City emerged with plenty of credit from the final game of their pre-season tour, as they were narrowly beaten by Spanish giants Valencia in St. Veit.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's team stood up manfully to the examination put to them by their gifted La Liga opponents, showing fantastic defensive discipline in the face of long spells of trademark Spanish possession.
They were breached only once - a fine finish to a fine move by Brazilian striker Jonas on 22 minutes - on an evening where they were asked as many questions in possession as they were out of it.
But as Eriksson prepares his troops for the season opener at Coventry City on August 6, the Swede will be happy that the tour of Sweden and Austria has tested different sides of their character.
Wednesday's goalless draw with Bursaspor had been the Foxes' most strenuous exercise to date, but this was a different level.
Against a club that has regularly played at the top level of European football in the last decade - reaching successive Champions League Finals in 2000 and 2001 - the Foxes would have expected a thorough workout on a wet evening at the Jacques-Leman Arena.
But they could hardly have been ready for the chasing they would have to do in the opening 25 minutes. Defending an end dominated by solar panels powering the local industry, Valencia were fully-charged.
Dominating possession, stroking the ball around like the biggest kids in the playground the Spaniards forced City to defend with intense discipline and concentration.
Their passing was near-faultless and their pressing game just as impressive, while in attack they were hardly short of inspiration - Jonas testing Matt Mills and Sol Bamba down the centre and Frenchman Sofiane Feghouli stretching Paul Konchesky down the Valencia right.
For all their dominance, it took them 19 minutes to threaten a breach of blue ranks - Feghouli's wonderful cross from the right met with an equally-impressive defensive header from Lee Peltier.
But it took just a further three for the Spaniards to take the lead through a move of pure class. Maduro released Aritz Aduriz with a slid pass down the right and the Spanish forward slipped Bamba beautifully before pulling back for Jonas' controlled finish.
Leicester, led by Richie Wellens on the night, had to hold firm in the ensuing minutes as Los Che upped the tempo - Kasper Schmeichel saving well from Jonas' 25th-minute snap-shot and Yuki Abe clearing incredibly off the line when Feghouli felt sure he'd found the net from Joan Bernat's corner.
But the Foxes weathered the storm in the build-up to half-time, pushing Valencia into their own territory and fashioning a couple of sights of goal.
Paul Gallagher delivered a superb cross that had three defenders scrambling after turning Jeremy Mathieu down the right on 29 minutes, and then pulled a low free-kick into the path of Wellens, who sent a first-time drive whistling over the top.
Feghouli continued to prove a handful and, having dragged a shot from the edge of the box just wide on the half-hour, rifled over the top four minutes before the break after Jonas had flicked beyond Bamba.
Eleven Valencia changes gave City a refreshed unit to face in the second half, but they nearly caught the new boys cold on 51 minutes - Gallagher smacking a free-kick into the wall before hammering the loose ball just wide.
The presence of Valencia boss Unai Emery giving constant instruction from the technical area suggested this was something of a more experimental Valencia side in the second period.
But their excellence in possession continued as they switched to a 4-3-3, with the flea-like Pablo Piatti buzzing dangerously around the City back four.
Matt Oakley had to stand up to the test Piatti presented, a task made more difficult by the constant raids of Jordi Alba from left-back, but the midfielder stuck to the task well while filling the right-back role.
Jordi Alba's bursts down the flank were countered by the introduction of Lloyd Dyer, whose direct, driving runs threatened to stretch Valencia - the best of which saw Andy King tripped on the edge of the box on 73 minutes and Dyer himself hammered the free-kick into the wall.
The Foxes' hard work off the ball was beginning to pay dividends - King in particular muscling his way into the game in midfield.
They were indebted to Mills for a fine block on Dani Parejo near the end, and to Schmeichel for an excellent one-on-one save from Roberto Soldado even later.
But they came close to snatching a share of the spoils when a booming kick from Schmeichel was reached by substitute Steve Howard, but his prod past Diego Alvez beat the outside of the post.
City (4-3-3): Schmeichel; Peltier (Oakley 46), Bamba (St. Ledger 61), Mills, Konchesky (Ball 46); Abe, Wellens (c), King (Moussa 79); Gallagher (Waghorn 61), Vassell (Howard 78), Schlupp (Dyer 60).
Subs: Weale, Tunchev, Kermorgant.
Valencia First Half (4-4-2): Guaita; Bruno, Ricardo Costa, Pardo, Mathieu; Feghouli, Albelda (c), Maduro, Bernat; Jonas, Aduriz.
Valencia Second Half (4-3-3): Diego; Miguel, Rami, Dealberz, Jordi Alba; Dani Parejo, Topal, Portu; Pablo Hernandez, Piatti, Soldado.
Subs: Salva, Lluna.
Referee: G. Meschnark
