Lazio brush aside Udinese
It proved to be almost too easy for Lazio to conquer their 6th consecutive win. An Immobile strike within the first 10 minutes opened up the path to a comfortable victory.
The season so far
Lazio started the season trying to improve on the disappointing 8th place of the previous year. A year which had however ended on a triumphal note with the victory in the Coppa Italia final against Atalanta in May (2-0). This season in had come Slovak defender Denis Vavro (F.C Copenhagen), Spanish winger Jony (Alavés), Italian defender/midfielder Manuel Lazzari (Spal) and young Dutch forward Bobby Adekanye (Liverpool). Lazio had bid farewell to well-serving Dusan Basta and also to defenders Wallace and Romulo, plus midfielder Milan Badelj. In hindsight they had also made the mistake of letting promising young Portuguese Pedro Neto slip through their fingers selling him to Wolves.
Despite a shock defeat in Ferrara against Spal, the Biancocelesti had made a solid start to 2019-20. They had 27 points lying 3rd in the table and had even ended a 30-year winless jinx away to Milan winning 2-1. Their only other defeat had come against Inter and after a turning point draw against Atalanta at home (from 0-3 to 3-3) they approached the Udinese game with 5 consecutive wins under their belts.
Udinese had finished 12th the year before. They had a fairly unchanged squad; in had come Rodrigo Becao, Sebastien De Maio and Ilija Nestorovski and out had gone Marvin Zeegelaar and former Lazio Valon Behrami. After beating Milan in the opening game of the season Udinese had continued poorly, including a 7-1 defeat by Atalanta, and after 10 games had sacked their manager Igor Tudor replaced by Luca Gotti. The “Bianconeri” from Friuli were struggling on 14 points.
The match: Sunday, December 1 2020, Rome, Stadio Olimpico
The fixture was played at a classic 3 o'clock kick-off time, in front of a 30,000 crowd. The visitors presented themselves at the Olimpico with a very defensive 5-3-2 formation almost inviting Lazio to attack. Lazio did just that and Luis Alberto almost scored immediately from a free kick palmed away from the top hand corner by keeper Juan Musso. The goal was on the way however and came after only 9 minutes thanks to Ciro Immobile. It was set up by Sergej Milinkovic -Savic who chested the ball down in the area and with a clever left-footed pass pushed it back to Immobile who, with a low left foot, beat Musso. Udinese did then have a chance of their own but Rolando Mandragora pulled his shot just wide.
At the other end Argentine Joaquin Correa was unstoppable and causing havoc in the Udinese defence. They had to resort to repeated fouls to block him and in the space of 10 minutes between the 36th and 46th “El Tucu” Correa won 2 clear penalties to close the game. The first was put away by Immobile while the second he graciously conceded to Luis Alberto who coolly slotted his penalty in, almost in identical fashion to the striker's. Lazio were already 3-0 up at half time.
In the second half Lazio had further chances, in particular with a Senad Lulic header and with Correa, but the game had already been won and Udinese's tame approach resulted in a slow paced, easy 45 minutes for Lazio.
Another 3 points for Lazio. They were winning games and playing excellent, entertaining football. Everything seemed to be clicking; the defence led by Francesco Acerbi was solid, the midfield had the strength of Lucas Leiva and the creativity of Luis Alberto and Milinkovic-Savic, Manuel Lazzari was rampant on his wing and the attack was on fire with Immobile and Correa on top form.
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Radu, Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva (73' Cataldi), Luis Alberto (79' A. Anderson), Lulic (64' Jony), Correa, Immobile.
Manager: Inzaghi
Who played for Udinese
Musso, Becao, Ekong, Nuytinck, Srygger Larsen, Mandragora, Walace (76' Barak), De Paul (59' Fofana), Samir, Nestorovski, Okaka (81' Teodorczyk).
Substitutes: Nicolas, Perisan, Sierralta, Opoku, Ter avest, De Maio, Kubala, Lasagna, Pussetto.
Manager: Gotti
Referee: Di Bello
Goals: 9' Immobile, 36' Immobile (pen), 46' Luis Alberto (pen)
What happened next
Lazio continued to have a brilliant season and after the Udinese game reached a club record of 11 consecutive wins. They were still pushing Juventus for top spot in the league only 1 point behind the leaders when disaster struck, not only for Lazio but for the entire world. The outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic interrupted the league for 4 months. On Saturday 29 February, 2020, Lazio beat Bologna 2-0 at the Olimpico and then didn't play again until 24 June.
The season restarted in empty stadiums but Lazio's magic had gone. The fact of having to play 3 matches a week was never going to work for Lazio's limited numbered squad. They had an almost perfectly oiled machine but only in 12-13 players, without strength in depth compared to rivals Juventus, Inter or even Atalanta. The fast and furious oncoming of games soon took its toll and Lazio faded and tired, ending up 4th.
This still meant a Champions League qualification after 13 years but Lazio will forever be left thinking about what could have been. Up until February Lazio had seemed unstoppable and gone from strength to strength while Juventus were, yes winning games, but not playing great football and often struggled. The general consensus was that Lazio were the best team that season and could have fought for the “scudetto” until the end. Alas it was not to be and Lazio's dream was brutally shattered by global events.
Udinese continued in their mid-table limbo and despite wins against Roma and Juventus they ended up 13th, pretty much in line with the previous year and pundits expectations.
The title would eventually be won by Juventus.
