Lazio

Currently the top two scorers in Serie A, in this blog post we are going to compare Cristiano Ronaldo and Ciro Immobile. We will explore their previous performance in the 2018/19 season in depth, along with an overview on their career and current standings too. So, if you want to find out more about how these top players compare, then keep on reading.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s 18/19 Performance

Since his stint with Manchester United in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo has consistently been making a name for himself in the football world. He is a household name and is praised across the globe for his training ethics and impressive performance on the pitch. Ronaldo has had many successful seasons with each club he has played for, but in this part of the article we are going to focus on his most recent performance. As the current Serie A tournament is still ongoing, stats could all change since the time of writing, therefore we are going to see how Ronaldo performed during the 2018/19 season. Below is a breakdown of each goal he has scored in the 2018/19 Serie A tournament along with which team it was against:

• 16/09/2018 – 2 goals scored against Sassuolo
• 23/09/2018 – 1 goal scored against Frosinone
• 06/10/2018 – 1 goal scored against Udinese
• 20/10/2018 – 1 goal scored against Genoa
• 27/10/2018 – 2 goals scored against Empoli
• 11/11/2018 – 1 goal scored against AC Milan
• 24/11/2018 – 1 goal scored against S.P.A.L
• 01/12/2018 – 1 goal scored against Fiorentina
• 15/12/2018 – 1 goal scored against Torino
• 26/12/2018 – 1 goal scored against Atalanta
• 29/12/2018 – 2 goals scored against Sampdoria
• 27/01/2018 – 1 goal scored against Lazio
• 02/02/2019 – 2 goals scored against Parma Calcio
• 10/02/2019 – 1 goal scored against Sas

Currently in the top rankings of the Serie A, Lazio and Inter Milan go head to head this weekend on the 16^th February. And in advance of this fixture, we are going to explore the performance of both Italian soccer teams in order to try to work out how the match will pan out. So, if you want to find out more about the current standings of these top Serie A clubs, then keep on reading.

Lazio’s Current Performance in the Serie A

Lazio have done considerably well this season to remain in the top 3. They are currently in the third position in the table at the moment with Juventus and Inter Milan only slightly above them. In this part of the post we are going to look at how Lazio have performed so far in the 2019/20 Serie A.

To start off with, we have broken down their results from the past five fixtures in this season’s tournament:

• 09/02/2020 – Lazio (1) V Parma (0)
• 05/02/2020 – Lazio (0) V Verona (0)
• 02/02/2020 – Lazio (5) V S.P.A.L (1)
• 26/01/2020 – Lazio (1) V Roma (1)
• 18/01/2020 – Lazio (5) V Sampdoria (1)

Looking at this breakdown we can get a great insight into the form of the squad at the moment. They have managed to secure three confirmed wins and two draws out of the last five games. This is an impressive statistic as they haven’t lost a match recently. In fact, the last match Lazio lost was against Inter Milan on the 25^th September 2019 where they lost 1-0. In total Lazio has lost only 2 games out of the 23 matches they have played. They have won 16 and drew 5 times too.

As a result of this, we can tell that Lazio is certainly on top form at the moment. But considering one of their losses this season was against Inter Milan, could they turn it around in their second match against them this weekend?

Next, we are going to see how many times historically

Within this article we are going to look across the long-standing football career of Ciro Immobile. Exploring his transition from youth to senior squads on both the club and international side, we are going to analyze his historic and current performance on the pitch.

Here are the basics of Ciro Immobile’s personal and player profile, keep reading to find out more about his football career:

• DOB – 20^th February 1990
• Height – 1.85m
• Weight – 78kg
• Nationality – Italian
• Signed – 1^st July 2010
• Position - Striker

Immobile’s Youth Career

Ciro was born on the 20^th February 1990 in Torre Annunziata and started his youth career in football at the Torre Annunziata ’88. After being at the football school in his local area, he transferred to Maria Rosa before joining the Salernitana youth team. During his time with Salernitana he did not reach the level he wanted of exposure for his talent as he often found himself on the bench. Because of this negative experience with Salernitana he moved shortly after joining to the youth team for Sorrento.

With the Sorrento youth team Ciro thrived as he scored 30 goals in the U17 division during the 2007/08 season. During a tournament against Torino, the scouts from Juventus were really impressed with his performance and later signed him at the age of 18 for 80,000 Euros. During his time with Juventus he played in the Primavera league and saw his team through to their 2009 win at Torneo di Viareggio. Throughout the season he scored a total of five goals for the Juventus youth side, with two of these being in the final.

• Sorrento – 2002 to 2008
• Juventus – 2008 to 2009

Immobile’s Senior Club History

In March 2009 Ciro made his debut as a s

Lazio and Roma are set to go head to head on the 26/01/2020 as part of the 19/20 Serie A tournament. With one match already played, this is their last game together for this season, so how do you think it will go? Will Roma or Lazio be victorious at the end of the match? In preparation for this fixture we have put this article together to discuss each club’s performance and try to gauge an insight on which side is likely to be the winner. To find out more, keep on reading!

