Leicester look to Europa Conference League for salvation in season of self-destruction

If Brendan Rodgers leaves Leicester City, he probably will not be offered a post as an ambassador for Europe’s newest tournament. “I’ve got to be honest, I don’t even know what the competition is,” he said after Leicester dropped into the Europa Conference League.

He has had two months to find out. As Leicester have exited the League Cup and the FA Cup in the intervening period, while only winning two of seven Premier League matches, it assumes a greater importance. Leicester’s chances of rescuing a season gone wrong could depend on the Europa Conference League. Their only plausible route back into the Europa League flows through such footballing backwaters.

It can nevertheless claim to be the most representative competition of the continent as a whole. Red Bull Salzburg are the most easterly side left in the Champions League. The Conference League contains the Azeris of Qarabag, plus Maccabi Tel Aviv, Fenerbahce, PAOK Salonika, Partizan Belgrade and Sparta and Slavia Prague. The Champions League has no Scandinavian representatives. The Conference League has three from Denmark alone.

On Thursday Leicester host the lowliest, fifth-placed Randers, who will be playing their first game in any European knockout stages. Rodgers’ side are overwhelming favourites: indeed, only Roma are more favoured to lift the trophy.

Yet awarding them that status seems to ignore the reality they were among the favourites to win the Europa League before only coming third in their pool and can appear at odds with Leicester’s self-destructive streak.

They are a team with an unfortunate tendency to concede late goals and from set-pieces, two damaging trends which coincided against West Ham on Sunday.

Goals in the last 10 minutes have cost them