At this point, the only way you’re not pulling for Leicester City to win the 2015-16 Premier League is if you’re a fan of Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester City. (Alternate explanation: you hate fun.)
[ FOLLOW: All of PST’s PL coverage ]
When the Foxes won away to Watford on Saturday, they went five points clear of second-place Tottenham, eight points ahead of Arsenal and remained 10 points clear of Man City. What Claudio Ranieri‘s Leicester has done through 29 games is well beyond “Disney wouldn’t even make a feel-good movie about this because it’s simply too unbelievable” territory.
To call it “special” would be a criminal injustice, but we’ll excuse Ranieri for downplaying his side’s unlikely standing because they’ve got a PL title to win — quotes from the BBC:
“We are running for something special.”
…
“Every match in the Premier League is a battle. Five points is nothing.”
…
The fans dream and we work, which is a good combination. I said to my players, ‘every game is a final’.
“We want to continue to fight and now our mind is on Newcastle, which is another tough match at home.”
What Mr. Ranieri meant is, “Holy moly, can you believe this stuff? We, Leicester freaking City, have a commanding lead in the PL title race with nine games to go. I can’t believe the words that are coming out of my own mouth.”
[ MORE: Saturday’s PL roundup — Spurs, Arsenal draw in epic derby ]
I’ll say this: if Leicester hold on and win the title, the documentaries and feature-length films and oral histories and folk tales that are produced over the next few years will be truly remarkable. By the end of the post-mortem cycle, we’ll have all been convinced they won all 38 games against against 19 teams made up exclusively of 11 Lionel Messi’s and Cristiano Ronaldo’s.
