Leicester's Ranieri: 'We aren't ready' for Barcelona, Real Madrid

England legend Gary Lineker, an unabashed Leicester City fan and TV presenter, has cheekily probed Claudio Ranieri for his preferred opponent in the Champions League knockout stages - Barcelona or Real Madrid.

"Wait, Gary, we aren't ready!" The affable Italian replied.

The Foxes overcame FC Copenhagen in slender fashion Tuesday, Riyad Mahrez's deft flick enough to take all three points from the Danes. It leaves the club comfortably atop Group G with a perfect record.

It's a return that leaves Leicester's Premier League travails in the shade - despite playing five less matches, it's amassed one more point in continental clashes.

Related: Leicester tops Premier League points total with Champions League win

And if Leicester keeps its status above FC Copenhagen, FC Porto, and Club Brugge in the quartet, it would earn a meeting with a second-place side in the next round of competition. If so, a showpiece with the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid would occur at a later stage.

"In the first half we played so-so. It was difficult to go through the lines but in the second half was much better," Ranieri said of Tuesday's tilt, before stressing the need to address the drab domestic form.

"When you are playing in the Champions League your mind is more concentrated, you are more focused on the match. You lose something when you play in the league. But I hope we can change this soon. We cannot continue in this way. Our goal is to change our concentration in the Premier League."

With that in mind, Leicester now turns back to focusing on its Premier League defence, with a visit from Crystal Palace on Saturday.