Lazio beat Celtic 2-0 with a brace from Immobile The news
“I want a bad and competitively ferocious team. The club believes in the team and the coach. Once someone falls, they have to get up again, as it is said in the Gospel.” Words, said to Sky before the match, those of the president of Lazio, Claudio Lotito, were prophetic.
The victory over Celtic will not be a resurrection from the point of view of the game but Sarri’s team led by Ciro Immobile not only chases away the shadows of the crisis but above all, thanks to Atletico Madrid’s success over Feyenoord, flies to the round of 16 of the Champions League with a early turn. And the match against the Colchoneros in two weeks will decide the first of the group
E. Meanwhile, it must be underlined that it was once again Immobile who took the chestnuts out of the fire for his team, who Sarri kept out of the starting line-up to give a signal and above all a follow-up to his words yesterday, when he said that “now we have to reset and there are no distinctions between old and new”. So he did, but then, given Castellanos’ inconclusiveness up front, in the 16th minute of the second half he brought on Immobile and the striker responded with the two goals that decided the match. Which is to say that it can’t be more decisive than this. Perhaps the pre-match retreat imposed by the club will have done him and his teammates some good.
To Lazio’s credit it must also be said that they took to the field without the suspended Vecino and the injured Zaccagni, Casale and Romagnoli, and with goalkeeper Provedel who until yesterday had a fever of 39. Many are also absent in Celtic, see the various Palma (disqualified), Maeda, Hatate and Abada (the latter Israeli who is said to not like certain attitudes of the Bhoys fans such as the Palestinian flags displayed in the stands today too), but the football of today, and too many matches, is also made up of numerous absences. With today’s victory, Lazio returns to win two matches in a row in the European Cup/Champions after 22 years: the last time it happened was in October 2001 at the expense of PSV Eindhoven and Galatasaray. Celtic, who didn’t do much to win today (after all, they never managed to do so in the Champions League every time they played in Italy) are now also out of the Europa League (they will certainly finish last in the group), and have reached the 15th /th consecutive match without winning in the top European competition, an absolute record for a British team (therefore including the English ones).
And having remained empty today too, he has gone 9 matches without a goal in his last 11 appearances in the Champions League. Numbers that testify to a paucity that appeared evident, despite the enthusiasm expressed in the opening minutes of the match and the good will shown by elements such as Furuhashi, Oh Hyeon-gyu, to whom the referee Umut Meler denied a penalty in added time after a consultation ‘ at VAR, and Carter-Vickers. But the Bhoys would need a ‘real’ Johnston, like the elf who drove Inter and Fiorentina crazy in the 1960s Champions Cup and not his two namesakes seen on the pitch today: another story, and another class. So Sarri smiles, comforted by his discreet performance and for having got the substitutions right, see Immobile, but also Pedro. In the 37th minute there is Immobile’s first goal: Isaksen from the right of the area tries a left-footed shot to return, the deflected shot turns into an assist for Immobile who, stationed at the far post, can’t make a mistake. The double three minutes later: soft ball inside the area again from Isaksen from the right, Scales seems to be in the lead but loses the duel with the Lazio player from Campitano, who comes back on the left, skipping past Carter-Vickers and slotting past Hart with his left. And now the imperative is to return to doing well in the championship too, otherwise the fans who have always cheered the team on today will return to make themselves heard in a different way.
Celtic fans, ‘Bella Ciao’ chants and Palestine flag
A part of the Celtic fans, the so-called ‘Green Brigade’, present with some of its members also at the Olympic stadium, in the Distinti sud, for the match against Lazio, has long been highly politicized and, for years, has been carrying forward the cause of Palestine. So even today a Palestinian flag appeared in the sector of the Bhoys fans, while everyone in unison sang the chorus of ‘Bella Ciao’, to which Lazio’s Curva Nord responded with loud whistles. But the Celtic people repeated the chant, and then went back to following the match in silence, waving flags this time of Ireland (the green and white club represents the Catholic component of Glasgow). On the occasion of the Champions League match at Celtic Park against Atletico Madrid, the home team’s fans even went so far as to create a ‘human’ banner of Palestine in the stands, dressing in those colors and then positioning themselves to form the flag.
10′ into the second half the chant of ‘Bella Ciao’ in the Celtic fans’ section began again with a certain vehemence, but was immediately drowned out by the roar of the Curva Nord. In the meantime, the Palestinian flags in the stands where the Scottish supporters are located have become three. So once again the supporters of the green and whites did not comply with the club management’s invitation not to ‘politicise’ their support for the team. However, the Palestinian flags on the badges were removed after a few minutes.
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2023-11-28 22:56:53
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