Leicester City wrote another chapter in their remarkable story as they overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Sevilla and reach the Champions League quarter-finals on a night of raw passion at the King Power Stadium.
Leicester City are through to the Champions League quarterfinals, with a 2-0 win at home to Sevilla on Tuesday ensuring a 3-2 aggregate victory. Goals from Wes Morgan and Marc Albrighton on either side of halftime proved sufficient to see the Foxes through, though only courtesy of a Steven N’Zonzi penalty miss late in the second half.
It took less than five minutes of the first half for Sevilla to fire a warning shot, when Samir Nasri’s powerful shot was turned around the near post by a diving Kasper Schmeichel.
Foxes had to remain patient and were rewarded for doing so when a vicious Riyad Mahrez free-kick was bundled in at the far post, the decisive touch having come off the thigh of an unwitting Morgan. The goal gave Leicester an away goals advantage.
Sevilla started the second half with intent, and almost equalised through one of the goals of the tournament within minutes of the restart. A vicious dipping effort from left-back Sergio Escudero cleared Schmeichel, only to bounce off the underside of the crossbar en route to safety.
It put Leicester in control of the tie, a supremacy they emphasised when Marc Albrighton drilled home a second nine minutes after the interval.
Sevilla played the final 15 minutes a man light after Samir Nasri was shown a second yellow card for an altercation with Vardy but the visitors only needed one goal to force extra time.
And, with 10 minutes to go, Schmeichel's foul on Vitolo presented the Spanish side with the perfect opportunity to salvage a lifeline, only for the Dane to redeem himself from Steven N'Zonzi's weak effort, while Sevilla's frustrations were summed up when livewire coach Jorge Sampaoli was sent to the stands late on.
Sevilla again fell short in their bid to reach the last eight of this competition for the first time. Despite Nasri's dismissal for butting heads with Vardy, Sevilla looked to have been handed a way back into the tie by Schmeichel but N'Zonzi's unconvincing kick was easily saved as Leicester held on.
The victory means the Foxes join the illustrious company of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Real Madrid in Friday’s quarter-final draw. On Wednesday, Manchester City go to Monaco and Atletico Madrid play Bayer Leverkusen to determine the final two sides in the last eight.
