Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has admitted his players face a “terrible” last five games in their attempt to win the Premier League title and acknowledged closest rivals Tottenham will fight until the very end. The 2-0 victory over Sunderland at the weekend ensured that Ranieri’s side will be crowned champions if they secure three victories in their remaining fixtures, starting with the meeting with West Ham on Sunday at the King Power Stadium. That is followed by another home match against Swansea before Leicester face Manchester United, Everton and Chelsea in their final three games.
“It’s not done yet though,” Ranieri recognised in an interview with Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. “We’re in the Champions League, even the preliminary round of the Champions League, but the last five games will be terrible. Tottenham won’t give up and we have to stay focused. I never think about what others do, but what I have to do and doing our work in the best way. If Tottenham overtake us then we’ll compliment them. That’s how sport works.”
Ranieri added: “Our work rate? That’s our great asset. I knew right away in the training camp in Austria that this team has a special moral strength. They’re good lads, facing the story of their lives with great responsibility. In the week they work hard, then when the game comes around they’re laughing and joking in the dressing room getting ready to take to the pitch. Nobody saves themselves or stops for breath.”
Ranieri appeared genuinely moved after the victory over Sunderland as he saluted Leicester’s travelling contingent at the final whistle. Yet the 64-year-old insisted he had not been crying despite television images appearing to contradiict him. “They weren’t real tears, they were unshed tears. It was an emotional moment,” he said.
“Seeing all those people around us, entire families on buses in Leicester shirts to follow us up to Sunderland - that struck me deeply. At times like that you realised the extraordinary power of football. When our sport brings this positivity you can’t remain indifferent.
“In the press room afterward I wanted to explain the concept, but it’s already difficult for me to express my feelings in Italian, let alone English. I have a public role, and I try to be level-headed. I have to give clear signals to my team, I can’t get carried away by emotion.
“My wife Rosanna is my rock. In July we’ll celebrate 40 years of marriage. Then there’s my daughter, and my grandson Orlando who is 14 months. I see him on Skype. When he calls me ‘Grandpa’ that’s a really strong emotion.
“The attention surrounding Leicester? It’s the power of the media. In the 90s when I was in charge of Valencia and we got important results, it didn’t unleash this kind of whirlwind. Today there’s all this TV which brings games from around the world into your living room, there’s Facebook and Twitter, there’s the Internet…”