Claudio Ranieri’s mother reveals what the Leicester City manager said at that famous lunch, why she cried with joy and Roma “disrespected him.”
While the entire team was gathered at Jamie Vardy’s house to watch Chelsea v Tottenham on Monday, the 2-2 draw that handed Leicester the Premier League title, Ranieri flew to Rome for lunch with his 96-year-old mother Renata.
“We had some steak with chicory. Before leaving, he ate strawberries with lemon and sugar,” she told La Repubblica.
Claudio Ranieri’s mother reveals what the Leicester City manager said at that famous lunch, why she cried with joy and Roma “disrespected him.”
While the entire team was gathered at Jamie Vardy’s house to watch Chelsea v Tottenham on Monday, the 2-2 draw that handed Leicester the Premier League title, Ranieri flew to Rome for lunch with his 96-year-old mother Renata.
“We had some steak with chicory. Before leaving, he ate strawberries with lemon and sugar,” she told La Repubblica.
“My son has to keep himself in shape, so he rarely asks for a starter. He talked about Leicester a bit, but wanted to relax. He was with me for two hours, then said the President of his team had organised a plane to take him back to England.
“We said goodbye and he went towards the Ciampino airport.”
Not only did Ranieri watch the Stamford Bridge game at home in Leicester, but Renata was viewing it too in Rome.
“At the final whistle I burst into tears. I only heard from Claudio later because first my grandchildren and my son’s cousins called. He was so happy. We all are. Now we can finally relax.
“I watched every game, it was a continual series of emotions. He calls me every evening and kept me up to date on everything. This morning I bought the sports papers and saw the headlines. It was satisfying.
“I have to admit, I did not expect him to win with Leicester. He found these players… they are good lads. He told me they always trained as real professionals.
“Naturally it wasn’t a big squad full of champions. I know that he’s happy in England, they always treated him perfectly. He rediscovered himself there.
“In my view, at Roma he was not treated with respect. In the family we are all Giallorossi fans, so when Claudio was there we were also guests at Trigoria (training ground).
“We were disappointed with the way things ended. Look, he won his own Scudetto here too, because he went really close, but he arrived after the season had already started. Now he’s ‘King of England,’ imagine that.”
Leicester City are in the Champions League next season, so will Ranieri target another immense upset?
“I don’t know, we’ll see what happens. I hope it’ll go well. But it’s not as if he’s with Juventus, a side with certain expectations.
“For now we are happy as we are. I thank everyone around the world for all the compliments.”