Ranieri takes blame for heavy Leicester defeat

Mark Scott

Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has taken full responsibility for the Foxes’ ending their group stage campaign on a sour note.

With qualification for the last-16 already the bag, the Italian gave his first-team players a rest and made 10 changes from the weekend.

However, his second-string ultimately did not repay the faith shown in them by Ranieri as the Premier League champions were hammered 5-0 by Porto.

“The result is my fault because I decided to change the team. I don’t regret it, but some players missed their chance,” Ranieri said after the emphatic loss.

“I’m sad for our fans. They deserved more. I didn’t see what I have seen in training on the pitch tonight.”