Claudio Ranieri says his emotions were at “the maximum level” after Leicester were crowned Barclays Premier League champions.
Tottenham’s 2-2 draw at Chelsea ensured the Foxes completed one of the greatest shocks in English football as they won the title for the first time in the club’s 132-year history.
Leicester finished 14th, just six points above the relegation zone, at the end of last season but Ranieri’s 5,000-1 shots are now seven points clear at the top and cannot be caught with two games left.
It is also Ranieri’s first top-flight triumph in his managerial career and the 64-year-old admits emotions were running high when the full-time whistle blew at Stamford Bridge.
“The emotion was at the maximum level,” Ranieri told Sky Sports News.
“It means the job is good. I am very, very happy now because maybe if I won this title at the beginning of my career maybe I would forget.
“Now I am an old man I can feel it much better.”
Ranieri had been visiting his 96-year-old mother in Rome on Monday but landed at East Midlands airport in time to return home and watch Tottenham’s draw.
Leicester’s astonishing achievement will also bring Champions League football next season and Ranieri believes his side can now get even better.
“I said every time I am very happy for the fans, for the chairman and for all the Leicester community,” Ranieri said.
“I don’t know the secret. The players, the heart, the soul and how they play.
“My message to the fans is now to keep going, we want to improve a lot.”
The Italian has instilled resilience and organisation into his side while Foxes goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer says the manager’s composure has been invaluable.
“He’s been incredibly calm throughout the course of the whole season,” Schwarzer told talkSPORT.
“He’s changed very little from when you look at the make-up of the team. He’s made little tweaks, he’s definitely changed the way we trained a little bit.
“He’s added his own technical nous to our side and he’s really continued to play to our strengths and if anything he’s enhanced players, encouraged players and probably given players more confidence.”
Schwarzer is “99.9 per cent sure” he will be leaving Leicester in the summer but the 43-year-old stopper hopes the club keep their key players, including Jamie Vardy, whose 22 goals have been vital to the team’s success.
“He’s been incredible,” Schwarzer added. “I think he genuinely loves playing at Leicester, loves the club and he’s just recently signed a new deal.
“So at this stage you wouldn’t think he would be moving on but in football, like we all know, anything can happen.”
Leicester midfielder Danny Drinkwater hailed the camaraderie in the Foxes squad, revealing there was “four hours of madness” as the players celebrated winning the title at a gathering at Vardy’s house on Monday night.
Drinkwater told Sky Sports: “It was brilliant, all the lads were together whilst it happened and it kind of sums us up as a group of lads.
“I’ve not (known a bond like it), and I think the rest of the lads would answer the question the same. It’s a special moment for us lot.”
He added of Ranieri: ” Brilliant. He’s done a fantastic job for us. I’m happy for him, he’s never won this before. He’s kind of put his trust in us and we’ve repaid him.
“He’s a laid-back kind of guy and that reflects on us. It helps us when it comes to games.”
The 26-year-old England international, who left Manchester United to join Leicester in 2012, said: “You look around and in three years we’ve won the Championship, we’ve won the Premier, it’s bonkers. It’s hard to put into words. It’s mad.
“I’ll be looking back at this (season) for years. It’ll be something I’ll be able to tell my kids about.”
