Just as it was expected after the poor result they earned in the first leg along with the chaos happening on their coaching seat simply became the hurdle that simply puts away Lazio’s chance of advancing from Atletico Madrid’s challenge in the Europa League.
Instead of getting a pay back from their 3-1 defeat in the first meeting, Edy Reja’s team went on into another defeat, this time only a slight 1-0 lose but still another addition to the Capital side’s runs of poor results.
Coming into the game from a runs of defeats and also the news about their tactician’s resignation, Lazio looked out of sort from the first minute as it was pretty much all Atletico who dominate the encounter. Despite playing without Diego and also resting Radamel Falcao on the bench, the Spaniard still trouble the Biancocelesti’s defense a lot especially from the movement of their young striker, Adrian Lopez, who constantly testing Albano Bizzarri in the visitor’s goal.
However, Atletico domination didn’t find its rewards until the early minutes of the second period when Uruguayan international defender, Diego Godin, puts his header in the back of Bizzarri’s net from Gabi’s corner. The 1-0 lead didn’t stop the Madrid based outfit from attacking their opponents, who doesn’t seem to have any motivation in playing since the Italian are facing a 4-1 aggregate which is obviously to difficult to overcome.
Until the final whistle was blown, nothing really special in attack was done by Lazio, leaving many disappointment for obviously for Italian football since there’s only Udinese left as Serie A representative in the competition. This situation could get worse once the Biancocelesti returns to the penninsula as there’s still some random doubts about the future of their tactician, Edy Reja, who handed over a resignation letter not long ago but was rejected by the club’s management.
Match Reports:
Atletico Madrid v Lazio 1-0
Goal: Godin 48 (Atletico)
Atletico Madrid: Courtois; Dominguez, Miranda (Silvio 70), Godin, Perea; Assuncao, Gabi; Juanfran (Arda Turan 58), Salvio, Koke; Adrian Lopez (Falcao 61)
Lazio: Bizzarri; Zauri, Diakite, Dias; Lulic (Rozzi 77); Matuzalem, Ledesma (Zampa 80); Mauri, Hernanes, Candreva (Gonzalez 57); Kozak
