Four wins in a row for Leicester
Marc Fox
Leicester City's 2-0 Champions League win over Sevilla was just the latest remarkable turnaround in a list that now stretches back two years and the beginning of their Great Escape of 2015.
After the 2-1 loss to the three-times Europa League winners in the first leg, few of Leicester's travelling fans would have left Seville confident of overturning that one-goal deficit after a schooling in possession football. Let's be honest, only the most optimistic would have been expecting to be looking forward to a quarter-final against Atletico Madrid.
But the Leicester City of the past two seasons have made a habit of defying expectations.
In many ways, escaping relegation from the Premier League two seasons ago was a feat almost as expectation-defying as their EPL triumph a year later.
Almost two years to the day, the Foxes were rooted to the foot of the league after losing 4-3 to Tottenham. Most fans had inwardly accepted another relegation from the top flight.
That loss sparked an unprecedented return of 22 points from the remaining nine matches, helping Leicester avoid the drop.
Then, last season, under Italian Claudio Ranieri, Leicester led the Premier League from the opening stages to claim the club's only title in its 133-year history.
And now the team are at again, with four straight wins under new boss Craig Shakespeare, who replaced Ranieri on 23 February, days after the first leg Champions League defeat to Sevilla.
The one individual who has played a role in all three of Leicester's turnarounds over the past 24 months has been Shakespeare, former assistant to both Nigel Pearson and Ranieri.
The 53-year-old has not only managed to outlast both Pearson and Ranieri, but his clarity of thought, strong work ethic and tactical precision have won over Leicesters Thai owners, who have rewarded him for the club's latest sudden upturn in fortunes with a contact until the end of the current campaign.
The club's owners have shown a ruthless streak where necessary (although not to the extent of their East Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest and Derby County who meet this weekend with new managers at the helm of both clubs for the fifth successive time).
They showed Pearson the door despite masterminding the Great Escape and let Ranieri leave just nine months into the club's title defence, a decision former Leicester City and England striker Gary Lineker described as "inexplicable, unforgivable and gut-wrenchingly sad".
Ranieri was widely praised - and rightfully so - for managing last season's title run-in and ultimate triumph with public diplomacy and carefully considered media briefings. His cool, unflappable demeanour was exactly what was needed this time last year.
But it was Shakespeare who contributed heavily to the side's tactical make-up ahead of games. Crucially, he drilled the players on the training field during the week and he prepared tailored reports on the next opponent.
His coaching prowess even led to a brief stint with the England national team under Sam Allardyce earlier this season.
Indeed, while Shakespeare should accept his role in the failings of the side throughout their title defence, he has managed to retain the trust of the players in addition to the board.
Leicester's underperforming squad has received wide condemnation for what has been perceived as letting down Ranieri with a series of lacklustre displays.
Former Swansea City coach Bob Bradley suggests that the players, so heralded in the wake of their Premier League title, simply didn't have enough capability within the group, and weren't ultimately pulling for the manager.
"Certainly you would suspect that when things weren't going as well this year, that there wasn't enough inside that group to find the solutions," the American told Sportsweek last month.
"That it's easier in some cases to point the finger.
"I can't say for sure but you would suspect that somewhere within the whole club, when things started going against them, they weren't as strong or as committed as they needed to be."
Or as motivated? Or as tactically prepared?
It's easy to point the finger at their former coach, dubbed "tinkerman" during his Chelsea reign because of his insistence on selecting different sides in consecutive matches.
But Shakespeare has shown that a return to the basics of last season, namely a high pressing/low possession approach, has paid dividends thus far.
The parallels with this time last season are even starting to be impossible to ignore as we look ahead to that mouth-watering match-up against Atletico next month.
However, this time around, some the world's superpowers like Real Madrid and Juventus have been tripping over themselves to mark little Leicester down as the team to avoid in the quarter-finals.
No-one's underestimating Leicester City any longer.
But only time with tell if the players and Shakespeare can mastermind a third improbable outcome in as many seasons.