Claudio Ranieri looked up and smiled, having clearly just realised he had the perfect answer.

Sitting in the press room of the Sanchez Pizjuan ahead of Leicester City’s Champions League last-16 first leg with Sevilla, the Italian had predictably been asked - given the traditions of the city - whether his players were matadors or bulls.

Ranieri deliberately misinterpreted the question, and possibly played on some of the culinary traditions around bullfighting itself, by wondering if he was being asked whether his side “have the balls”.

It brought a laugh, and a slight change in mood. There have been many times in the dismal first two months of 2017 when it has felt like Ranieri has tried to use humour in press conferences to give the impression that all is as it was last season despite the results, only for it to come across as misplaced and forced, but this was not one of those occasions. It felt different, more natural, as if liberated by what he himself described as the ‘lightness’ of the different circumstances.

The truth was he sounded different, too, and not just in tone. Ranieri speaking Spanish, a language he has complete command of, makes him comes across a very different figure than Ranieri speaking English.

It might be a superficial thing, but it makes him sound so much more assured, and there was an impressive assertiveness to him on the eve of what should be a daunting match.



This is of course the big hope for Leicester in general for this game, and something that Ranieri specifically played on: that the changed circumstances can also restore a verve to their play, temporary lift the ‘heaviness’ that has weighed the team down in the Premier League, and left them in a relegation battle and everyone else talking about the manager’s future. He seemed to be almost willing the idea of a “turning point” into the minds of his players, by so conspicuously and consciously talking about it. It may yet be a fine piece of psychology, at a point when that trait of last season has seemingly deserted Ranieri.

“Tomorrow could be the turning point, could be everything tomorrow,” the Italian said. “If we have a very good game, something inside could change. We need one match like this. We play without the pressure of the Premier League, we play light. For this reason I hope we can show our football.”

It showed how widespread the expectation is that an on-form Sevilla will beat Leicester - maybe even destroy them - that Jorge Sampaoli was barely asked about the game in his own pre-match press conference. He was mostly asked about the possibility of taking over at Barcelona in the summer, something that further reflected how well his side are playing.

Jorge Sampaoli's Sevilla are heavy favourites to progress from the two-legged tie (Getty)

For all the presumption of the questions and the intangibles of the psychology surrounding the game, however, these are also the tangible realities: Sevilla are simply a “better team”, as Ranieri himself admitted. They are on far better form, as they challenge Real Madrid for the Spanish title. They have far better players, like the resurgent Steven N’Zonzi and Stevan Jovetic. They have a much more sought-after manager, capable of far more sophisticated tactics.

If all goes as it should, Sevilla should really win easily and win well, maybe putting the tie beyond doubt in the first leg.

The wonder is what Ranieri and Leicester can really do anything to stop them right now. The tactical dynamic of the tie, after all, is something else that their dismal form has distorted. When it was first drawn, the anticipation was that this would be classically novel tie of Sampaoli’s extreme pressing against Ranieri’s classic counter-attacking. To properly counter-attack, you need to be able to defend and finish efficiently, and they are abilities that have similarly deserted Leicester in the last two months.

The likes of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez have been misfiring for the Foxes this season (Getty)

“Last year, every shot was a goal, and now no,” Ranieri lamented. “Before, we had one of the best defences in the Premier League, and now, no.”

Are they playing in the Premier League, though? Now, no. Ranieri played all of that up, while also playing on his history of success in the stadium, given that he won the Spanish Cup in this very city with Valencia. He wanted to change the mood; to foster a feeling of positivity. It could yet change the application levels of his players. Nights like this can do that. It is something we’ve seen on a grand scale in the Champions League before, most recently and resoundingly with an ailing Chelsea in 2012.