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		</div><p>2016 Premier League champions, Leicester City, had their Champions League dream ended as they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Atletico Madrid.</p>
<p>Jamie Vardy&#8217;s second-half goal secured a 1-1 second-leg draw but could not force a stunning comeback after Saul Niguez&#8217;s opener.</p>
<p>Atletico reached the semi-finals 2-1 on aggregate but only after they survived a scare following the Foxes&#8217; second-half bombardment at the King Power Stadium.</p>
<p>The visitors controlled the tie until Vardy struck and the hosts were reinvigorated as Vardy, Leonardo Ulloa and Riyad Mahrez all went close to adding a second.</p>
<p>Saul&#8217;s header proved crucial though as Diego Simeone&#8217;s side &#8211; beaten finalists in two of the last three years &#8211; squeezed into the semi-finals in search of their maiden Champions League crown.</p>
<p>And Leicester may now be without captain Wes Morgan &#8211; who returned after a six-game absence with a back injury &#8211; for the rest of the season after he limped out late with an apparent hamstring injury.</p>
<p>The hosts brought out the pyrotechnics and smoke before kick-off but Atletico remained unmoved and engineered a nerveless start where neither side fashioned an opening.</p>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/LeicesterVAtleticoMadridB18April17_large.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/LeicesterVAtleticoMadridB18April17_large.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="325" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-110803" /></a></p>
<p>Noticeably they looked to get players behind the ball when Leicester were in possession, condensing the space and refusing to offer the Foxes a high defensive line to exploit.</p>
<p>Strikers Yannick Carrasco and Antoine Griezmann showed flashes of a partnership but it was the hosts who created the first chance when Shinji Okazaki prodded Vardy&#8217;s cross high and wide after 20 minutes.</p>
<p>The Foxes were encouraged but the life was sucked out of the King Power Stadium after 26 minutes when Atletico took the lead on the night.</p>
<p>There had been nothing to suggest either side would break the deadlock but Atletico grabbed a crucial away goal when Filipe Luis crossed and Saul, having lost Marc Albrighton, produced a brilliant low header from 16 yards which dropped into the corner.</p>
<p>Leading 2-0 on aggregate, Atletico could relax knowing they had conceded just seven times in their previous 17 Champions League outings.</p>
<p>Mahrez volleyed straight at Jan Oblak as the Foxes tried to respond but the visitors began to offer the kind of European masterclass Leicester had not experienced this season.</p>
<p>Their second string lost 5-0 in Porto in December but this time they came up against a force in Atletico whose game management rendered the Foxes impotent in the first half.</p>
<p>Atletico looked like they could pick Leicester off at will as they kept the ball and almost killed the tie with Griezmann&#8217;s exceptional work rate underpinning their performance.</p>
<p>The France international was a class above and he almost created a second for Carrasco five minutes after half-time when he breezed past four defenders only for his cross to drift ahead of his strike partner.</p>
<p>Soon afterwards Ben Chilwell, on for Yohan Benalouane at the break, volleyed over before Leicester kept their hopes alive by levelling on the night after 61 minutes.</p>
<p>Again, as in Seville in the last 16, it was Vardy who came up with the goods when he rammed in from close range after Chilwell&#8217;s deflected drive bounced into his path.</p>
<p>Tails up, the fighting Foxes went for it and Ulloa&#8217;s goalbound drive was blocked as they pinned Atletico back.</p>
<p>For the first time Atletico were flustered and Vardy nearly grabbed a second in the 67th minute, only for Stefan Savic to throw a leg out at his snap shot.</p>
<p>A different game emerged from one Atletico had so much control over as Leicester rediscovered their belief and Mahrez bent a free-kick just over.</p>
<p>The Foxes relentlessly pressed but could not find another goal and, with Atletico content to rely on their away goal, the visitors offered little going forward.</p>
<p>It was ultimately enough as Craig Shakespeare&#8217;s Leicester gallantly bowed out.</p>
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