This Week In History: Ferdinand's Birmingham Strike, Okazaki's Bicycle-Kick & Albrighton's Sevilla Winner

On Saturday 13 March, 2004, the Foxes headed to Birmingham City as off-field strife contributed to their worsening situation in their battle to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

While City were without a win since the 2-0 success at Portsmouth on 29 November, Micky Adams' men had nonetheless secured three successive draws in the top flight before the trip to St. Andrew's.

The eyes of the football world were on Leicester in Birmingham and they started brightly in the second city, with Les Ferdinand, Steffen Freund and Trevor Benjamin going close to opening the scoring.

At the other end, meanwhile, Ian Walker had to be alert to thwart Stan Lazaridis, Clinton Morrison and Bryan Hughes, before the Foxes went ahead within eight minutes of the restart.

After making good progress in midfield, Muzzy Izzet crossed for Les Ferdinand to net one of his 12 league goals in 2003/04, but despite a much-needed win, City finished six points behind 17th-placed Everton.

A different scenario was on the cards for Leicester 12 years later as Claudio Ranieri's side headed into the final run-in of their remarkable Premier League title-winning season on Monday 14 March, 2016.

The Foxes were top of the league ahead of the visit of Rafa Benítez's Newcastle United to King Power Stadium, but were being pursued at pace by an in-form Tottenham Hotspur in the title race. 

However, despite finding the Magpies tough opposition, City were able to seal the second of four consecutive 1-0 victories to remain five points clear of Spurs with eight matches of the season to go.

The winner, meanwhile, came as Japan international Shinji Okazaki met Jamie Vardy's header across goal with a magnificent bicycle kick to ease the nerves around King Power Stadium.

"We are so strong, we think only one game at a time," said Ranieri at full-time. "It wasn't the best performance from us but we showed fantastic spirit. Step by step, that is our philosophy."

Following that brilliant title-winning success in 2016, the Foxes competed in their first-ever campaign in the UEFA Champions League during the 2016/17 season.

Leicester rose to the occasion in Europe, winning a group which included FC Porto, Club Brugge and Copenhagen, before meeting Spanish side FC Sevilla in the Round of 16.

Despite losing the first leg in Seville 2-1, following goals from Pablo Sarabia and Joaquin Correa, Vardy's late away goal gave Craig Shakespeare's men hope on Tuesday 14 March, 2016.

One of the biggest nights in the Club's history eventually led to one of their best-ever performances as Wes Morgan and then Marc Albrighton put the Foxes 2-0 ahead, 3-2 on aggregate.

A penalty save from Kasper Schmeichel added to the drama, while Sergio Escudero rattled the bar, Samir Nasri was dismissed and visiting manager Jorge Sampaoli got sent to the stands, but Leicester prevailed.