Kaspar Schmeichel: Leicester goalkeeper hailed as the best in Europe by Claudio Ranieri after Dane earns Foxes a point in Copenhagen
Schmeichel made a brilliant late save to deny international team-mate Andreas Cornelius
CLAUDIO Ranieri claimed he has the best goalkeeper in Europe after Kasper Schmeichel broke Copenhagen’s hearts for the second time in a fortnight.
Leicester have one foot in the last-16 after Schmeichel defied his international team-mate Andreas Cornelius in the dying seconds to claw out the striker’s netbound header.
Schmeichel’s dramatic save mirrored the sensational stop he made against Cornelius at the King Power two weeks ago and ensured he clocked up his FOURTH Champions’ League clean sheet.
No ‘keeper has ever managed six straight Champions’ League group games without conceding a goal but Schmeichel is now just 180 minutes from making history.
Asked if he had seen a better goalkeeper anywhere in Europe, Ranieri replied: “It's difficult for me to say he is the best goalkeeper, because I love my players and it's difficult for me to say no.
“I always say yes, yes, yes. My players ARE the best!
"It was a very good save, if they score they win the match.
"Kasper is fantastic, I have coached a lot of big champions in goal and Kasper is one of these. He was the match-winner.
“He has had two perfect seasons now. This is my second year and Kasper has always made good performances.
“I am always very calm when Kasper is in goal. He is strong, assured and commands the defensive line. He is a very good goalkeeper.
“We have another clean sheet and I am very satisfied."
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The hard-earned point point kept Ranieri and his Foxes top of Group G, three points clear of Porto on 10 points.
Now they know a similar result at home to rock-bottom Brugge in three weeks’ time will be enough.
Ranieri said: “Ten points is good but not enough. Porto are close behind us.
“We have our destiny in our hands. I’m satisfied — it’s a good point against a good team away from home.
“It was better from us in the second half but we just couldn’t make the last pass.
“They put in a lot of crosses that we did well to stop and there were some fantastic duels in the air.”
Copenhagen boss Stale Solbakken groaned: “Kasper has made two god saves in the dying moments of both games. He is one of the main reasons they won the league last season.”
Asked if he thought it was ironic the most uinfluential Dane on the park belonged to Leicester, Solbakken answered: “I am Norwegian, not Danish, so I can live with that.
“We were close and we can’t set the bar much higher than that. They only had two chances in both games but we couldn’t find a way through.”
Leicester became the first side to keep four clean sheets in their first four Champions League games at a ground where Copenhagen hadn’t lost for 31 matches.
“The pitch was horrible, for us and for them,” said Ranieri. “We slipped a lot and it was very dangerous. Fortunately everything is ok. Another clean sheet and very satisfied.”