Match ends, Leicester City 0, Slavia Prague 2.
Brendan Rodgers said Leicester will "fight to be better next year" after his side were dumped out of the Europa League by Czech side Slavia Prague at the King Power Stadium.
With playmaker James Maddison missing with a hip injury and in-form winger Harvey Barnes left on the bench for the first hour, Rodgers' team were a shadow of the vibrant side pushing for Champions League qualification at the top of the Premier League.
Rodgers took responsibility for leaving Barnes out and said a strong league finish and an FA Cup run are his main priorities.
"We have to learn from it," he said. "We can accept it a lot easier as we weren't good enough on the night and over the two legs.
"We'll get back in, move on and we've enjoyed the European experience and we want to fight this year and be better next year.
"If we had to prioritise, they (the Premier League and the FA Cup) were the two we would want to do well in. We wanted to do well in the Europa League, but now we can focus on the Premier League and FA Cup."
Jamie Vardy was kept quiet by efficient if limited opposition, and a spirited second-half showing from the visitors earned a shock win.
Midfielder Lukas Provod volleyed in the opener before 19-year-old striker Abdallah Sima wrapped up a thoroughly deserved victory with a fine low drive late on.
Slavia were raided by West Ham for defender Vladimir Coufal and midfielder Tomas Soucek in the last year and could soon be fielding more Premier League interest after this superb win.
Sima, in particular, looks a real asset.
Rodgers - who has now lost at this stage of the competition on five occasions - could still steer the Foxes into the Champions League next year, of course.
But he will have to hope that this insipid display was a one-off and not a sign that last season's late collapse could be about to be repeated.
Foxes left feeling flat
Leicester had only lost once in 2021 and were counted among the favourites to go deep into the Europa League.
But throughout the 90 minutes they failed to find any sense of spark or adventure without the excellence and inspiration of Maddison and Barnes. They never looked like joining Manchester United,Arsenal and Tottenham in the last 16.
The best chance of a cagey first half-hour saw a long clearance catch out the Leicester backline and Sima clip a lob just wide.
The Czech leaders are unbeaten in the league but it was still a surprise when they capped a bright start to the second period with the opener.
Nicolae Stanciu's deep cross caught left-back Luke Thomas out and Provod was all alone to steer a volley in and leave Leicester needing to score twice to progress.
Rodgers reacted swiftly with a triple change featuring the introduction of Barnes but, despite a marked rise in tempo, there was no change to the script.
Vardy and Barnes had shots blocked but Slavia were rarely troubled and were able to secure their place in the last 16 when Sima was afforded space to turn and drill home past Kasper Schmeichel from outside the area.
'A sporting miracle'
The shock victory was celebrated in style by the visitors, with Hammers midfielder Soucek joining in via video call.
Manager Jindrich Trpisovsky put his team's progress on a par with Leicester's own fabled title win of 2015-16.
"The difference between the teams is incredible, it's a sporting miracle," he said. "I would compare us winning here to Leicester winning the league.
"It's a different league for us. I've asked my team to realise what they've achieved and I don't think it's sunk in yet."
The stats
- Leicester suffered their first home defeat in any European competition since September 1997 against Atletico Madrid in the Uefa Cup, ending a run of nine such matches without defeat (W7 D2).
- Slavia Prague picked up just their second win over an English club in all competitions (March 2000 v Leeds United), and first away from home in their sixth such visit (D1 L4 previously).
- Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has been eliminated from all five of his 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.
- Slavia Prague won an away knockout stage match in a major European competition (excluding qualifiers) while also keeping a clean sheet for the first time since September 2000, a 2-0 Uefa Cup win over Akademisk Boldklub.
- Lukas Provod's goal was Slavia Prague's first shot on target of the night against Leicester, ending the Foxes' run of 234 minutes without conceding a goal in the Europa League.
- Abdallah Sima's four goals for Slavia Prague is the most by a teenager in this season's Europa League.
