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Former Premier League champions Leicester were relegated to the third tier for only the second time in their history after a 2-2 draw against Hull on Tuesday.

Gary Rowett’s side needed a victory at the King Power Stadium to keep alive their slender hopes of avoiding relegation.

But the Foxes were denied by Oli McBurnie’s second-half equaliser, which condemned them to League One just 10 years after they were crowned English champions in a fairytale triumph.

Liam Millar put Hull ahead in the 18th minute before Leicester equalised through James Justin’s 52nd-minute penalty.

Luke Thomas put Leicester ahead two minutes later, but McBurnie extinguished their dreams of a great escape with his 63rd-minute leveller.

Second-bottom Leicester are seven points from safety with just two games left.
Leicester will play in the third tier for the first time since 2008-09 following an astonishing decline over the last five years.

“We have to learn. I think the club have to accept this is the horrible part of the journey of a football club,” Rowett said.
“This club won the Premier League not too many moons ago. That was an incredible high at the time for the fans, for everyone associated with the club.

“I think everyone saw that as an amazing achievement. I think we can be equally as disappointed with how poor this moment is.”

It is a third relegation in four seasons for Leicester, who dropped out of the Premier League in 2023 and 2025.
After Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and company defied 5,000-1 odds by winning the Premier League in 2016, Leicester reached the Champions League quarter-finals the next season and won the FA Cup in 2021.
But Leicester’s golden era is a distant memory as they face the unpalatable prospect of playing the likes of Bromley, Mansfield and Wycombe next season.

“The bigger picture is you don’t get relegated over three or four games, you get relegated over a season,” Rowett said.

“The club has to rise again but it has to learn its lessons because it’s certainly been a season of an awful lot of regret.”

Crashing out of the Premier League in limp fashion three years ago should have been a wake-up call for Leicester’s Thai owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and much-maligned sporting director Jon Rudkin.

But Leicester’s hierarchy were painfully slow to address numerous flaws on the pitch, while the club’s ruinous finances have cost them with a six-point deduction this season for breaching spending rules.

Vardy’s departure at the end of last season severed the last tie with the title-winning squad.
Marti Cifuentes, hired to lead a promotion push, struggled to rebuild an unbalanced and inexperienced squad before his sacking in January.

Interim boss Andy King was unable to turn the tide and relegation fears began to mount after Leicester blew a 3-0 half-time lead in a dismal 4-3 defeat against Southampton.

By the time Rowett was hired in February, the Foxes were two points from safety and the former Leicester defender has mustered only one win from his 12 matches since.
Boardroom blunders have been the defining influence on Leicester’s plummet towards League One.
Claudio Ranieri, architect of their title-winning campaign, was sacked just months after lifting the trophy, with Craig Shakespeare and then Claude Puel proving inadequate replacements.

Brendan Rodgers, who masterminded the club’s FA Cup triumph and two fifth-placed finishes in the Premier League, was dismissed as relegation beckoned in 2023.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Coventry clinched the Championship title with a 5-1 rout of Portsmouth.

Frank Lampard’s side had sealed promotion back to the top flight after a 25-year absence with a draw at Blackburn on Friday.

Millwall climbed to second place with a 3-1 win at Stoke, while fourth-placed Southampton’s bid for automatic promotion was dented by a 2-2 draw against Bristol City.

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Bayern Munich striker, Harry Kane, is currently topping the chart for the European top scorers so far across various domestic leagues following the weekend matches.

The England international leads the standings with 32 goals in 27 matches for Bayern Munich after scoring in the 4-2 win against VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.

Behind Kane is Benfica’s Luis Suarez, who holds second place with 24 goals, while Kylian Mbappe remains third with 23 goals for Real Madrid.

Ayase Ueda is behind Mbappe and 23 goals for Feyenoord, while Manchester City striker Erling Haaland climbs to fifth place with 23 goals after scoring the winner for the Cityzens against Arsenal.

Paul Onuachu follows with 22 goals for Trabzonspor, while Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis, Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi and Brentford’s Igor Thiago each register 21 goals.

Estoril Praia’s Yanis Begraoui completes the top 10 with 19 goals, as European top scorers continue to promise intense competition in the coming weeks.

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Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior scored as Real Madrid beat Alaves 2-1 on Tuesday to cling on to their slim hopes of catching Barcelona in La Liga.

Mbappe struck his league-leading 24th goal, but first since early February, with a deflected shot on the half hour at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Vinicius lashed in a second from distance early in the second half, which proved crucial as Alaves pulled a goal back in stoppage time through Toni Martinez.

The victory ended a two-match winless run in La Liga for Madrid and moved them back to within six points of leaders Barcelona, who host Celta Vigo on Wednesday.

“We have six matches coming up, the next one in three days. The aim is to win those matches – that’s the goal we’ve set ourselves as a team,” said Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, whose position is under increasing scrutiny.

“I don’t care much about what’s at stake for me personally. What matters to me is what’s at stake for Real Madrid.”

Madrid are staring down the barrel of a second consecutive season without a major trophy following last week’s Champions League quarter-final exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.

Mbappe scored in both legs of that 6-4 aggregate defeat but a barren patch in La Liga, in part because of a knee injury, coincided with arch-rivals Barcelona streaking clear at the top.

Madrid faced early pressure from relegation-threatened Alaves, who were unbeaten in four matches.

Angel Perez broke in behind the home defence before strangely opting to pass instead of shooting with just Andriy Lunin blocking his path to goal. Martinez then tested the Real ‘keeper after finding a pocket of space.

Mbappe put Madrid ahead when his effort from just outside the box clipped a defender and wrong-footed Antonio Sivera.

The France captain then had an attempt beaten away by Sivera and Eder Militao clipped the crossbar, injuring himself in the process and having to go off before the break.

Martinez nearly levelled for Alaves when he poked a cross against the post, with his follow-up strike clawed out by Lunin.

Vinicius hammered in from 25 yards to give Madrid breathing space, and Brahim Diaz was denied by a brilliant headed clearance off the goalline.

Alaves continued to toil away as Victor Parada’s diving header hit the upright. Martinez netted a consolation with an inventive flick in stoppage time before loud jeers greeted the final whistle in Madrid.

Elsewhere, Real Betis came from behind to triumph 3-2 at Girona as Rodrigo Riquelme bagged the winner 10 minutes from time.

Gorka Guruzeta’s first-half goal lifted Athletic Bilbao to a 1-0 home win over Osasuna, while Mallorca and Valencia drew 1-1.