Ghana defender Daniel Amartey in Leicester City squad to face Atletico in Champions League

Published on: 11 April 2017
Ghana defender Daniel Amartey in Leicester City squad to face Atletico in Champions League
Daniel Amartey

Ghana defender Daniel Amartey was part of Leicester City's squad that traveled to Spain for Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League quarter-finals clash with Atletico Madrid.

The talented utility player was among the 24 players coach Craig Shakespeare selected for Tuesday trip to the Spanish capital Madrid for the game.

The Foxes departed for the Spanish capital of Madrid on Tuesday morning, as the countdown to our UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg against Atlético continues.

Craig Shakespeare's squad will fly the flag for the English Premier League in the Vicente Calderón on Wednesday night, hoping to lay the foundations to progress in Europe's premier club competition ahead of the return leg in Leicester next Tuesday.

Having eliminated Spanish knockout specialists Sevilla in the last 16, the Foxes can be confident heading to the home of another high-flying La Liga opponent, though they will need to call on all their experience against Diego Simeone's street-wise side.

While Sevilla's European pedigree included three consecutive triumphs in the UEFA Europa League, Atléti's achievement in reaching two of the last three UEFA Champions League Finals highlights the scale of the challenge now faced by the Foxes as the competition enters its business end.

A 24-man squad boarded the flight from East Midlands Airport on Tuesday morning - Shakespeare having revealed at the weekend that he would take a bigger group to accommodate a Thursday morning training session in the Spanish capital.

Shinji Okazaki, Christian Fuchs and Wilfred Ndidi all rejoined the travelling party after being rested for Sunday's Premier League trip to Everton.

The City squad are due to train at the Vicente Calderón on Tuesday night in preparation for Wednesday night's game.

Amartey is keen on retaining his place in the City starting line up after playing in the 4-2 defeat at Everton over the weekend.

 

Leicester’s last trip to Madrid was the first time the Foxes had played in Europe for 35 years after they won the 1997 League Cup, beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in a replay at Hillsborough.

Atletico were one of the favourites for the competition – which was eventually won by Inter Milan – having signed Juninho from Middlesbrough and Christian Vieri from Juventus and went onto reach the semi-finals, losing to Lazio.

Atletico is playing in the Champions League quarterfinals for the fourth straight season. It lost the final to Real Madrid both in 2014 and 2016, the last one in a penalty shootout.

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