Leicester’s preseason fixtures are the perfect illustration of their crazy year

From Burton to Barcelona.

The Leicester City fairytale has added another chapter after the club were confirmed among the ten participants in this summer's International Champions Cup. The Foxes remain the odds-on favourites to win the Premier League as they hold a five-point lead over Tottenham with just seven games to play, an unprecedented rise that has captured the imagination of football fans around the world. Now, with qualification for next season's Champions League almost assured, Leicester have been afforded an early opportunity to mix it with Europe's elite with preseason fixtures against Celtic , Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. It's a far cry from last summer, when, fresh off their miraculous escape from relegation, the club faced quite different opposition. Friendlies against Lincoln, Mansfield, Burton Albion and Rotherham helped get Claudio Ranieri's side ready for their unexpected assault on the Premier League, before they wrapped up their warm-up campaign with the closest thing they had to a glamour tie against Birmingham City. Talk about going from the outhouse to the penthouse...