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European Round-Up: Jamie Vardy and Leicester finally show their old spirit against Sevilla

Leicester’s last hope clings on

Had Leicester been dismantled by Sevilla, then it would have been no surprise to see Claudio Ranieri lose his job. It would have been enormously harsh, but from an owner’s point of view, there would be little but sentiment to keep him on board. The club would have been out of all competitions, and a serious improvement is essential if they are to rescue their season and preserve their Premier League status.

READ MORE: Sevilla president unimpressed by ‘unjust’ winning margin

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READ MORE: Kasper Schmeichel hailed for heroics in Seville

It had appeared that Leicester were primed for another dispiriting defeat. Their heads went down when they conceded a penalty, and Kasper Schmeichel was fortunate to be given an easy save. But minutes later, they were behind, and then one became two. A third for Sevilla looked the most likely next outcome, but instead Jamie Vardy popped up to score a goal to keep them in the tie.

Leicester might well still go out of the Champions League, but tonight showed them, and their fans, something that has been missing for too long. Not just a Vardy goal, but the sight of a Leicester team that would fight until the last minute of the match. They have too often thrown away matches from losing positions this season, where before they would have overturned the deficits. Ranieri will stay on, but he must finally build on this.

Manchester United’s victory comes at a cost

Jose Mourinho has kept his side fighting on four fronts, but it has come at a cost. Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s hamstring injury did not look particularly serious – he returned to the stands for the rest of the match and was able to limp towards the tunnel at full time without any great struggle – but he will probably miss the League Cup final at the very least. Secondly, he lost Eric Bailly to suspension, with Bailly foolishly risking a second yellow, the first of which had already ensured he will miss the next Europa League game.

READ MORE: Manchester United duo Mkhitaryan and Carrick set to miss EFL Cup final

The next round is when there is a danger of finally facing a decent side. The Europa League is gamed to make sure that the most dangerous sides are added after the Champions League group stage.

A few months ago, these injuries would have been extremely worrying. Mkhitaryan was the only forward with zest at United, and Bailly was the only competent defender. However, since United embarked on their long, unbeaten Premier League run, the rest of the defence has improved under Mourinho. Not by enough, but significantly. Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as well, have started to lead the attack. They should squeeze past Southampton at the weekend, but it is not as simple as it might have been.

Guardiola is lucky to still have Aguero to call upon

Pep Guardiola has sold better players than Sergio Aguero before. At Barcelona, he was confident enough to get rid of both Deco and Ronaldinho. There appears to have been a rapprochement between Ronaldinho and Guardiola right now, but the contemporaneous stories suggest there was at least some open disagreement between the two of them. Once he’d got rid of him, he built perhaps the best team of all time, the one where Lionel Messi become a genius, supported by Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.

It appears that the latest victim of Guardiola’s pursuit of excellence will be Aguero, though he has had an unexpected return. Gabriel Jesus has broken his metatarsal, and he may be out of action for the rest of the season. It is not an injury that is easy to come back from, and certainly on the evidence of David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, it is not one which can be rushed.

Aguero has never played or acted like a gobs****. He has overcome his own injury problems, and dealt with the limitations of his own teammates with remarkable patience. While he appears to be second choice at City now, he has not mithered especially. Instead, he is doing what he always does, rescuing his side with vital goals.

Diego Simeone will leave Atletico Madrid a changed club

When Kevin Gameiro played for Paris Saint-Germain, he was the typical wide forward that you see across Europe. He wasn’t especially good at crossing, nor was he a threatening finisher. He’d just decided to be a footballer, and he didn’t look appalling up front, even if he rarely looked brilliant. Gameiro managed 23 in 79 games for PSG, which is testament to that side’s dominance more than anything else. He moved to Sevilla, and gradually improved, ending his third season with 29 goals. He had made himself into a real football player.

Gameiro moved to Atletico Madrid this season, and while he has not been as consistent, he has been what Diego Simeone demands of his players – to be part of a team. Simeone was able to call on Antoine Griezmann and Saul Niguez, who scored a brilliant goal of his own, and Fernando Torres was the other scorer.

Atletico Madrid have been somewhat ignored this season, as Real pull away and Barcelona implode, but they are still there, unsurprisingly impressive, efficient and organised. Simeone will probably leave Madrid at the end of the season, and his current side, built on a budget, might soon fall apart. Simeone deserves credit for guiding his side into the knockout stages again, and for making it no longer weird to watch this club actually do well.

Juventus fly under the radar

In some respects, it’s easy to forget about Juventus these days. They are quietly excellent at Serie A, and their opponents can’t organise themselves to provide serious competition for longer than a few months each season. But every summer, they sell a player for serious money, pick up some bargains, and take the best of Serie A’s other players to maintain their dominance.

Because they have come close to Champions League success for a few seasons, but each time been turned away as other teams triumph instead, we can assume that they won’t translate Italian success into European victory. There was nothing in their victory against Porto that suggests this will change soon. They were patient, they were clever, and they scored with both of their first two substitutes, reflecting Max Allegri’s tactical nous. But they still don’t come close to Real Madrid.