Claudio Ranieri season, Ranieri drew praise from the media for his good humour and inspirational leadership at Leicester, and for successfully building a winning mentality and a successful team environment, while also being singled out for his tactical awareness, and for frequently taking the pressure off his players. His title success led some in the media to dub him "King Claudio". On the last day of the season, Leicester played at Chelsea, who gave them the ceremonial guard of honour. Carlo Cudicini, an Italian goalkeeper who played for Chelsea under Ranieri, presented him with a special award on behalf of the club,
Claudio Ranieri the development of several youth players at the club, among them Claudio López, Gaizka Mendieta, Miguel Ángel Angulo, and Javier Farinós. Ranieri also signed some players who would become highly successful at Mestalla, among them goalkeeper Santiago Cañizares. Ranieri subsequently signed for Atlético Madrid in 1999; during his time as the club's manager, the team went into administration and struggled on the pitch. Nearing the brink of relegation, Ranieri resigned before he could be sacked by the Atlético chairman Jesús Gil, who was well known for sacking managers. Atlético would indeed go on to be relegated at the end of