The rise of Leicester City from the bottom of the English Premier League table a year ago to the top, with just three games to play, is without doubt football’s greatest underdog story. And the Foxes now stand on the threshold – beat English football’s most hallowed club Manchester United on Sunday and the 2015-16 Premier League title is theirs.
Through this magnificent run, the club has evoked the full spectrum of emotions. In the early part of the season last year, analysts and fans were initially bemused and took the gradual ascension of Leicester as marker of how badly defending champions Chelsea had crumbled in their title defence. But Leicester never faded away as everyone thought they would.
If the Foxes do go on to win, it would be an unprecedented phenomenon. It is hard to think of another club whose success has united supporters from rival clubs. Their first league triumph would showcase the well-projected image of unpredictability, which the tournament’s public relations machinery claims is innate to the league. They might fall faster than Chelsea next season, but for now, the sense of goodwill generated by this club of journeymen is immense and likely to last for a while.
Champions on champions’ turf
It would be poetic justice for Leicester City to win the title at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, on Sunday. A year’s worth of good work would be rewarded at the venue of the most successful English club. Without doubt, Manchester United, despite recent upheavals, still remain the most popular face of English football.
Nor are Manchester United strangers to come-from-behind wins. Their triumphs over the years have been characterised by victories achieved in the dying moments of matches, which United fans point to as evidence of their never-say-die spirit and their fighting grit. Unfortunately, under their current manager Louis van Gaal, these impressive qualities seem to have deserted them as they currently languish at fifth in the table.
Leicester City's story, on the other hand, could not be more different. They are a club comprising players who have all had up-and-down careers. Only three members of their current squad were at the club before 2012. One of them is their goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, the son of Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel. Leicester's mainstay in goal has often spoken of not being conscious of his lineage and preferring to focus on his own work. He would certainly step out of his father’s looming shadow if he and the rest of the Foxes can take the final step on Sunday.
There are other members of Leicester’s squad as well who have a fleeting connection with Manchester United. Players such as Ritchie de Laet, Danny Drinkwater, Danny Simpson and Matty James were all part of the Red Devils setup at one point of time or the other.
Among their foreign imports, Christian Fuchs and Shinji Okazaki both played at middling German clubs in Schalke 04 and Mainz 05. Fuchs is among a handful of players in the Leicester team who have participated in Europe’s biggest club competition, the Champions League. Next season, the entire squad will play on that stage as Leicester have qualified for the next edition.
Ranieri’s reign
Talking of a journeyman existence, the most notable resurgence has been that of Italian manager Claudio Ranieri. The Italian was sacked by Chelsea in 2004. Since then, he has managed the likes of Juventus, AS Roma, Internazionale, Monaco and the Greek national team.
Another low point in Ranieri’s career was when Greece decided to terminate his services after a humiliating loss to the Faroe Islands in a Euro 2016 qualifier. From a low of that magnitude, he has emerged with his credibility more than enhanced. And it would be fitting for his industrious team to win a fairy tale title on the occasion of International Worker’s Day.
In the 2014-15 season, Leicester City defeated Manchester United 5-3 on home turf at the King Power Stadium. United were leading 3-1 at one point in the game and had previously never let slip a two-goal lead in the history of the Premier League. Come Sunday, something just as unique could happen.