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LONDON. — Claudio Ranieri says the “heart and the soul” of his players is the reason behind Leicester’s incredible English Premier League soccer title success. Tottenham’s failure to beat Chelsea on Monday night handed the Foxes their first top-flight title in their 132-year history, with two games remaining this season. The Leicester boss flew to Italy on Sunday to spend some time with his 96-year-old mother in Rome but revealed he made it back to England in time to see the moment Leicester became champions.

“I feel good, I feel good you can imagine,” Ranieri told Sky Sports News’s Rob Dorsett on arriving at Leicester’s training ground yesterday morning.

“I was home to watch the match. I had lunch with my mother then I came back with our plane and arrived at 7 o’clock and at 8 o’clock, I watched the match. The emotions were at the maximum.”

Asked what was the secret to Leicester’s remarkable campaign, which has seen them lose just three matches en route to claiming the league, the Italian said: “I don’t know the secret. I think the players, their heart and their soul won it.”

Asked what the first league title win of his 30-year managerial career means to him, Ranieri said: “It means the job is good. I am very, very happy now because if I won this title at the beginning of my career, maybe I would have forgotten it by now.

“No, now I am a very, very old man and I can feel much better.”

Ranieri said he had not spoken to his players yet, explaining he “will wait for them and we will enjoy it together”, before adding he is already thinking about a bright future for Leicester going forward.

“I say every time I am very happy for the fans, the chairman, and everybody, for all of the Leicester community.

“We want to improve. We want to improve a lot.”

Ranieri also hailed his players’ “determination” and “spirit” after their improbable English Premier League title triumph was confirmed on Monday night.

“I’m so proud,” Ranieri said, in comments published on the Leicester website. “I’m happy for my players, for the chairman, for the staff at Leicester City, all our fans and the Leicester community.” The 5 000-1 outsiders, who narrowly escaped relegation last season, were confirmed as champions for the first time in their 132-year history after second-place Tottenham Hotspur could only draw 2-2 at Chelsea.

It was a personal triumph for 64-year-old Ranieri, who had never previously won a top-flight title and whose appointment last year met with derision in some quarters.

“I never expected this when I arrived,” the Italian added.

“I’m a pragmatic man. I just wanted to win match after match and help my players to improve week after week. Never did I think too much about where it would take us.

“The players have been fantastic. Their focus, their determination, their spirit has made this possible.

“Every game they fight for each other and I love to see this in my players. They deserve to be champions.”

Ranieri called his Chelsea counterpart Guus Hiddink on Monday night to thank him for the draw with Tottenham Hotspur that gave his team the Premier League title. — Sky Sports.