Ranieri On Champions League: Make Our Supporters Proud

- The Foxes will face Porto, Club Brugge and FC Copenhagen in Group G 

- It’s City’s first Champions League campaign and they went in as top seeds having won the Premier League last season 

- Raneiri believes his side will be underdogs in their group but will fight to win every game 

Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri has urged his players to make the city proud after their Champions League opponents were unveiled on Thursday evening. 

The Foxes will line up in Group G against Porto of Portugal, Club Brugge of Belgium and FC Copenhagen of Denmark, in what will be their first-ever Champions League campaign. 

The 2015/16 Premier League champions went into Pot 1 for the draw alongside Europe’s elite, but despite being kept apart from their fellow league champions, the calibre of their opponents is a clear indicator of how big a challenge the Champions League will be. 

But for Ranieri, he’s eager to see how his team fare on the biggest stage in club football, saying: “I’m so pleased for both my players and for the city of Leicester as we look forward to an exciting season in the Champions League together. 

“Now that the teams have been drawn that excitement is building even more and although it won’t be easy against great champions like Porto, like everyone, I’m curious to see how my players perform.” 

Despite City’s status as league champions, the manager insists that his team won’t be favourites against three teams who boast considerably more European experience than themselves. 

Porto have won the tournament twice, Club Brugge were finalists in 1978 while FC Copenhagen have reached the knockout stages as recently as 2011. 

“Once again I say we are underdogs,” said Ranieri. “For this reason we must fight for everything. I want to see my players fight against the best in Europe. Every team in the competition will fight like champions and we must give 100 per cent to make our supporters proud. 

“Last season was wonderful but I want more. Now we are in the Champions League and we have another wonderful opportunity to show our quality. We know we have three tough away games but when we arrive at our stadium that is when I know we can show something special with our supporters behind us. 

“Also I think our supporters deserve the chance to watch their team around Europe against teams like Porto, Club Brugge and FC Copenhagen, who are great European teams. They deserve this and I ask my players to help our wonderful supporters to enjoy this journey with us by giving everything they have on the pitch. It will be tough, but we come into this competition to win games and we want so much to progress into the knockout stages.”