Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City Writing Their Own Story

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City's players view Tuesday's visit to Chelsea in the Premier League as a completely independent challenge after beating the Blues just four days earlier to secure the Club's first-ever FA Cup success.

2021-05-18T06:00:00.000Z

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City's players view Tuesday's visit to Chelsea in the Premier League as a completely independent challenge after beating the Blues just four days earlier to secure the Club's first-ever FA Cup success.

2021-05-18T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City Writing Their Own Story

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City's players view Tuesday's visit to Chelsea in the Premier League as a completely independent challenge after beating the Blues just four days earlier to secure the Club's first-ever FA Cup success.

2021-05-18T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City Writing Their Own Story

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City's players view Tuesday's visit to Chelsea in the Premier League as a completely independent challenge after beating the Blues just four days earlier to secure the Club's first-ever FA Cup success.

2021-05-18T06:00:00.000Z

Matchday With The Manager: Rodgers On Leicester City Writing Their Own Story

Brendan Rodgers says Leicester City's players view Tuesday's visit to Chelsea in the Premier League as a completely independent challenge after beating the Blues just four days earlier to secure the Club's first-ever FA Cup success.

2021-05-18T06:00:00.000Z

Saturday 15 May, 2021 became a landmark day in the Club's history as a breathtaking second-half hit from Youri Tielemans - and exceptional goalkeeping from Kasper Schmeichel - enabled Leicester to end a 137-year wait for glory in the FA Cup.

However, there will be three vital Premier League points to play for when the Foxes arrive at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening. While Rodgers was keen for his players and the Club's supporters to celebrate Saturday's historic occasion, all focus is now on performing in west London.

"It’s an amazing feeling when you can give something to people that they’ve never had before," he said. "That sense of achievement for everyone within the Club, across the city of Leicester, it’s been absolutely brilliant. Now, we’ve enjoyed the moment, but it’s a quick turnaround and there’s work to be done.

"We’d talked about it beforehand. We know we didn’t have any favours with playing on the Tuesday, so we have to be ready and prepared. Obviously, it’s another extremely tough game, so we recovered on Sunday, finished off our preparations on Monday and we’ll look forward to the game.

"It was an incredible achievement on Saturday. I hope the supporters celebrated it and are waking up with sore heads and hoarse voices, but for us, we’ve got a job to do. We’ve got work to be done. There’s a physical turnaround, but it is what is. Physically and mentally, we’ll be ready to give our very, very best."

City have now overcome Chelsea twice in 2020/21 - once with Frank Lampard in charge of the Blues and then, on Saturday, with Thomas Tuchel in the opposite dugout. That will give Leicester confidence, Rodgers believes, but the Northern Irishman says the squad know how hard they will have to work.

"Of course, it gives you confidence, to beat them," the 48-year-old continued. "You’re playing against a world-class squad, so to be able to perform and get wins is important, but it’s a new game. It’s a new challenge. We’ll be motivated for that.

"We’ve got European football, but we’ve got two games now to arrive into the top four, so you can only control what you can yourself. Otherwise, we focus on ourselves and we’ve got a great opportunity to qualify. With two games to go, we aim to take it.

"It was a very important game for us at the weekend, to create this legacy of being the first team to win the FA Cup for the Club. It was a huge game for us.

"We’ve enjoyed the moment and we go into another very big game for us. We want to arrive in the Champions League. We’ve worked so hard throughout the season. We want to take the opportunity to be in there and we know it’s down to ourselves. We write our own story and now we go into this next game.

"Let’s see if we can get a result. If we get the win, brilliant, we’re in there. If not, we go to the last game. It’ll be tactically the same (as the cup final). It’s two super organised teams and it’s going to be a tight game. That was the beauty of the final. Maybe neutrals are looking for a 5-4 scoreline in a final.

"But it was two teams who were pressing, they were organised. There wasn’t so many chances in the game and then, eventually, a moment of quality from Youri and a moment of quality from Kasper allows us to win the cup.

"If it’s the same on Tuesday night, I’ll be really pleased. I expect them to be what they are, which is a top-class team. It’s a club that’s used to winning. I’ve been there for four-odd years.

"You know, also, when you’re a club that wants to win, sometimes you’ll fall short and it’s about how you respond. They’re a top-class team who are in the Champions League final for a reason. They’ve got an incredible squad of players.

"For us, it was a huge result for us to win the trophy and now we’ll go into the next game with the same idea. We know we have to work really, really hard, be equally as aggressive and we’ll see if we can make our opportunities count."

It's hard for supporters and onlookers not to dwell on that magical day at Wembley however, especially considering the emotional nature of Leicester City's celebrations at full-time underneath the arch. Rodgers, meanwhile, was thrilled to share the experience with Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha.

"The focus, rightly so, will go to Khun Top, for what his family have done for the Club and where they’ve elevated it to, in giving Leicester City the opportunity to be there," the former Liverpool and Celtic manager added.

"Over these last couple of years, the dignity he showed after the passing of his father and what he’s then had to take on within the King Power organisation... to see him with the players, to enjoy that moment, thinking of his father, that was a really, really special, emotional time.

"I think everyone could see that. That we can give him that happiness after so much sadness was a special, special feeling. He was able to take the trophy away and spend the night with it. I’m not sure when it’ll return, but it’ll return at some stage!

"He just has a natural and genuine care for people. The family, in my time here, I've seen that they’re givers. They want to give. They’re obviously a very successful family who have done incredibly well financially, but they want to share that joy, happiness and feeling with other people.

"Everyone here recognises that. Throughout the city, the support they’ve given the Football Club, and what they’ve given local hospitals and various other charities, just that real kindness, it’s genuine. They’re really decent people and they care. They get that back because the players give everything for them."

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