Italian side Lazio secured a resilient victory over German giants Bayern Munich in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
The encounter at the Olympic Stadium in Rome concluded with a 1-0 score in favor of the hosts.
The crucial goal into the Munich net was scored by Lazio’s captain, Ciro Immobile, from the penalty spot in the 69th minute.
The penalty was awarded after Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano received a red card in the 67th minute.
As a result, Lazio managed to gain a slight advantage heading into the return leg, scheduled for March 5th at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Despite the defeat, Bayern maintains good chances to advance to the next round.
The second leg will see Bayern playing with a numerical advantage, and with the home-field advantage, Julian Nagelsmann’s team will aim to make a comeback from the starting whistle.
Let’s review the events of the first leg clash between Lazio and Bayern in the central showdown of the Champions League Round of 16.
Mostbet.com bookmakers give Bayern favorable odds to reach the quarter-finals.
Let’s analyze the match that took place in Rome to understand the challenges Bayern faces on the path to the next stage of the Champions League and the strengths Lazio possesses ahead of the second leg.
Bayern Munich struggles with positional attack
For the second time in a week, Bayern Munich’s performance is characterized by complete ineffectiveness in ball possession.
Similar to their previous match against Bayer, Lazio did not apply pressing but rather focused on blocking spaces. In most instances, the Romans felt comfortable in positional defense.
Despite attempts by coach Thomas Tuchel to employ a kind of “cheat code,” Bayern’s positional attack once again failed to impress. The coach reverted Bayern to classic setups in the central zone.
In the starting lineup, Kimmich, Goretzka, and Muller played under the striker – a combination that has been tried and tested over the years but was quite unexpected in the current season.
However, despite resorting to such a “cheat code,” Bayern’s actions with the ball in the center of the field looked utterly dreadful (though the team can hardly be blamed for a lack of effort).
In the first half, they managed to execute a few quality attacks, but structural problems surfaced again.
Thomas Tuchel still does not offer consistent team solutions. The typical scenario involved Lazio not applying any pressing, and Bayern held six players in the build-up phase, including full-backs in conservative positions.
It’s easy to count how many players remained in the last line. Almost always, the Bavarians found themselves in an obvious numerical disadvantage.
Anomalous level of play from Lazio
The match statistics speak for themselves: Lazio vs Bayern (1:0) – 4:0 in shots on target, 2:0 in clear goal-scoring opportunities, and 1.8 against 1.1 in expected goals.
Externally, the play of the Romans looked elegant, light, and genuinely reminiscent of their coach Maurizio Sarri’s style: telepathic movement off the ball, quick and accurate executions, cheeky exits through the third player.
Bayern Munich failed to register a single shot on target against their opponent for the first time in five years.
Such a level of play from Lazio can be considered an anomaly.
In the last two months, Lazio has indeed improved, especially in approaching true “Sarriball,” but they still have a long way to go.
From an ideological standpoint, their last match was their best of the season.
In terms of stylistic identity and team cohesion, Lazio transformed more in one day than in the previous month. Perhaps, Thomas Tuchel’s persistent desire to attack through the center influenced the high-quality execution.
The perpetual drawback of “Sarriball” is the lack of defensive width, so it would have been more logical against Bayern’s full-backs to attack through the flanks.
Or, as Ivan Perisic claims, Bundesliga players may genuinely struggle against opponents who have nowhere to retreat. But most importantly, Sarri managed to adapt during the match and lowered his team’s pressing line.
This decision worked.
The Romans effectively broke the opponent’s high press, exploiting spaces behind the reorganized Bavarian defense, and disruptions were resolved with trademark plays. The penalty resulted from one such counter-attack.
A remarkably good day for Lazio, albeit marred by Upamecano’s dismissal.
