When Diego Simeone shakes hands with Craig Shakespeare next Wednesday the Atletico Madrid coach will have little idea about his opponent. In fairness, even in England few do. When your club reaches the last eight of the Champions League the manager has usually excelled in the competition and won domestic honors. Leicester City manager Shakespeare is best known for his surname.
Before he took over from Claudio Ranieri, Shakespeare's managerial career had comprised one match as West Bromwich's caretaker manager in 2006, beating Crystal Palace 2-0 away. His CV looks significantly different now.
Shakey, as he is inevitably called (it is unlikely his namesake, William, shared the nickname), became the first British manager to win his first five league games in charge when Leicester defeated Sunderland on Tuesday. The Foxes have won all six league and cup matches since Shakespeare was appointed manager until the end of the season. Less than two months ago, Leicester and basement club Sunderland were separated by two points, but by full-time on Tuesday that gap was 16. Shakespeare was also part of Sam Allardyce's England coaching team, with the pair winning their only match, in Slovakia. He refers to himself as the Lucky One, but Shakespeare obviously has the midas touch.