Frustrated Jorge Sampaoli rues missed chances after Sevilla allow Leicester to score a precious away goal

Leicester City did 'very little but succeeded' rued Sampaoli after the match

Sampaoli watched his side allow Leicester back into the tie (AFP/Getty)

A frustrated Jorge Sampaoli said Leicester City did “very little but succeeded”, as he felt his Sevilla side should have won by much more than 2-1 in what had mostly been a commanding performance during their Champions League last-16 first leg meeting at the Sanchez Pizjuan.

The home had been close to completely dominant, creating a flurry of chances and also seeing Joaquin Correa miss a penalty, only to be stung by a 73rd-minute Jamie Vardy away goal

“We were far superior in the development of the game, with 10 clear scoring chances,” Sampaoli said.

“They did very little but succeeded in the end. I think we deserved a bit more.

“We had all sorts of chances but hit the post and crossbar. Our opponents only had a few chances, but now we have to go to Leicester for the win.

“We wanted to confuse our opponents a bit by getting our forwards to change positions.

“Still, it was possible to create many chances against a team that sat very deep. That’s not easy.

“For us to win in the Champions League is very important, but the bad thing is that we left our lead so slight after huge superiority.”

Joaquin Correa celebrates after scoring Sevilla's second (Getty)

Claudio Ranieri admitted that Leicester had been “scared” in the first half but eventually showed the character that brought the “luck” that had deserted them recently.

"It's a defeat," the Leicester manager said. "The first half was very tough, we were a little scared, nobody wanted to show for the ball and Kasper kept the team live, saving the penalty and some shots, and slowly we got better.

The second half was much better and we believed we could do something good. When we played our football in our good moment they scored the second goal, but we didn't give up and then we went back and scored a goal that was important for three things: it gave strength to us, Vardy goes back to scoring goals, and it reopens the match in the second leg.

Vardy scored a precious away goal for the Premier League champions (AFP/Getty Images)

"We know they are better than us, a very high quality team, a lot of experience. But we have a very big heart, very big effort, we helped each other and I think we deserved this goal.

“When we play with this character, also the luck comes on your side. We have to continue in this way and keep going. Now we know our focus is on the Liverpool match. It could be a turning point, but it's important to make another good match against Liverpool.

“I think we are still the underdogs because they have high quality but we try to do our best, if we lose it's because Sevilla made a fantastic performance.”