Champions League - Last 16 v Sevilla

[FOX Franks]

Is this the first ever time Leicester will play in an open air stadium in a competitive fixture?

 

[FOX Franks]

8) Sevilla v Leicester City

First leg 22 Feb Second leg 14 Mar

This could be brilliant – heavy pressing against counter-attack. The Sevillamanager, Jorge Sampaoli has taken his side to third in La Liga with a young, dynamic and cohesive side capable of truly wonderful football. The Italian midfielder Franco Vazquez has been particularly exciting, while Samir Nasri has also thrived and the former Blackburn and Stoke midfielder Steven N’Zonzi plays a solid midfield role for the club who have won three consecutive Europa League titles.

Leicester’s league form has been patchy, but their Champions League performances have largely been excellent, while the weekend thrashing of Manchester City showed Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy have not lost their touch. Sevilla will have most of the ball, but Leicester can cause an upset.

Prediction Leicester City

Wow, what an absolutely nuts prediction!!! We need to be at our absolute best to get anywhere near them IMO.

 

[bocadillo]

Is this the first ever time Leicester will play in an open air stadium in a competitive fixture?

Open air stadium?

 

[fitz]

Open air stadium?

Glad I'm not the only one that didn't get that

 

[martin peters]

Monarch to Faro approx. £100, car hire for 4 days £40 plus 3 nights hotels approx. £150 all I want is a ticket

 

[Robin127]

With a name like yours you should be able to ghost into the stadium without anyone noticing.

 

[Jimmy Lad]

Flying to faro, £65 return.


Cheers

Dates aren't favourable are they? I could only see Monday to Friday

 

[exiledblue]

Doncaster – Malaga flights £85 return.

Malaga –Seville bus, 2hr 30min, £28 return

Malaga hotel, 5 nights £150.

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

About as good a draw as we could have hoped for. No easy fixtures but to avoid the big 4 at this stage is great. Most of these teams will underestimate us and that is a strength we can use..

 

[FOX Franks]

Open air stadium?

Glad I'm not the only one that didn't get that

No roof. Not, you know, 'openair'. Shhhh.

 

[alex]

Flights booked, hopefully I can get tickets?!!!

 

[bocadillo]

No roof. Not, you know, 'openair'. Shhhh.

The ground is partially roofed:

Filbert Street wasn't fully roofed until 1927. So the answer to your question is no.

 

[Lako42]

Dates aren't favourable are they? I could only see Monday to Friday

Tue to Thurs

 

[glyn]

About as good a draw as we could have hoped for. No easy fixtures but to avoid the big 4 at this stage is great. Most of these teams will underestimate us and that is a strength we can use..

In the Times, Cascarino says this is the most predictable tie of the last 16 and that Sevilla will easily go through.

They've won the Europa League 3 times, it's going to be incredibly tough.

 

[Ike O'Noclassed]

The ground is partially roofed:

Filbert Street wasn't fully roofed until 1927. So the answer to your question is no.

Anyone who remembers the joys of the Enclosure terrace in front of the old Main Stand at Filbo during a downpour would raise a sodden eyebrow to the claim it was "fully roofed". Huddling up at the back to get some benefit from the Main Stand roof was the order of the day, it must have created its own steamy microclimate.

FF's "Openair" question is an interesting one. Most clubs developed their stadia with mostly open terracing but usually there was a main (c0vered) stand for those who wished not to mix with the hoi polloi. I think Charlton Athletic's ground at the Valley was all terracing into the 1920s but they weren't in the same division as LCFC then.

Even the old Atletico Madrid stadium, the Estadio Metropolitano, probably had a covered stand by the time we played them in the ECWC in 1961.

 

[Zorro]

Semi-open is quite normal in southern Spain, especially at the goal ends. Granada stadium is like that and so is Malaga, where I watched a match on Friday in the "Vomitorio" (the offical name). It spotted with rain, but fortunately stopped.

 

[Robin127]

... I think Charlton Athletic's ground at the Valley was all terracing into the 1920s but they weren't in the same division as LCFC then...

I remember going to the Valley in the early 70's (one-nil win with a Malcolm Partridge goal) and one entire side was open terracing.