Player of the match
SimaAbdallah Dipo Sima
Leicester City
Avg
- Squad number1Player nameSchmeichelAverage rating
5.24
- Squad number8Player nameTielemansAverage rating
5.06
- Squad number33Player nameThomasAverage rating
4.80
- Squad number25Player nameNdidiAverage rating
4.79
- Squad number9Player nameVardyAverage rating
4.78
- Squad number6Player nameEvansAverage rating
4.70
- Squad number11Player nameAlbrightonAverage rating
4.61
- Squad number19Player nameÜnderAverage rating
4.49
- Squad number4Player nameSöyüncüAverage rating
4.47
- Squad number20Player nameChoudhuryAverage rating
4.39
- Squad number18Player nameAmarteyAverage rating
4.35
- Squad number50Player nameTavaresAverage rating
4.34
- Squad number15Player nameBarnesAverage rating
4.29
- Squad number27Player nameCastagneAverage rating
4.06
- Squad number21Player nameRicardo PereiraAverage rating
4.06
Slavia Prague
Avg
- Squad number12Player nameSimaAverage rating
7.55
- Squad number19Player nameDorleyAverage rating
7.52
- Squad number28Player nameMasopustAverage rating
7.48
- Squad number17Player nameProvodAverage rating
7.36
- Squad number7Player nameStanciuAverage rating
7.35
- Squad number32Player nameLingrAverage rating
7.35
- Squad number9Player nameOladeji OlayinkaAverage rating
7.16
- Squad number18Player nameBorilAverage rating
7.05
- Squad number15Player nameKudelaAverage rating
7.04
- Squad number6Player nameZimaAverage rating
7.03
- Squad number16Player nameKuchtaAverage rating
6.99
- Squad number25Player nameHromadaAverage rating
6.99
- Squad number5Player nameBahAverage rating
6.94
- Squad number1Player nameKolarAverage rating
6.88
Line-ups
Leicester
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 1Schmeichel
- 18AmarteySubstituted forRicardo Pereiraat 61'minutes
- 6Evans
- 4SöyüncüBooked at 84mins
- 33Thomas
- 25Ndidi
- 19ÜnderSubstituted forTavaresat 80'minutes
- 8Tielemans
- 20ChoudhurySubstituted forBarnesat 61'minutesBooked at 88mins
- 11AlbrightonSubstituted forCastagneat 61'minutes
- 9Vardy
Substitutes
- 12Ward
- 15Barnes
- 21Ricardo Pereira
- 24Mendy
- 27Castagne
- 28Fuchs
- 35Jakupovic
- 38Leshabela
- 50Tavares
- 53Flynn
Slavia Prague
Formation 4-1-4-1
- 1KolarBooked at 90mins
- 5Bah
- 15Kudela
- 6ZimaBooked at 73mins
- 18Boril
- 25HromadaSubstituted forLingrat 75'minutes
- 12Sima
- 17ProvodBooked at 82mins
- 7StanciuSubstituted forDorleyat 69'minutes
- 9Oladeji Olayinka
- 16KuchtaSubstituted forMasopustat 84'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Holes
- 4Deli
- 13Stejskal
- 19Dorley
- 27Traore
- 28Masopust
- 31Kovar
- 32Lingr
- 41Višinský
- Referee:
- Serdar Gözübüyük
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home61%
- Away39%
- Shots
- Home11
- Away7
- Shots on Target
- Home3
- Away3
- Corners
- Home5
- Away5
- Fouls
- Home8
- Away15
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Leicester City 0, Slavia Prague 2.
Post update
Youri Tielemans (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Peter Oladeji Olayinka (Slavia Prague).
Post update
Corner, Leicester City. Conceded by Ondrej Kudela.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Youri Tielemans.
Booking
Ondrej Kolar (Slavia Prague) is shown the yellow card.
Booking
Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Harvey Barnes (Leicester City).
Post update
Alexander Bah (Slavia Prague) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Post update
Ricardo Pereira (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Jan Boril (Slavia Prague).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Youri Tielemans (Leicester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Harvey Barnes.
Substitution
Substitution, Slavia Prague. Lukas Masopust replaces Jan Kuchta.
Booking
Çaglar Söyüncü (Leicester City) is shown the yellow card.
Post update
Foul by Timothy Castagne (Leicester City).
Post update
Jan Boril (Slavia Prague) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Booking
Lukáš Provod (Slavia Prague) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Harvey Barnes (Leicester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Post update
Foul by Lukáš Provod (Slavia Prague).
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Comments
Join the conversation
What does it say about PL? Nothing.
Just saying makes no sense when people judge a league by a single team in a cup tie.
Just clearly shows Leicester ain't good enough to compete in Europe..
Or have Leicester started their annual implosion 4 days early this year?