He’s back. The €100 million man. The envy of Europe’s biggest clubs. The Serie A midfielder of the year.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic came in for his fair share of criticism last season as he failed to live up to the standards set the previous year.
But after having a full pre-season of conditioning and match practice – something he wasn’t afforded in the summer of 2018 – the Serbian has looked much sharper at the start of 2019/20.
That said, he was yet to put in the kind of devastating midfield wrecking-ball display that he regularly provided two seasons ago, with Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto being at the centre of most of Lazio’s attacking thrust in the early part of the season.
On Sunday that changed. The 24-year-old dismantled Genoa piece by piece, beginning by stroking in the opening goal after seven minutes with his characteristic languid ease.
It was immediately evident that he was up for it, that he was going to play a big role in the afternoon’s events, and that sense only grew as he caused all sorts of problems for the visiting defence.
He teed up Adam Marusic for a good chance, rose to send a header just over, performed casual backheel flicks in midfield and then threaded a perfectly weighted through ball into the path of Felipe Caicedo for his side’s third.
When Milinkovic-Savic plays like this there is simply nobody in Serie A quite like him.
Simone Inzaghi will now be hoping that he gets to see this version of the Serbian more regularly, particularly considering one standout statistic: Lazio have never lost when Milinkovic-Savic has scored, racking up 16 wins and four draws.
Make the Olimpico great again
Lazio have had their ugly moments already this season, but they’ve all had one thing in common: they’ve taken place outside of the Italian capital.
Shock defeats at SPAL and Cluj were a gut punch, as was the midweek 1-0 defeat to Inter at Stadio Meazza considering the chances that Simone Inzaghi’s side coughed up.
But at the Stadio Olimpico it has been a different story. They began with a 1-1 draw against Roma that they dominated and should’ve won after hitting the post four times, before recording comfortable 2-0 and 4-0 victories over Parma and Genoa, respectively.
Inconsistency threatens to continue damaging this team during the 2019/20 campaign, but if they can swat aside Serie A’s lesser lights at home with relative ease, their hopes of booking a European spot will be given a huge boost.
The importance of Lazio’s home advantage will soon be given a far bigger test when Atalanta and Torino visit next, as well as Rennes and Celtic coming on Europa League duty.
Andreazzoli hangs in the balance
Speculation over Aurelio Andreazzoli’s future was already circulating before kick-off after a disappointing start to a campaign that fans had hoped would be more comfortable than last season’s relegation battle.
But the scoreline and the performance that went with it in Rome have heaped more pressure on the former Empoli boss, with the likes of Gennaro Gattuso and Stefano Pioli rumoured to be waiting in the wings.
Genoa are now on a 12-match winless run away from home and if they fail to get anything from their next away trip against Parma after the international break, they will match their worst-ever record of 13 games set in 2012.
Whether Andreazzoli will still be in charge at that stage is another question as the coach cut a forlorn figure after the match.
“We have lost our way and I take responsibility,” he said. If Genoa’s notoriously trigger-happy owner Enrico Preziosi agrees that his coach is to blame, then his days are surely numbered.
