Former Fiorentina favourite and ex-Italy international Giancarlo Antognoni has revealed all on Leicester City boss Claudio Ranieri in an exclusive interview with Calciomercato.com.

These were his opening comments on the Roman coach who incredibly led the Foxes to their first ever top-flight title in their history: “Ranieri’s achievement is a mixture of a fairytale and a miracle. These kind of things only happen once in a lifetime, especially in England, where the economic factor means that it is the same-old teams that win. But that also applies to the other top European leagues. The secret is the motivation that he brings to the squad, he is very ‘Italian’ in his approach, experienced and he knows a lot about the game.”

With Guardiola’s tiki-taka knocked out of the Champions League on Tuesday night, does Antognoni believe a more Italian approach to the game is back? “Simeone is another one who adopts an Italian playing style, and both him and Ranieri have developed this mentality. It isn’t an out-dated football style, but rather one based on determination, pressing and ensuring that you frustrate your opponents. Claudio often puts his faith in unknown players who then go on to impress, just as he did at Leicester.”

Having taken Leicester to the top of the English game, can he do it again? “It’s very hard to see him repeat the feat, but perhaps next season if Ranieri stays and with a few reinforcements Leicester might go far in the Champions League because they are an established side. Winning again is always the hardest task but the foundations are there.”

As an ex-Viola man, Antognoni had his say on Ranieri’s spell at the Tuscan club in the mid 1990s: “He was there for four years. That shows he did a very good job. In Italy it’s not common to have the same coach for four years.  He won the Italian Cup and Italian Super Cup as well as winning promotion from Serie B, which was a given. Florence is not an easy place to coach, but he did well regardless and he was one of the last coaches to bring trophies to the club.”

Ranieri has rebuilt his reputation after a disappointing spell with the Greek national team: “At times he has been also unlucky. Perhaps not at Fiorentina, but at Roma for instance. Ranieri’s ability is in launching young players. If we look at his time at Valencia, Monaco, Chelsea, he has always asked for a 2-3 year plan, and all in all, he has always achieved his goals.”