By Stefan Dagher

Whilst Leicester City’s Premier League form this season may leave something to be desired, they’ve had an impressive start to their debut European campaign. How do the champions fare against other English clubs when they first dipped their toes into the waters of Europe’s premier competition? We took a look back at some of those debut attempts starting with the foxes.

Leicester City

Embed from Getty Images

Leicester City, the unlikely champions of England last season, have continued their fairy tale with a remarkable Champions League debut with four convincing group stage wins. They share a group with Belgian champions Club Brugge KV, Danish champions FC København and FC Porto who finished 3rd in Portugal last season. It has been the perfect start for them. With their victory against København they became the first English team to win their first three games in the competition. Now, after beating Club Brugge on their return fixture at The King Power Stadium, they have secured their place in the last 16. A historic achievement for the club.

Manchester United

Embed from Getty Images

Manchester United, the most successful English team in the country with 20 titles in total, have been playing in the Champions League for many years now. They were one of the teams that were part of the first ever European Cup in 1956. At the time – unlike now, there was no group stage. There was the first round, the last 16, quarter finals, semi-finals and the final. Manchester United beat RSC Anderlecht in the first round to go through to the last 16. They ended up losing 2-0 to future winners Real Madrid in the semi-final.

Nottingham Forest

Embed from Getty Images

Nottingham Forest, now playing in the championship, used to be considered as one of the biggest clubs in the world in the late 70s – winning the European cup twice in a row in 1978 and 1979. In their first year in Europe, they faced Liverpool, who won the European Cup the year before. Against the odds they beat them 2-0 in the first round. They went all the way to the final and beat Swedish side Malmo to win the European Cup.

Liverpool

Embed from Getty Images

Liverpool have won the European Cup more than any other English club – winning it five times. They are the second most successful team in the country with 18 titles. Liverpool first entry in this competition was in 1964. Similar to rivals Manchester United, they had a good campaign in their first appearance in the competition reaching the semi-final. They faced Icelandic team KR Reykjavik in the first round and then beat Anderlecht in the last 16, before beating FC Köln in the quarter finals. Their run was stopped by eventual winners Inter Milan in the semi-finals where they lost 4-3 on aggregate.

Arsenal

Embed from Getty Images

Despite being short of European trophies, Arsenal are still considered by many as a successful club. They have won 40 domestic trophies and two European trophies, which include 13 First Division Premier League titles and a record 12 FA Cups. Arsenal hold the record of longest unbeaten streak of 49 matches in the Premier League. Arsenal’s first entry came in 1971. They faced Norwegian champions Strømsgodset in the first round. They managed to qualify for the quarter finals after beating Swiss team Grasshoppers but lost in the quarters to future champions Ajax.