The 20-21 Premier League season has yet again seen the promising Brendan Rodger side slip out at the very last match of the season for the second time in a row following a 4-2 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Many have seen it as the follow-up of the previous season as the Foxes failed to book themselves a spot in the Champions League for the second time in a row despite holding the top four place more than any other team in the league for most of the season. The East Midlands side has held themselves in the top four race for a staggering 242 days before losing their footing at the very last game of the season where they needed a win against Tottenham Hotspur to see it off.
This Leicester team looked better than the last campaign's team in every single aspect, with Vardy at his brilliant best, along with Maddison, Ndidi, and Tielemans forging an incredible midfield for the team. This Leicester City team also found solidity in the back with the signing of Wesley Fofana and a rejuvenated Caglar Söyüncü, while also being awed by the performance of James Justin on the flanks.
It's hard to point out where it went wrong for the side who were going in on full throttle and thrashing every Premier League side they faced, claiming a stronghold in the top four positions. Many fans blame it on the FA cup final win against Chelsea that led to complacency in the players in the very late stage of the season.
The incredible Leicester side saw huge success with the 4231 formation which they started with around 12 occasions in the league, only losing twice and winning 7 times. But unfortunate long-term injuries of James Justin and Harvey Barnes and some frequent injuries of Jonny Evans throughout the season forced Brendan Rodgers to tweak his team's formation which saw them lose 10 matches.
The foxes had to face a late hiccup when they lost to mid-table side Newcastle 2-4 which gave Chelsea the chance to capitalize on it and close the gap between the two teams. And the next faceoff among the two teams after the FA cup final saw the Blues take their revenge and cruise into the 4th spot of the league.
With the last matchday approaching, Leicester had to win their final game against a Spurs side led by young manager Ryan Mason and hope for a Chelsea loss for a last moment redemption.
The last matchday saw some dramatic turns of events when Leicester found themselves 2-1 up against Spurs in King Power Stadium, much to the credit of the cunningness of Jamie Vardy. And on the other end of Midlands, Chelsea were hit hard on the first half by an off-putting goal from Bertrand Traore and a second-half penalty from Anwar El Ghazi meant that Leicester could still keep dreaming about the Champions League for next season.
With Chelsea trailing Aston Villa and Leicester ahead, they were in pole position to finish in the Champions League places, but a late flurry from Tottenham condemned the Foxes to the Europa League. The second equalizer was a bizarre moment as a Heung-Min Son corner deflected off Kasper Schmeichel's hand around the 76th minute and into the back of the net. Leicester, already losing Fofana through an injury were struggling defensively in front of Spurs counter-attacks while also charging forward for that match-winning goal but came out short.
A Gareth Bale double (87, 90+6) then fired Tottenham into seventh, securing their own place in the Europa Conference League next season. They have also finished a point and place above Arsenal.
Brendan Rodger had nothing left to do but swallow the bitter pill as he had to see his side fall out of UCL position despite being in the race for most of the season, finishing just a point behind Chelsea in the 5th position and looking forward to playing the Europa League next season.
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