Lazio 2019-2020
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 79 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Europa League | 6 | 2 | - | 4 | 6 |
Super Coppa | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
Total | 47 | 28 | 6 | 13 | 92 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
45 | 36 | 2 | 6 | 1 | |
44 | 37 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
44 | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
43 | 37 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
41 | 36 | - | 4 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Ciro Immobile | 39 | 36 | 1 | 2 | - |
10 | 9 | - | 1 | - | |
9 | 9 | - | - | - | |
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic | 8 | 7 | - | 1 | - |
Luis Alberto | 7 | 6 | - | - | 1 |
Let’s talk about Lucas Leiva
Lucas Pezzini Leiva (known as Lucas or Lucas Leiva), was born on 9 January, 1987, in Dourados, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil.
He began his career at Gremio as a midfielder in 2005. He and Gremio won the Campeonato Gaucho in 2006 and 2007 and came 3rd in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. He became the youngest player to win the prestigious “Bola de Ouro” (Golden Ball, an award given to the best player in the Brazilian league). He is in the good Company of players such as; Romario, Paulo Roberto Falcao, Kakà, Robinho, Zico, Careca and Carlos Tévez, to name just a few.
His performances in Brazil inevitably attracted the attention of major European clubs and it was Liverpool who managed to get the deal done and Leiva signed for the Reds on 13 May 2007, for about 5 million pounds.
He scored his first goal for Liverpool on 27 January, 2008, in the FA Cup but was not the goal scoring midfielder some fans were expecting. He was not immediately popular and struggled in his early months at Anfield and had to be defended publicly by manager Rafa Benitez. Slowly but surely however Leiva won over the sceptics and established himself as an excellent holding midfielder. In 2011 he suffered a serious injury but bounced back and was eventually accepted. In 2012 he even won the Liverpool Player of the Year Award and in 2013 was given a new long-term deal with the club. Lucas Leiva played for Liverpool for 10 years making 346 official appearances. Despite a few ups and downs Leiva had a successful decade on Merseyside although only winning one trophy, the League Cup in 2012 (on penalties against Cardiff City).
In the summer of 2017 Leiva joined Lazio for €5 million. He was, after all, born the same day Lazio was founded (9 January) and had Italian ancestry, so maybe it was destiny. He made a dream debut in the Super Coppa Italiana in a 3-2 last gasp victory over Juventus. Leiva soon established himself as an indispensable part of Lazio's midfield and in his first season played 50 games and was named Club Player of the Year.
Lazio could hardly believe the calibre of the player they had bought from England at such a low fee. He would continue to be the driving force in Lazio's midfield for five seasons and soon became one of the more popular players. He was what Lazio fans called “una garanzia” (a guarantee of reliability). He was not the typical technical, flamboyant Brazilian midfielder but his number 6 jersey was everywhere on the field with solid tackling, excellent timing, positioning and distribution. The fact he had played for Liverpool (also historically popular with Lazio fans) brought him automatic respect but he proved to be everything Lazio had hoped for and more.
He played 198 games for Lazio (155 in Serie A, 12 in Coppa Italia, 5 in Champions League, 24 in Europa League and 2 Super Coppa finals) and scored 4 goals (2 in Serie A and 2 in Europa League). In Rome he won 2 Italian Super Coppas (2017, 2019 both against Juventus) and 1 Coppa Italia (2019 against Atalanta). He was twice voted Player of the Season (2018, 2019). He came close to winning the “Scudetto'' in 2020 before Lazio's dream was shattered by the Covid 19 events.
In his last year he struggled with a few niggling injuries and the general feeling was he had given all he had to give in Rome, so in the summer of 2022 he returned to the club of his youth Gremio and his homeland of Brazil.
At International level he earned 24 caps for the 'Verdeoro' and won an Olympic bronze medal at Beijing 2008.
Leiva is primarily a defensive midfielder although he was sometimes also used as a central defender. A phenomenal tackler and physically tough he will consistently break up the opposition possession and as Italians say “cucire” ( sew/ link ) between defensive and attacking play.
At Lazio he can be considered a huge success. His name may not have been sung to the heavens like Ciro Immobile or Milinkovic-Savic but he gained immense respect with the fans. Some pundits claim that, seeing what Lazio paid for him and what he gave back in return, Leiva can be considered one of Lazio's best buys ever.
On a 2022 May evening against Verona, in front of a capacity crowd in the Stadio Olimpico, Leiva received the heartfelt, warm, tearful farewell he deserved when he played his last ever game for Lazio.
Retirement
Lucas Leiva announced his retirement on March 17, 2023. In December 2022 following routine tests at Gremio where he was playing after the Lazio adventure, the doctors found he had a heart condition. In the last months there had been further tests, but there was nothing that could be done. Leiva was forced to stop at 36 years of age.
"The day has come to say goodbye to the field. I confess that it came from greater forces. I can only be thankful for the career I built” he stated on social media. “I'm ending where I'd like, not the way I'd like. I had a lot of hope that it could reverse, but it was not the case. My health comes first", he said during a news conference.
On social media he thanked the clubs he played for: Gremio, Liverpool and Lazio. “Fate took me to one of the most incredible cities in the world: Rome. It is so fascinating and with the Lazio fans I was able to etch my name in the history of the club. SEMPRE FORZA LAZIO”.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2017-18 | 50 (4) | 36 (2) | 4 | - | 9 (2) | 1 |
2018-19 | 36 | 27 | 5 | - | 4 | - |
2019-20 | 30 | 25 | 1 | - | 3 | 1 |
2020-21 | 37 | 32 | - | 5 | - | - |
2021-22 | 45 | 35 | 2 | - | 8 | |
Total | 198 (4) | 155 (2) | 12 | 5 | 24 (2) | 2 |
Sources
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