Leicester City's Claudio Ranieri joins the list of sacked managers in the Premier League this season

Leicester City sacked manager Claudio Ranieri on Thursday, just nine months after he led the club to their first Premier League title.

Ranieri guided Leicester to the most unlikely of title wins last season and went on to claim FIFA's Coach of the Year for the achievement.

However, Ranieri and Leicester have struggled this season, with the club sitting just one point and one position above the relegation zone, having failed to score a single league goal in 2017.

Ndidi must prove his worth at Leicester City – Etim Esin

Former Super Eagles striker, Etim Esin, has described the move by Super Eagles’ midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, to Leicester City, as a right step in the right direction. But Esin has urged Ndidi to justify the confidence Coach Claudio Ranieri reposed in him.

Ndidi signed a five-and-half-year deal worth £15 million plus a further three million of potential add-ons from the Belgian side, Racing Genk, on Tuesday. This, however, is subject to a work permit being granted.

Coach Ranieri had seen the Nigerian star, as the player to replace French midfielder, N’Golo Kante, who moved to current League leader, Chelsea. Ndidi is expected to join Nigeria’s forward, Ahmed Musa, at the club.

Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Esin said Ndidi would have Musa to guide him in the team, so also two other African players, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani. The Algerians are currently with their country in Gabon preparing for Gabon 2017 AFCON.

“It is not about the coach seeing Ndidi as the one to replace Kante, but he has to prove himself as the man to take over from French man,” Esin said. “But we should also understand that this is English Premiership not Belgian league.

“There is no way you will compare the Belgian league with a tougher Premier League. But I still think this is an opportunity for him to prove his worth and break into the team,” he said.

Speaking further on what Ndidi’s move to Premier League portends for the Super Eagles, Esin, a former Belgian Lokeren and Lierse SK midfielder said that already Coach Gernot Rohr had a winning team, which cannot be changed overnight as a result of one player moving to a bigger club.

“No coach wants to change a winning team. Coach Rohr won both at home and away and this has been a big plus for him. For Ndidi to break into the main stream of the Super Eagles, he has to justify it,” Esin concluded.

Leicester to unveil Ndidi next week

Super Eagles’ defender, Wilfred Ndidi, will travel to England on January 1 ahead of his unveiling by English Premier League champs, Leicester City.

The former Nath Boys of Lagos star has already passed a medical examination held in Leicester on December 12, paving the way for him to join the Foxes.

“Ndidi will travel to Leicester on January 1, he will play his last game for Racing Genk today,” a top source close to Ndidi said yesterday.

“He will not have to do another medical, everything is completed,” the source added.

Leicester City pulled off a transfer coup when they lured Wilfred Ndidi to the King Power Stadium, with the likes of Manchester United, Hamburg and Wolfsburg also interested in his signature.

Leicester make masked protest over Vardy ban

Jamie Vardy masks are left on the seats ahead of the English Premier League football match between Leicester City and Everton at King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England on December 26, 2016. Vardy will miss this afternoon's game after being sent off against Stoke.AFP/Paul Ellis

Leicester City’s owners distributed around 30,000 Jamie Vardy masks ahead of their game against Everton on Monday in protest at the England striker’s three-game suspension.
Vardy was banned by the Football Association after being sent off for a two-footed challenge on Mame Biram Diouf during champions Leicester’s recent 2-2 draw at Stoke City.
Leicester had an appeal against the punishment rejected, which Thai chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha described as “unfair”.
Pictures circulating on social media showed rows of Vardy masks placed on the blue seats at Leicester’s King Power Stadium ahead of their home game with Everton.
FA chairman Greg Clarke was due to attend the match.
Leicester go into the game 15th in the Premier League table, three points above the relegation zone.

Arsene Wenger defends Guardiola's criticisim

Pep Guardiola's team lost 4-2 to Leicester at the weekend.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has defended Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola after his defensive tactics were questioned following a 4-2 loss to Leicester, saying criticism of the Spaniard has been "unfair."

Guardiola was criticised by pundits for dismissing the importance of tackling after his side fell to a second straight league defeat following a 3-1 loss to Chelsea the previous weekend.

"I'm not a coach for the tackles, so I don't train the tackles," Guardiola said after the Leicester game.

But Wenger said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach should be applauded for his attack-minded style of play, and that his record proves his teams know how to defend.

