Sampaoli rues Schmeichel heroics

Jorge Sampaoli saluted the performance of Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in Sevilla’s 2-1 win and insisted the Spaniards would have claimed a much better result were it not for the Dane.

Sevilla had been cruising at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan thanks to efforts from Pablo Sarabia and Joaquin Correa, before Jamie Vardy scored a potentially vital away goal 17 minutes from time for the Foxes.

The goal came against the run of play after Sevilla had dominated proceedings right from the start, but Sampaoli’s men were not clinical enough.

Schmeichel made a number of strong saves and kept out a tame Correa penalty in the first half, leading Sampaoli to highlight his performance as the main stumbling block between Sevilla and a more comfortable result.

“We dominated and had to contend with Schmeichel at a high level,” the Argentinian coach told reporters. “If it were not for him the story would be different. He was very good.

“I am happy because the gulf in the match was very large. But we did not have the luck to capitalise.

“But playing this way, if we do not concede in England then we will qualify. We must not disregard what was a good performance [by Sevilla].

“The unique approach of the opponent [playing on the counter] ended in a goal. These teams live off this. We live embittered by the narrow result.

“We were superior. We could have scored more and made more of a margin with the chances we created.”