Thursday 15 September 2016 11:29, UK
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri hailed his fantastic Foxes after a 3-0 rout of Club Brugge marked a fairy-tale Champions League debut.
The Premier League champions were assured and composed and the scoreline reflected just how easy it was for them in the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday.
They were beaten 4-1 by Liverpool on Saturday and have lost twice in the league this season, but victory in Belgium left Ranieri delighted.
"It was important to show the reaction after the Liverpool defeat," the manager said. "I said we cannot think about the Champions League, it's an experience for us and we hope to go through the group and play again.
"If we don't achieve the first two positions, we'll go in the Europa League, that's our desire to continue in Europe although the Champions League is better.
"Now we play the first match, there are another five. We played our style. They tried to find a right solution, but it was very difficult. It was good for us to start our story with a victory."
Albrighton fired in after Brugge made a mess of dealing with Luis Hernandez's long throw and Mahrez scored a delightful free-kick after 29 minutes. The winger completed the rout in the second half from the spot after Jamie Vardy was brought down by goalkeeper Ludovic Butelle in the area.
He had missed three of his last four penalties and Ranieri admitted he wanted debutant Islam Slimani to take this one after his club-record move from Sporting Lisbon.
"If he doesn't score, I take the neck and I crush the neck," he joked. "He took the responsibility.
"I tried to say Slimani because he is a penalty scorer, but he [Mahrez] has the personality to choose. He was a lucky man.
"Maybe the music woke him up. Maybe he is very tired of listening to dilly-ding, dilly-dong and prefers the Champions League music! He was very good."
Brugge never looked like recovering from Albrighton's opener, but they blew their best chance before the winger netted when Jose Izquierdo shot wide when clean through.
Porto and Copenhagen's 1-1 draw also means the Foxes top Group G after the opening round of fixtures but Ranieri dismissed suggestions Leicester found their debut in the competition comfortable.
He added: "It was never easy, if they score at the beginning, it changes the face of the match. Against Brugge, there was a team who wanted to react after the bad defeat and it was difficult for everyone.
"It's a big test against everyone because with Rostov, we are the only two teams never to play in the Champions League. It's difficult to play against teams with very good experience. It's not easy but it's okay.
"We have started well and it gives us confidence and now we have to stay calm and put our minds to the next match on Saturday (against Burnley)."
