Taggart Excited For 'Absolutely Electric' European Nights

- Leicester City will face three sides with significant European pedigree in the UEFA Europa League
- The Foxes are in Group C with SSC Napoli, Spartak Moskva and Legia Warszawa
- Former City defender Gerry Taggart is excited by the difficulty of the challenge
- Group stage fixture dates and times will be confirmed in the coming days

The former Foxes defender, who scored in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup against Red Star Belgrade at Filbert Street, watched on during LCFC TV's broadcast of the draw on Friday as Leicester were joined in Group C by SSC Napoli, Spartak Moskva and Legia Warszawa.

As FA Cup holders, City will approach the 2021/22 Europa League with confidence, while the Blue Army will be excited to see the games in person, Taggart believes. 

"I’ve been to Naples and I have to say it is a phenomenal place," the ex-Northern Ireland international said. "They have a real atmosphere there, which will be enjoyable for the neutral. They will travel in their numbers if they’re able to as well.

"The atmosphere of both games should be absolutely electric and Naples and Napoli are both steeped in history. As far as degrees of difficulty are concerned, you couldn’t get much more difficult than that. You’re going to some fantastic cities to play your football as well.

"As far as the games are concerned, it’s a tall order, and it all depends when that away game in Moscow is. You’d rather play Napoli in November than Moscow in November!

"We’ll have to wait and see when the fixtures come out, but Brendan [Rodgers] will do his homework to make sure the team is well prepared for the games because it looks pretty strong to me."

City's group is one of the hardest in this season's competition, Taggart says, but the honour of representing the Club in Europe is unrivalled for a player, according to the 2000 League Cup winner.

"We’ve pulled three strong teams out of the hat," he added. "You have to get on with it and make sure you cross all the Ts and dot all the Is like Brendan always does.

"They will look forward to playing these teams, who are all steeped in history. As a player and as a coach, it’s an absolute honour to go and represent your club and your city in a European competition. You have to soak it all up and go out there and enjoy it."