"Pep Guardiola, like myself, we are for offensive football. And when you don't win, people question that. And that's as simple as that," Wenger said ahead of Arsenal's trip to Everton on Tuesday. "Overall, I think what he wanted to say is that he promotes a game that is positive and I agree with him on that. You respect him for that. I believe that he doesn't forbid his players to tackle.

It's true that in the trainings you focus on your players to play an offensive game. You look at the number of games he has lost in his career, you would think that he defends quite well. For me it's a bit the wrong debate. His teams usually defend well."

Defending champions Leicester have struggled badly to repeat their heroics of last season's stunning title charge, but looked back to their best against City as they took a 2-0 lead after five minutes and were 4-0 up by the 78th when Jamie Vardy completed a hat trick.

And Wenger pointed out that the strong start by Leicester didn't leave Man City much of a choice other than to expose themselves defensively for the rest of the game.

"I come back to one simple fact in that game. When you're 2-0 down away from home, against a team that is good on the counter-attack, you know you have have to come out like mad to come back," Wenger said.

"And you expose yourself on counter-attacks. What was the strength of Leicester last season? It was that. So they were in a position where they are at their strength after five minutes. Then you can criticise what you want. I believe it's unfair because they had to come out and they had to take the risk to be exposed on counter-attacks."

Wenger's own team have often been criticised in recent years for conceding too many goals on counter-attacks, but this season they've been a lot more successful when they're chasing a deficit. The Gunners have fallen behind in six games in the Premier League and Champions League, but finished those games with three wins and three draws.

One of those was Saturday's 3-1 home win over Stoke, but Wenger admitted that the Gunners have often had small margins on their side -- such as when Petr Cech made a good save to deny a Peter Crouch header when the score was still 2-1 against Stoke.

"I look at the history of the games, there are always turning points that have gone for us. It's never one-way traffic. Even on Saturday it could have been 2-2," Wenger said. "We manage to get the turning points on our side. I'm conscious that it's very tight. But I'm conscious as well that there is a resilience in the squad, because it's not a coincidence, six times."

Champions League and Europa League draw: This is who English teams could face

The Gunners could face Bayern Munich or Real Madrid despite beating the odds to finish first in their group.

Usually, topping your group is the best way to avoid facing a nightmare draw because you cannot face another group winner in the last 16.

But holders Real and German champions Bayern both finished second, meaning they could play Arsene Wenger’s men.

Arsenal could also be drawn against Europa League winners Sevilla – but a kinder draw would pit them against Porto, Benfica or Bayer Leverkusen.

The one big plus for Arsenal is that as group winners they are seeded and will play the second leg of their tie at home, which is usually an advantage.

Manchester City will avoid the likes of Real, Bayern and Barcelona but could still face tough opposition.

Last year’s runners-up Atletico Madrid and Italian giants Juventus are both potential opponents, along with Napoli, Monaco and Borussia Dortmund.

And it doesn’t get any easier for Leicester either despite them topping their group.

Claudio Ranieri’s men could face Real, Bayern, Sevilla, Paris St-Germain, Benfica or Bayer Leverkusen.
No team can be drawn against an opponent from their own country, or an opponent from the group stage.
All three teams will learn their fate from 11am on Monday when the draw begins in Nyon, Switzerland.
The first legs will take place on February 14/15 and 21/22, with the return legs on March 7/8 and 14/15.

Who will Manchester United and Tottenham draw in the Europa League?

Manchester United and Spurs will also learn their opponents in the last 32 of the Europa League.
Spurs are seeded having dropped out of the Champions League and will play the first leg on February 16 away. They could face the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach or Villarreal.
United are unseeded and could be drawn against the likes of Ajax, Roma, Schalke or Besiktas. The second legs will be played on February 23, which is just before United’s possible EFL Cup Final date should they beat Hull in the semis.

Champions League as it happened last night

Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the Champions League as Monaco qualified from Group E with a 2-1 win at the Stade Louis II.

Spurs could have taken the lead after only seven minutes when Son Heung-Min evaded the offside trap but was denied by keeper Danijel Subasic, and within moments they were grateful to Hugo Lloris as he saved a Radamel Falcao penalty after Eric Dier had fouled Fabinho.

Monaco broke through in style just three minutes into the second half as Djibril Sidibe powered home a header, only for the Londoners to respond moments later when Dele Alli was fouled by Kamil Glik in the area.

