Thursday 8 December 2016 18:09, UK
Claudio Ranieri insists he does not regret making 10 changes to his Leicester side despite a record 5-0 defeat against Porto in their final Champions League Group G encounter.
With top spot in the group already guaranteed, Ranieri gave some of his fringe players a chance to impress in the Estadio do Dragao but it backfired as the Foxes were thrashed - the scoreline being the biggest margin of defeat by an English side in Champions League and European Cup history.
Andre Silva scored twice while Jesus Corona, Yacine Brahimi and Diogo Jota all netted as the Foxes were dismantled, but Ranieri is adamant he'd do it all over again.
"I have no regrets because I wanted to give an opportunity to all my players. If I needed to win or draw, I would bring all my first team to fight," Ranieri said.
"But when you know there is another difficult match Saturday against Manchester City and you are top of the group, why not give a chance to players who say 'why don't I play? We are losing in the Premier League, give me a chance'.
"For this reason, I give a chance to them. That's it. Then, the result is my fault but they missed a great chance."
Porto needed to secure victory to ensure their own progression to the last 16, and it was all too easy, much to Ranieri's frustration.
"We knew it was a difficult match tonight but I wanted to give a great chance to our players but it was too easy for Porto. I am very, very sad," Ranieri added. "Now I have a very clear idea about everybody, we have to stay together and think about the Premier League.
"OK we can lose but not in this way. My players lost a very great chance to show me their best."
