Lazio have taken Italian football by storm this season, launching an unexpected threat
to Juventus’ eight-year stranglehold on Serie A.
Simone Inzaghi, a striker for the Roman club when they won their last league title under
Sven Goran Eriksson in 2000, is now in his fourth full season as head coach.
He led the club to Coppa Italia glory last year, and won the Supercoppa Italiana in 2017
and 2019.
But this season his side have hit new heights, setting a club record with 19 league matches
without defeat, including wins over Juventus, Napoli and, most recently, Inter Milan, that
has propelled them into a surprise Scudetto race.
Inzaghi has struck a tactical balance that gets the best out of a settled and talented
squad, using a 3-5-1-1 or 3-5-2 formation.
Their major improvement in 2019/20 has been in defence.
They currently boast the best defensive record in the league, with 21 goals conceded in 24
games, fixing what was previously a problem area that saw them end the last two seasons
with the eighth and tenth-tightest backline.
This year, Inzaghi has committed to a settled, well-balanced back three, having previously
favoured frequent rotation.
Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha lines up behind Stefan Radu, Francesco Acerbi and Luiz Felipe.
Felipe offers speed and athleticism, while Radu is good on the ball and provides valuable
experience and positioning.
Acerbi is the star performer, an outstanding centre-back who marshals the defence and combines
physicality with great intelligence and technique.
Inzaghi demands great sacrifice from his tireless wing-backs, Manuel Lazzari and Senad Lulic,
who drop deep to defend in a line of five off the ball, while pushing up to support
the attack at every opportunity.
Further protection is provided by Lucas Leiva.
The experienced Brazilian shields the back three, providing a platform from which the
more technical players can thrive.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s defensive duties have increased this season too, with the box-to-box
midfielder (note: he plays to the right of Leiva) improving his average number of tackles,
interceptions and blocks per game.
Lazio like to deploy a high press and the work rate of their forwards, Ciro Immobile
partnered by Joaquin Correa or Felipe Caicedo, pressurises the opposition and forces errors.
The team’s most talented and dangerous players lie in their midfield and attack, and they
are second only to Atalanta for goals scored in Serie A this season.
The division’s top scorer Immobile spearheads the forward line, while playmaker Luis Alberto
has provided the most assists in the league.
Lazio like to play out of the back through their ball-playing defenders, inviting pressure
from the opposition and looking to play through the press with quick, incisive passing.
Alberto is the fulcrum of Lazio’s attacking play.
The Spaniard previously occupied a trequartista position behind Immobile, but last season
he was moved into the left mezz’ala role, where he has more space and time to dictate
play.
He will drop deep and bring the ball out, or look to receive passes between the lines
of the opposition defence and midfield.
Alberto’s passing range is his biggest weapon, whether it’s with quick, short exchanges,
through balls to feed the willing runs of Immobile or Correa, or a long pass towards
the towering figure of Milinkovic-Savic.
Milinkovic-Savic’s all-round abilities make him an important player in the final third.
The Serbian can shoot from distance and has the vision and close control needed to create
quick passing combinations.
However, his 6ft 3in frame makes him an effective target man and he will often position himself
in line with the strikers, giving Strakosha and the defence the option of going direct
when under pressure.
It is an option Lazio use frequently, as Milinkovic-Savic’s aerial ability means he can win flick-ons
for the strikers to chase or hold the ball up to create an attacking platform, turning
defence to attack in an instant.
Lazio’s constant movement in attacking areas unsettles the opposition.
Immobile and Correa will pull wide and drop deep, while Milinkovic-Savic and Alberto take
every opportunity to get between the lines as the wing-backs push up and look to put
in crosses.
The two wide defenders in the back three, particularly Radu, will also get forward to
provide an overlap option, offering another crossing angle and overloading one side of
the pitch.
Lazio commit large numbers to attacks, and look to crowd the box with three or four players
for crosses.
The number of bodies they commit forward, and their willingness to get the ball into
dangerous areas quickly, has helped them win a league-high 14 penalties this season, ten
of which have been dispatched by Immobile.
¬¬¬ The Italy international is in excellent form,
with 26 league goals after 24 putting him on track to break the single-season Serie
A record of 36 set by Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain in 2015/16.
Immobile’s incessant movement makes him a nightmare to mark, as he constantly combines
running the channels, peeling into wide areas, dropping deep, or playing on the shoulder
of the last defender.
His finishing has been lethal, the 26-goal haul becoming even more impressive when you
consider how much he is outperforming his xG of 18.26.
While penalties account for 10 of those, his tally of 16 from open play is still the most
in the league by a distance.
Immobile’s willingness to contribute to the construction of moves has seen him provide
six assists too, a tally only bettered by six players in Serie A.
He has become the pin-up star of a Lazio team that is fast becoming regarded as the greatest
since Eriksson’s star-studded team of 20 years ago.
It is a team that is set to finally end their 13-year wait for Champions League football
- and perhaps achieve something even greater.