Claudio Ranieri: From falling to the Faroe Islands to stunning the sporting world

Football has witnessed an abundance of stunning stories over the years, from Greece winning Euro 2004, to Porto triumphing in the Champions League in the same year, however nothing compares to the 5,000/1 outsiders, Leicester City, winning the 2015/16 Premier League.

When Ranieri was surprisingly announced as Nigel Pearson's successor back in July, it's fair to say that the reaction to the news was a mixture of disappointment and bewilderment. The Italian was instantly installed as the frontrunner in the Sack Race, while Leicester were amongst the favourites for the dreaded drop down to the Championship.

The Foxes had only just survived relegation two months earlier, whereas Ranieri had recently come off a dreadful six match winless spell in charge of Greece, who themselves had suffered once of the biggest shocks of all time, losing to the 187th ranked Faroe Islands.

Ranieri may have managed some of the biggest clubs in Europe - Chelsea, Juventus, and Valencia to name a few - but in terms of silverware his CV was relatively lacking, having only hoisted a few domestic and minor European cups, while on four occasions he's missed out on winning the league in Italy (twice), England, and France.

Fast-forward to May 2016, at the age of 64 and after 30 long years in the managerial arena, Ranieri is not only responsible for conjuring up one of the greatest stories ever told, but for a plethora of sore heads in Leicestershire this morning. There simply aren't enough superlatives to describe this astonishing feat, however there are some cracking videos featuring some superb reactions to the staggering success...:

The players:

CHAMPIONS!!!! pic.twitter.com/pFtvo5XUNx

— Christian Fuchs (@FuchsOfficial) May 2, 2016

The fans:

Unreal!!! [Via @darrenrovell]pic.twitter.com/oAnvivh3xb

— FourFourTweet (@FourFourTweet) May 2, 2016

The former player:

I can't breathe.

— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 2, 2016

Rest of Europe:

Here is how Claudio Ranieri's Premier League title win was reported around Europe #lcfc pic.twitter.com/dZDsqkfyV5

— The Sack Race (@thesackrace) May 3, 2016