The weariest leicester players collapsed to the ground as their teammates received the consoling embraces of their rivals from Atletico Madrid.
For the unlikeliest of Premier league champions, England's last remaining representatives in the Champions league quarterfinals, the journey ended in a 1-1 draw Tuesday night.
It was the end not only of leicester's first foray in European soccer's elite competition, but also the incredible ascent of the modest central England club that had gatecrashed the soccer hierarchy in a run that captured global attention.
leicester didn't go out meekly - that wouldn't be the style of the team that seized the Premier league title at pre-season odds of 5,000-1 for the first time last May with a 10-point advantage. Instead, the quarterfinal second leg provided a snapshot of the kind of resolve that stirred a remarkable chapter in the history of leicester City. Outplayed in the first half, allowing Saul Niguez space to score unmarked with a header, leicester went back to the direct style that so unsettled opponents in its title-winning campaign. Jamie Vardy, the striker signed from a non-league club five years ago, powered in an equalizer just after the hour-mark.
In an exhilarating conclusion at the King Power Stadium, leicester harried Atletico but was left frustrated as Diego Simeone's well-drilled defense got bodies in the way of shots. The 1-1 draw left leicester exiting the Champions league with a 2-1 aggregate loss to a team that has contested two of the last three finals.
"We have to be proud of ourselves, we gave our all," said captain Wes Morgan, who returned for a month-long absence. "In the second half, we threw everything we had at the goal. They had a few blocks on the line."