What Carlos Vicente and Jonathan Panzo thought of Birmingham City's fans v Leeds | OneFootball

The two new Blues players were seriously impressed by Sunday's atmosphere at St. Andrew's

Birmingham City new boys Jonathan Panzo and Carlos Vicente were amongst those who heaped significant praise on the Blues supporters for the atmosphere which was generated at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park throughout Sunday's FA Cup tie with Leeds United, which the Premier League side eventually won on penalties.

It was the first time the two sides had met in this part of the West Midlands since a dramatic 1-0 victory for Blues in what was Tom Wagner's first home game as owner in August 2023 following his well-documented takeover the previous month, with the Whites emerging 4-2 victors on penalties after a hard-fought 1-1 draw between the teams across 120 minutes of action.

Many believed it was the Championship side who deserved to win the match in normal time and extra-time, with Chris Davies' side forging, but also squandering several strong chances to put their top-flight opponents to the sword in front of a sell-out crowd of 28.035, which included a large travelling contingent from West Yorkshire as a result of the Football Association's ticketing regulations surrounding FA Cup matches.

Indeed, the game was taken into extra-time as a result of Patrick Roberts' stunning equaliser on 89 minutes after Lukas Nmecha had given United the lead in the second period's opening minutes, before Sean Longstaff eventually won the shootout for Leeds after Roberts and Tommy Doyle failed to convert from 12 yards.

As previously mentioned, two seasons ago, this fixture marked a new era for Blues under Wagner's ownership. This time, the American was, again, a key reason behind such a passionate atmosphere from the Bluenoses, who paid tribute to the man who has transformed their club in the past two-and-a-half years as he continues to recover from a recent stroke, with the sad news breaking in midweek after the goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion in B9.

As such, a tifo which read "get well soon Tom" was unveiled in the Tilton ahead of kick-off, whilst all four quarters of the stadium applauded in unison on 13 minutes, representing Wagner's 'lucky number'.

It wasn't just the watching public who would be impressed by the constant backing and noise generated by those on the terraces, though, as Vicente and Panzo sampled an electric atmosphere in this part of the Second City for the first time from the starting lineup.

Jonathan Panzo and Carlos Vicente praise Birmingham City fans for atmosphere in FA Cup defeat vs Leeds United

It was the first time that the duo were handed starts by Davies after completing their respective switches to St. Andrew's last month, with Vicente joining from Deportivo Alaves for £7m, whilst Panzo signed on an initial short-term contract from Rio Ave on Deadline Day.

The Spaniard would eventually be substituted in place of Roberts, who netted the equaliser, whilst Panzo was also replaced by Phil Neumann at the start of extra-time.

However, that didn't stop the pair from praising the Blues faithful for their support throughout the pulsating cup tie, albeit the club have been knocked out at the same stage of the competition for a third successive season, having lost out to Newcastle United and Leicester City previously.

Vicente took to X to say: Massive effort today to battle all the way. Thanks for the support and the great atmosphere!"

Meanwhile, Panzo, who performed admirably alongside captain Christoph Klarer, also said: Buzzing to make my debut for

@BCFC, unlucky with the result but something to build on! Fans were top!"

Birmingham City will hope to translate Leeds United performance into Championship clashes amid play-off push

As previously mentioned, it was an impressive performance which Davies and his players can take plenty of positives from, as their full attention now turns to the remainder of the league season.

Blues now have 14 matches to play in the Championship between now and May 2nd, all of which will have huge implications on their play-off bid.

The first of those comes next Saturday in an intriguing away trip to Norwich City, who have been in remarkable form of late under Philippe Clement, and are a completely different side to the one which Blues put to the sword 4-1 on November 22nd in the Belgian's first game in charge of the Yellows.