Match report as Leicester crash out of Europe on disastrous night at the King Power Stadium; away goals from Lukas Provod and Abdallah Sima seal Foxes’ fate; focus now switches back to the Premier League for Brendan Rodgers’ side as they look to secure a top-four finish
Leicester suffered a shock Europa League exit after suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Slavia Prague at the King Power Stadium.
After last week’s 0-0 draw in Prague, Brendan Rodgers’ side still had plenty of work to do but, in the absence of the rested Harvey Barnes and the injured James Maddison, they struggled to find their rhythm on Thursday.
Their task was made even harder as Lukas Provod’s 49th-minute away goal left them with a mountain to climb.
Rodgers sent on Barnes in the 61st minute but the damage had already been done and Abdallah Sima’s strike in the 79th minute rounded off a memorable European night for the Czech side to send them into Friday’s last-16 draw.
After a disappointing night, Leicester’s focus will now switch back to the Premier League where they will look to build on what has already been a promising season and secure a top-four spot and Champions League football, while they still have an FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United to look forward to next month.
Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has been eliminated from all five of his UEFA Europa League knockout ties as a manager (all last 32) – with Liverpool in 2012-13 and 2014-15, Celtic in 2017-18 and 2018-19 and Leicester this season. Disappointment. #UEL pic.twitter.com/mLesa9CHgI
Needing at least two goals, Rodgers tried to salvage something from the tie with the triple substitution of Timothy Castagne, Ricardo Pereira and Barnes just after the hour mark.
However, it was Slavia Prague who had the final word as Sima found the bottom corner from 25 yards to seal Leicester’s fate.