Serie A is among us, and calcio fans can rejoice in seeing that Lazio have taken flight in impressive style to start the season, but it has not been without great cost.
The Stadio Olimpico bore witness to a thrilling victory this past Saturday when the Biancocelesti made quick work of newly promoted Bologna by opening the scoring after just 15 minutes. The lead was doubled just six minutes later, but by half-time the Olimpico faithful were given their first wave of nervousness as the Rossoblu clawed back with a thrilling solo run and strike by Matteo Mancosu.
Up until that point, Lazio were buoyed by newly appointed captain Lucas Biglia and his lovely curled strike that got his side up and running. However, his leadership role was beheaded immediately as he was taken off injured in just the 52nd minute of play.
Simply put, the Argentinian endured a bittersweet start to his season as he will now be out of action for a month with a calf injury. Fans will surely be concerned when the club makes the all important visit to the BayArena for their second leg Champions League qualification clash against Bayer Leverkusen, as they’ve already seen Miroslav Klose fall to injury during the first leg battle.
Lazio have a slender 1-0 aggregate lead, and if the first match at the Olimpico is any indicator of their tie against the Bundesliga’s fourth place finishers last term, then the qualification remains well in the balance. Without Biglia, the team will need to ride a wave of confidence that helped them survive a surprising second-half onslaught from Bologna on the weekend and snuff out the visitors for the 2-1 victory. Only once out of five previous visits to Germany the Biancocelesti have come out match winners, making this encounter one of the most defining matches of their season.
On a more positive note, many new bright spots in the squad came through to help achieve the victories in their home match against Leverkusen and then four days later against Bologna last week.
In goal, Etrit Berisha has filled in admirably for starter Federico Marchetti (also injured) to keep Lazio alive in these close encounters. Despite some shakiness against Leverkusen, a fantastic last gasp save proved to be invaluable against Bologna to preserve the three points, and his baptism by fire may be just what the Aquile need to surpass the challenge ahead in Germany.
Ajax star Ricardo Kishna wasted no time in making the most of his playing time on Saturday, as his opportunistic finish inside the box against the Rossoblu added a special excitement to his debut with the club. Pioli could consider his trickyness on the day to be useful in opening up defences and taking some creative playmaking duties as a means to allow more attacking freedom for the likes of Antonio Candreva.
It goes without saying that this club has been immediately tested on their depth in more than one section of the pitch, and so far so good.
A special nod should go to the in-form Keita Balde Diao, who not only scored the game-winner against Bayer, but also made the assist for Biglia in the season opener.
Yet the challenge remains, and that is clearly echoed in the words of Stefano Pioli in regards to the dream of Champions League football ahead of Wednesdays qualification second leg.
“There is still a battle to be fought,” he said following the 1-0 win in Rome.
“Lazio want to play in the UEFA Champions League and we showed that tonight too, but we have to improve if we want a positive result at the BayArena next week.”
