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One of the most remarkable stories in recent sports history is playing out about two hours’ drive north of London. With five matches left, Leicester City Football Club is seven points clear of Tottenham Hotspur in the race for the Premier League title, and they have shown little sign of losing their nerve under the massive pressure.

Two seasons ago, Leicester wasn’t even in the top tier; last season, it was fighting to avoid relegation to the second, which has historically been its natural level. It’s a city of half-a-million people, up against teams from cities five-to-20 times bigger in a world without salary caps. Its payroll is roughly one-fifth that of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal — who together have won 22 of the 23 Premier League titles.

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Conveniently for Leicester, traditional heavyweights have been soiling themselves all season. Still, no one can quite believe what they’re seeing — but really that’s because of the payroll, not the city. If you have a billion quid lying around, there is nothing stopping you from buying Chipping Sodbury F.C. and building a stadium and marching it up the ladder. It might not be a very good business proposition, but that’s your problem, not the league’s. European soccer is, essentially, capitalism unleashed.