Leicester City looked like a shell of the side that won the FA Cup and reached the UEFA Europa League last season as they suffered a 1-0 defeat in the Polish capital of Warsaw on Thursday night.
The loss to Polish Ekstraklasa champions Legia Warsaw, who currently sit 15th in their domestic league, only adds to a poor run of form Brendan Rodgers’ side have been experiencing lately.
The side were predictable and sluggish as they prodded around the pitch for 90 minutes, failing to overturn the deficit the hosts had given them half an hour into the match.
New signing Mahir Emreli got off the mark in the group stage after three goals in the qualifying rounds.
The Azerbaijani forward found himself with the ball on the edge of the Leicester box and shrugged off utility player Daniel Amartey to fashion a chance and fire home through centre-back Jannik Vestergaard’s legs.
This was only one example of Legia supremacy throughout the first half as the side looked dangerous and threatened the Leicester defence several times, with the 3-5-2 formation proving to be ineffective for the Foxes.
Luke Thomas, particularly, had a rough night at left wing-back and Caglar Soyuncu did not do a great job of cleaning up anything that got past Thomas on that side.
Ayoze Perez was the most positive player on the night for a side that looked down on their luck but he could not find a finishing touch.
That clinical ability in the final third was lacking, even though Legia goalkeeper Miszta looked beatable.
Rodgers brought Jamie Vardy and Ademola Lookman on to attempt to salvage the game but ended up without anything to show for it.
After their draw to Napoli at the King Power Stadium, the result puts Leicester into a tough spot in Europe as they sit bottom of their group, needing a win against Spartak Moscow to keep their European dream alive.
However, they may not be able to do so if they continue playing like they did on Thursday night.
Lineups
Legia Warsaw (3-5-1-1): Miszta – Jędrzejczyk, Wieteska, Nawrocki – Johansson, Slisz, Kharatin, Martins, Mladenović – Josue – Emreli.
Subs used: Abu Hanna, Kastrati, Lopes, Pekhart.
Leicester City (3-5-2): Schmeichel; Amartey, Soyuncu Vestergaard; Castagne, Soumaré, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Thomas; Perez, Daka.
Subs: Lookman, Barnes, Maddison, Vardy.
