Accelerating in the second half, Lazio defeated Udinese and took a decisive step towards qualifying for the Champions League.
– From a ten to a ten. From a missed penalty to a successful one. Yes, because anyone who doesn’t remember the penalty shot badly by Zarate in Udine won’t have lived this match with a specter on their shoulders. Maximum punishment that cost the maximum punishment at the time of exclusion from qualifying for the Champions Cup. Instead, today, Ciro Immobile scores his twelfth goal of the season and the Diez Andalusian, who responds to the name of Luis Alberto, packs an imaginative game to say the least;
– The first half is yawning. Lazio is indolent and tired as in the last outings. The Bianconeri from Fiula are limited to containing and restarting but without particular danger. Everything seems to prefigure a typically end-of-season match, made up of low pace and mental and physical tiredness despite the fact that the Biancocelesti have to fight for a goal they have been pursuing since the beginning of the season. Who looks at it is almost annoyed. Especially if you support Lazio. The only faint hope remains the second half and a clear change of gear, mental in the first place;
– So it is: second half we rub our eyes in surprise. That Lazio that enchanted with its tight lines, fast and short phrasing, the ability to illuminate with individual technique the few spaces that a Udinese, compact and behind the ball line, seems to be back. Luis Alberto is mythopoeic, invents, dictates times, finds unthinkable spaces and his ideas run along with the ball. You find him everywhere: recovering balls and, after a while, dictating the last pass. Sottil’s men try to recover – they haven’t lost at home since January – but they can’t scratch the Lazio compactness;
– Lazio is dystopian: the first half stinging the nervous system, the second with the most beautiful dress of the party. Sarri must now keep the bar straight and try to make all the points available so as to secure the goal that he himself considered complex – and well said given the average expenditure to prepare the squad, the amount of salaries, the depth of the changes. A few more steps to cross the finish line;
– On the Friulian side, Sottil’s team proves difficult, well put in place, always dangerous and pungent. The club’s scouting has been punctual and precise for years and this leads Udinese to be an important reality in our football. The game played by Sottil is absolutely interesting and proof of this is the very long positive streak that the bianconeri have held since January – but not only – at home, often deciding the structure of the standings in the upper areas. Maybe one more step is needed to bring Udinese to fight to enter Europe.
The article Scattered considerations post Udinese-Lazio (0-1) comes from Sportellate.it.