In the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, which took place at Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night, Lazio upset Bayern Munich by claiming a 1-0 victory.
The match was played against Bayern Munich playing with ten players. Once Dayot Upamecano was sent off for a late challenge on Gustav Isaksen, Ciro Immobile scored the game’s lone goal from the penalty spot in the middle of the second half. This came after the first half ended without a goal being scored.
Mauricio Sarri’s team could not perform at their clinical best and failed to register any of their 17 shots on target, which is the highest by any team in the Champions League since records began in 2003-04. The defensive resiliency of Lazio was a crucial factor in the team’s victory over Bayern, which has won the European Championship six times.
Thomas Tuchel, the head coach of Bayern, is under increasing amounts of criticism as a result of his team’s unfortunate loss to Bayer Leverkusen away from home last weekend, which resulted in a 3-0 loss. This defeat was Bayern’s second consecutive loss in the span of just five days.
On Valentine’s Day, there was no love lost between Lazio and Bayern, and there will be a slight edge for Lazio going into the second leg of the match, which will take place at the Allianz Arena in three weeks.
Bayern made a promising start to the contest and had two presentable chances inside the opening seven minutes; Joshua Kimmich firstly curled a right-footed effort from the edge of the area off target, before Harry Kane blazed over whilst leaning back just in front of goal after meeting a hooked cross from Thomas Muller.
Luis Alberto blasted a powerful right-footed effort from outside the box that went narrowly over the crossbar in the 21st minute against Lazio. Although Lazio appeared to be sturdy and well-organized at the defense, they initially struggled to move in advanced areas until that moment.
Just before the half-hour mark, Upamecano had a shot from a distance, but the center defender was only able to send his attempt far over the crossbar. Shortly after that, Leroy Sane went through a beautiful free-kick routine and whipped an effort that was inches wide.
Following an excellent two-touch passing play between himself and Leon Goretzka, Jamal Musiala then came perilously close to opening the deadlock for the away team five minutes before the halftime break. He scooped a left-footed shot from approximately eight yards out, but it went just over the crossbar.
Lazio came out of the break with a vengeance and had the opportunity to open the scoring three minutes into the second half when Isaksen found himself through on goal after meeting Alberto’s defense-splitting cross. However, Manuel Neuer was quick off his line and managed to be able to stop the shot that was taken by the Danish striker.
During the second half, Bayern had a difficult time regaining their rhythm, much to the annoyance of Tuchel, who was standing on the sidelines. Furthermore, they were unable to get Kane, their leading scorer, into the field of play.
Upamecano was penalized for a stood-showing tackle on the ankle of Isaksen, which occurred after Immobile had earlier danced his way into the penalty area to set up his Danish teammate. The drama happened at the 66-minute mark, when Lazio were granted a penalty and Bayern were reduced to 10 men. A penalty was awarded to Lazio.
In the Champions League, Immobile scored his fourth goal of the season, sending Neuer the wrong way and the Lazio fans into a frenzy. Immobile is the all-time leading goalscorer for Lazio, and he stepped up and calmly stroked his effort from 12 yards into the bottom-right corner.
In response to Upamecano’s departure, Tuchel substituted Matthijs de Ligt for Goretzka. In the closing ten minutes of the match, he changed his attack by exchanging Sane and Muller for Mathys Tel and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting in an effort to score a crucial equalizer. It was a successful move.
Lazio were provided with a decent opportunity to extend their advantage in stoppage time when substitute Pedro stung the gloves of Neuer from a tight angle. Bayern pushed forward in the fourth and final minutes of the game, but in doing so, they appeared susceptible on the counterattack.
In the end, Lazio managed to secure a victory that will live long in the memory, helping them to increase their chances of advancing to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
On Sunday, Bayern will go to VfL Bochum in the Bundesliga in an effort to get back to winning ways. Meanwhile, Lazio will transfer their focus to a Serie A match against Bologna as they prepare to play at home.
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