Martinez: Leicester a ‘fairy tale’

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has heaped praise on Leicester and Claudio Ranieri, calling their title-winning story a modern day “fairy tale” and the greatest in the history of the Premier League.

Everton travel to the new champions on Saturday Night Football and the Foxes players will be presented with the Premier League trophy in front of their supporters at the King Power stadium after the game.

Martinez has come in for criticism from his own fans in recent weeks following a disappointing league campaign but took time to acknowledge Leicester’s achievement and said he did not expect any midweek celebrations to play a part in the game at the weekend.

“For me, they have been deserved winners of the Premier League this season in a very competitive league and clearly they will be playing with that swagger,” he said. “We will congratulate them and, from that point on, we will focus on trying to be a team that can perform against them.

“They have been a real inspiration in terms of a winning team, and not just in football, throughout sport. To have that intensity and that drive and, against all odds, it has been the real fairy tale of football and sport in general in the modern game.

“From our point of view, we are facing a team who have been playing all season with incredible intensity and tempo. We know we will be facing a team that …

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