out for me to show how gritty and how deserving they have been to win the whole things.
On September 13, Leicester came back from 2-0 down against Aston Villa to beat them 3-2. Back then. Villa were not as bad as they are now but Leicester had a lot of questions to answer as people had started to doubt their run-in until then.
With the win over Villa, they showed their fighting spirits and made everyone to sit up and take note. And then the West Ham game couple of weeks ago when their tag of being the favorites was only a minute away from being blown away.
Up stepped Jeff Schlupp and won the penalty, Leo Ulloa then converted the spot kick and won a vital point for his team after Jamie Vardy was sent off. That was the night when it was almost inevitable that they were going to win the title and tonight they have.
We have got a story which we will tell our children and grand children till the day football is followed on this planet. Till this date it is the greatest achievement in the history of Sports and it may not be bettered ever unless Leicester go on and decide win the Champions League next season.
P.S – Congratulations Leicester City fans, you have earned this moment. Live it, enjoy it 🙂
Image Credit: Premier League