Lazio have seen better weeks. Not long ago the dream of Champions League football riches was well and truly alive. However, that was before an injury filled visit to the BayArena in Germany.
Even before the side succumbed to an inevitably frail second leg 3-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, Lazio had only ever lost once in their previous 11 European encounters. This time the writing was on the wall, though, as coach Stefano Pioli plainly pointed out after the first leg 1-0 victory: “The result does not change much for the return leg – there is still a battle to be fought.”
Pioli’s words far less candy-coated upon the loss of qualification and placement into the Europa League.
“Bayer deserved to win,” he admitted.
“There will not be any changes [at Lazio], but this proves that we are not ready to fight on three fronts, however, we still have the league and Coppa Italia.”
Right, well here’s the awkward part: a 4-0 defeat to Chievo on the weekend in Serie A.
Many will wonder how the wound cut so deep, but those who witnessed the match at the Stadio Bentegodi would admit a great start by Le Aquile was left without reward. In the opening 10 minutes, the visiting Lazio looked fired up beyond belief, and Antonio Candreva’s 7th minute skyward rebound on a clear goal scoring chance will leave fans replaying what might have been for some time.
The second half header from Marco Parolo that was impressively stymied by Albano Bizzarri will also call into question whether an unlikely comeback was ever in the cards for Pioli’s men.
Apart from that, Chievo produced one of the most stellar performances imaginable, exposing Lazio to their lack of potency in attack and costly defensive lapses that were evident in Leverkusen.
The loss is an embarrassment no less, not only for Pioli missing a chance to finally notch a win on Rolando Maran’s Chievo, but more so on the players who failed to answer the coach’s call for an immediate reaction.
Despite the recent failures and the coach rubbishing any real changes in his aforementioned statements, there will be inevitable impacts with the closing of transfer deadline day.
The Biancocelesti will welcome journeyman Serie A striker and AC Milan outcast Alessandro Matri to fill in the void of injured striking options left by Miroslav Klose and Filip Djordjevic.
The pair accounted for 21 goals for the Biancocelesti last term, and if Pioli’s rapid fire substitutions against Chievo were any indicator, he is scrambling to test out his depth options as Keita Balde Diao’s recent surge of form seems to have fizzled out.
Matri’s time with Genoa on loan last season saw the 31-year-old notch seven goals in 16 league appearances in the first half of the campaign. His February loan arrival to Juventus helped him regain some heroics under former Cagliari boss Massimiliano Allegri, particularly in the Coppa Italia.
Matri’s crucial second goal of the tournament in added time of the final was enough to sink his new employers.
Only time will tell if he can atone for that.
