Leicester City's miracle has not yet run out even as Sevilla wins 2-1 in Champions League

In hushed tones we still speak of the miracle of Leicester City.

For it is not yet over.

Not quite yet.

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Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes are putting together the worst title defense in the Premier League era. And they could yet become the first club since 1938 to be relegated as champions. This is well established.

But if there is anything redeeming about the season in which Leicester crashed violently back to earth from cloud nine in the league, it is its Champions League campaign. The Foxes cruised through the group stage, winning four and tying one of six in spite of scoring just seven goals and conceding six. But the round of 16 would be a challenge of an entirely different magnitude.

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On Wednesday, Leicester traveled to the back-to-back-to-back Europa League champions Sevilla. Yet Leicester somehow managed this tall task with a very workable 2-1 away loss that ensures that a simple 1-0 home win in three weeks sees the Foxes through to a once-unimaginable quarterfinal. Despite the fact that for most of the game, the flow of traffic traveled almost exclusively in the direction of Leicester’s goal.

Sevilla, without the still-suspended manager Jorge Sampaoli on the sideline, fielded an odd 3-3-2-2 formation that stumped an opposition that was overmatched to begin with. Leicester’s nerves were most apparent when Christian Fuchs nearly beat his own goalkeeper with a header back to him early on. Then, in the 13th minute, captain Wes Morgan scythed through Joaquin Correa in the box. But the Argentine missed his own penalty, putting it far too close to goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

Schmeichel again came up with a big save 10 minutes later, denying Pablo Sarabia’s low shot to his left. But in the 25th minute, Sarabia raced up to a deep Sergio Escudero cross and thumped his header in off the far post to make it 1-0.

Stevan Jovetic’s long shot then took a wicked deflection off Robert Huth, but Schmeichel managed to recover just in time to punch it away. And then Schmeichel, in straight hero mode at this point, parried Correa’s long shot.

One Leicester fan summed up his team’s first-half performance thusly:

After the break, it seemed like the second half would follow the same script. First, Vitolo clanked a tight-angled finish off the near post.

And then Correa made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute. Jovetic held the ball deep in the box, occupying both Huth and Morgan, and laid off for the onrushing Correa, who made amends for his penalty miss.

And that looked like it would be the end of Leicester’s year-and-a-half run of gate-crashing soccer’s elite.

But then Leicester did as Leicester has done throughout this curious run alongside clubs far bigger and better. Danny Drinkwater broke through and delivered a ball right onto Jamie Vardy’s reliable right foot. 2-1.

The gap was now just one goal. And Leicester had an invaluable away goal to its name, no less.

That startled Sevilla and opened up the game. The home team staged an offensive and made a few baseless claims for a penalty. Adil Rami got the closest to a third goal, thumping a header off the bar from a corner in the 88th minute. But Sevilla, masters of the knockout-round format, would not score again.

It was a very Leicester result. Little possession, few chances, but a useful outcome.

Leicester City is still alive. And so is its dream. Somehow.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.

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