Claudio Ranieri picks out positives from Barcelona defeat

Claudio Ranieri has declared himself "very pleased" with Leicester City's performance in their meeting with Barcelona on Wednesday evening.

The Foxes were outclassed by the Spanish champions in the first half at the Friends Arena, falling three goals behind and facing another heavy pre-season defeat.

Record signing Ahmed Musa led a second-half charge in Stockholm, however, scoring two goals to put City on the brink of a big scalp, before youngster Rafa Mujica put the win beyond doubt for Barca late on.

Ranieri believes that his side's summer preparations are going to plan, despite shipping eight goals in games against Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain over the past week.

"I'm very pleased with our performance. In the first half, we showed good discipline and tried to play our football, but at this moment of pre-season, it's not possible," he told the club's official website.

"I am very confident. It was good. We tried to do something good. Of course when you make little mistakes against so many champions, they can invent anything. I'm very happy with the discipline and momentum of pre-season.

"Of course, we didn't win, but we are in the right way. It was a very hard training session today because when Barcelona keep possession of the ball, you have to move very quickly to press and go on the counter-attack. For this reason, I'm very pleased."

Leicester are back in action on Sunday afternoon when facing Manchester United at Wembley in the Community Shield.