'Randers Can Play Without Pressure Now'
- Leicester City face Randers in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League tie this week
- The Foxes tackle the Danish Superliga side at Randers Stadium on Thursday (5:45pm GMT kick-off)
- Brendan Rodgers' visitors have a 4-1 advantage on aggregate after the first leg
- Toke Theilade, a Danish football writer, has previewed the tie for LCFC Radio
The Danish Superliga side have work to do if they are to progress to the round of 16 in the competition after falling to a 4-1 defeat in Leicester last week. While only the more optimistic supporters will have predicted a victory last time out, Theilade says there will be disappointment in the Randers camp.
Ahead of Thursday's second leg, Thomas Thomasberg's outfit will have been hopeful of at least starting out with a narrower scoreline to try and overturn. Nevertheless, it's a tie which has ignited the imagination of the locals in Jutland as a Premier League team comes to town for a competitive fixture.
"I think, in the first half, it was pretty obvious to everybody that Leicester is a much better football team," Theilade said, speaking to LCFC Radio's Matchday Live show. "There was a class difference there and I think Randers were lucky that [Patrik] Carlgren had one of the best days at the office of his career.
"He had a fantastic game in goal and that defeat could easily have been even bigger. If this tie had maybe been a month later and Randers had some competitive games in the legs, I’m not saying they would have won or anything, but it would have been a more competitive game.
"They went into this game with a few training matches, nothing else, and I think that’s very, very difficult, especially coming up against a Premier League team. Leicester have had pretty much non-stop games at a very high tempo, so that definitely made a difference. That’s always the situation for Danish teams.
"I don’t think Randers will have been surprised by that. That’s the curse we have by being up north with the cold and everything. You saw Bodø/Glimt who went on and beat Celtic, so it’s not like it’s not possible to deliver a good performance after the winter break, but for Randers, that was a rough one.
"They were disappointed it wasn’t closer and even their coach said after the game that the difference was disappointing for him. He hoped and expected that it would be closer and that Randers could actually challenge Leicester a little bit.
"I noticed Kasper Schmeichel said after the game to Danish television that he was surprised that Randers would have that expectation. There was optimism before the game and now that has been taken over by a bit of disappointment that they couldn’t at least keep the excitement for the return leg.
"With that being said, it was a huge game for Randers. They took around 500 fans to Leicester, which is not an everyday occurrence for Randers. Of course, they do that for cup finals in Denmark, but other than that, the number of away fans there was unprecedented.
"It’s not a big club in Denmark, they don’t normally fill out an away section, so it was a really, really good experience for the fans and an opportunity to follow their club at a different level to what they’re used to.
"It’s been a good all-round experience for the club, but of course, the disappointment remains that they couldn’t keep it closer than they did."
The members of the Blue Army who make the trip to Denmark will be greeted by the 10,300-capacity Randers Stadium on Thursday – with a carnival atmosphere expected. Theilade says Leicester supporters are likely to enjoy their trip to the home of the two-time Danish Cup winners.
"Randers rebuilt the stadium a couple of years ago, so it’s quite nice," he added. "I’ve watched a couple of games at the old ground where they’re literally just standing on dirt in the away section. Now it’s a modern stadium with stands all round.
"It’s by no means as big a stadium as the Premier League’s standards, but it has always been a priority for Danish clubs to build stadiums that are suiting their needs in terms of attendance. They are very aware of not needing 40,000 seats because they will never be able to fill that up.
"They can fit 10,000-15,000 in there if it’s a full house. It’s a good stadium, the fans are relatively close to the pitch, so Leicester fans will have a good experience at the stadium. This will be a day of celebration for Randers. I expect the travelling fans to be taken very well care of and greeted with a smile.
"Everyone in the city is proud to host a big team and proud to be in this stage of the tournament."
Following that first-leg reverse in the United Kingdom, Theilade believes Randers can approach this second encounter with the one-time champions of England with a sense of freedom. Especially after losing on their return to domestic action for the first time since December, it will be a motivated Randers XI.
"They can play without pressure now," he explained. "Nobody’s expecting anything. I hope they will play free and go out and at least give it a go and try to create some chances... try to get some excitement for the fans. I don’t know what kind of line-up Leicester will bring.
"I expect they will rest a player or two, but a good thing for Randers would be to play freely, lose some of the chains, and see if they can score a goal or two and give the fans something to celebrate. That would be a big achievement. It is concerning that they played very poorly on Monday against Viborg.
"They are one of the teams from the bottom of the league, so it was a game they were expected to win and they lost 1-0. It was a relatively close game, so it could have been a draw, but they didn’t create a lot of chances. That will be concerning. The offensive problems are something they have to fix.
"We are almost at the stage where the league is split into two and Randers very much want to be in the top six and try and qualify for Europe again. That’s where the excitement is. They’re never going to be relegated, they’re too far ahead, but playing those top teams in Europe, that’s what they want to do, and they need to play at a completely different level if they want to keep that top six finish."