Harry Kane smashed home the equaliser from the spot despite Subasic getting a touch, but within seconds the home side regained their lead as Djibril Sidibe played the ball across the area and Thomas Lemar found space to steer a low finish past Lloris.

Real Madrid won 2-1 at Sporting Lisbon to seal qualification from Group F thanks to a late Karim Benzema goal.

The Spanish side took the lead when Raphael Varane fired home after the Sporting defence had failed to deal with a free kick and Cristiano Ronaldo's deflected effort fell to him.

The home side were down to 10 men when defender Joao Pereira was shown a straight red card for a foul but levelled when Adrien Silva struck from the penalty spot with 10 minutes remaining after Fabio Coentrao was adjudged to have handled.

Benzema had the last word with time running out, heading home powerfully to wrap up the victory.

Borussia Dortmund and Legia Warsaw scored 12 goals between them to set a new Champions League record as the Bundesliga side won 8-4 in an astonishing game at the Westfalenstadion.

The visitors went in front when Aleksandar Prijovic produced an outstanding finish, but Shinji Kagawa quickly nodded an equaliser and then found space to fire the home team 2-1 in front.

It was 3-1 after only 20 minutes when goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak punched a free kick straight at Nuri Sahin and saw the ball ricochet into the net, but the unmarked Prijovic restored hope with a low finish.

With half an hour gone, Dortmund regained their two-goal advantage when Ousmane Dembele struck, and moments later it was 5-2 when Marco Reus tapped home at the end of another slick attack.

The goals continued to flow after the break as Reus made it 6-2, Michal Kucharczyk made it 6-3, Felix Passlack struck again for the home side and then Nemanja Nikolic got the visitors' fourth. Reus completed his hat trick to provide the final flourish.

Leicester City sealed their place in the round of 16 and won Group G thanks to a 2-1 home victory over Club Brugge.

The Foxes went in front after five minutes with a superb goal made by Jamie Vardy and Christian Fuchs, who combined down the left for the latter to cross for Shinji Okazaki to produce a brilliant volleyed finish into the roof of the net.

They made it 2-0 before the break when Albrighton was tripped in the area and Riyad Mahrez fired home from the spot, but a superb solo goal by Jose Izquierdo halved the deficit early in the second half as he powered a finish past Ron-Robert Zieler.

Juventus came from a goal down to win 3-1 at Sevilla as they moved top of Group H and confirmed their place in the knockout stages.

Sevilla took an early lead, striking with nine minutes on the clock when defender Nicolas Pareja fired home a low volley from the edge of the area.

Juan Cuadrado saw his shot from an angle pushed away as Juventus tried to respond, with the Serie A champions struggling to create good chances against high-pressing opponents denying them time and space.

But Franco Vazquez was sent off after collecting two bookings before the break and Juventus then equalised from the penalty spot through Claudio Marchisio, whose effort went in despite goalkeeper Sergio Rico getting a hand to it.

With six minutes remaining Leonardo Bonucci put the visitors into the lead, and Mario Mandzukic sealed the victory when he fired home in stoppage time.

Lyon won 1-0 at Dinamo Zagreb after a game in which they had enjoyed the lion's share of chances.

The visitors dominated possession and threatened an early goal when Jordan Ferri's deflected effort came back off the crossbar and Mathieu Valbuena came close to breaking the deadlock shortly before half-time when his curling effort was well saved by Dominik Livakovic.

Zagreb hit back and were close to a leveller when Amer Gojak flicked a header wide of the target, but Lyon got the goal they deserved when Alexandre Lacazette found himself alone at the far post to tap home.

Porto missed the chance to get the win that would have confirmed their qualification when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Copenhagen in Group G.

The home side had the better of a goalless first period as their visitors lacked attacking ideas but were unable to take their opportunities, with Erik Johansson failing to convert two headed chances.

Andre Silva had a chance for Porto but, after cutting inside a defender, fired his effort wide, and the same player came close in the early stages of the second half when his shot after a goalmouth scramble was well saved by Robin Olsen as the visitors upped the tempo.

Bayer Leverkusen are through to the knockout stages after a 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow in Group E.

Kevin Volland gave Leverkusen the lead in the 17th minute from close range after he was left unmarked at a free kick.

Leverkusen gave away a needless penalty when Benjamin Henrichs made a clumsy challenge on Mario Fernandes, but Bibras Natcho's 76th-minute goal wasn't enough to keep the fourth-placed Russian team's hopes of qualifying alive.