Lazio’s Performance in the Serie A Tournaments

In 2020 Lazio is celebrating their 120^th anniversary earlier this month as they were founded on the 9^th January 1900. With the heightened anticipation of this anniversary, could we expect spirits to be high for the club and its players as they continue tackling the Serie A tournaments ahead? Their last five Serie A matches for this season have been impressive as they have secured a win for every single one. See the breakdown below.

Latest Five Serie A Matches for 2020:

• Lazio (3) V Udinese (0)
• Lazio (3) V Juventus (1)
• Lazio (2) V Cagliari (1)
• Lazio (2) V Brescia (1)
• Lazio (1) V Napoli (0)

As we can see from the results above, it is apparent that Lazio have been doing considerably well recently in the Serie A tournament for 2019/20. This breakdown above shows that they have won their last five matches against big names in Italian soccer such as Juventus and Napoli.

Looking further back to the beginning of the season up until now, Lazio has had an outstanding track record which saw them win 13 out of 18 matches with 2 losses against SPAL and Inter Milan, plus three draws with Roma, Atalanta and Bologna. If this is anything to go by, then we expect Lazio to put up a good fight during their upcoming match with Roma.

Lazio have always struggled to maintain a top spot in the Serie A tournament due to stronger sides such as Int

With the setup of the summer transfer window reportedly meant to be changing, where the business completed by the teams will have to be done before the new season starts, most clubs and managers will have to prepare themselves by creating a small list of targets before the current campaign is over.  

Sometimes, the best way to be effective within the market and be one step ahead of the other teams is by looking out for which individuals are close to being available on a free transfer. One of the huge factors to this, is that a potential club can negotiate and come to an agreement with a player that is in the final six months of his contract to go on to completing a move to his next destination on a summer Bosman move.

Here are the six European players that will become a free agent at the end of the season...

• Bundesliga – FC Schalke’s Max Meyer

Although the big sides in Europe tend to focus on bringing in central midfielders that bag assists and goals, Max Meyer is a unique talent that dictates play and controls the middle of the pitch whilst playing as a deep-lying playmaker. Just like many of the other attacking midfielders in the top leagues so far this season, the German international has been utilised in a more remote position, where he is simply the heartbeat of the team. This has been the exact outcome for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Kevin Kampl and Porto’s Oliver Torres.

He may not be well-known compared to the other talents within Bundesliga such as Christian Pulisic or Leon Bailey, however, Meyer has established himself as one of the best players within his department in recent years. Going from a huge attacking threat in the final third to a calm controller in the middle of the pitch, the 22-year-old has without a doubt, done more than enough to go on to moving to a club with more ambition.

Potential suitors from the Premier League: Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur.

22nd December 2017.

As the January transfer window is just around the corner, clubs all over Europe will be discussing their plans to bring in the targets they have identified.

Historically, January has been a time period where you might find a bargain in the market, due to the player forcing his way out of the club, or because their contract is expiring in six months' time.

With that being said, here are the three best free transfers available in Europe right now:

Mesut Özil Arsenal

The German's next club, should he leave Arsenal, will realise that they have secured one of the biggest bargains of the last decade.

It has been surprising to see the Gunners allow Mesut Özil to run down his contract with no contingency plan involved, and so there is no surprise to see a number of teams interested in signing the World Cup winner when his contract expires next June.

Özil is in the position now, coming into January, where he can sign a pre-contract with a foreign club, which states that he will officially sign for his new clubs once his existing contract with Arsenal expires on 30 June 2018.

Unfortunately for English clubs, Özil does not have that privilege, and so if Jose Mourinho is genuinely interested in the German, which it is to be believed that he is, the Portuguese boss has some convincing to get this deal done.

It is blatantly obvious how good Özil can be when he is in top form. There are always question marks over his consistency, but as proved when working under Mourinho, the 29 year old can be one of the best playmakers in the world.

Stefan de Vrij Lazio

Lazio's competitiveness this season has largely been down to Ciro Immobile's impeccable goal scoring run, but it cannot be without mention of Stefan de Vrij's importance who has been an absolute rock in the heart of their defence.

The central defender, standing at 1.90m, is a domineering player who gai

10th November 2017.
Over the course of the last six years, Serie A's title race has been something of a formality. Juventus, under Antonio Conte and now Massimiliano Allegri, have cruised to the Scudetto year after year without any serious competition. However, in the famous words of Bob Dylan, for the times, they are a-changin'.

Competition in 2017/18 Serie A

We are finally immersed in the wonderful spectacle that is a competitive Italian league. After 12 games - AS Roma and Lazio have only played 11 - Napoli sit at the summit, one point ahead of reigning champions Juventus and two in front of Luciano Spalletti's Inter.

Just behind the top three is Lazio, 28, and Roma, 27, with a game-in-hand to catch up the three teams ahead of them on 30, 31 and 32 points.

Milan were supposed to be in the mix, but problems with Vincenzo Montella's selection policy and the overhaul of the squad has prohibited them kicking on and competing for a Champions League place.

There is now a sense of a rejuvenation in Serie A, something we have not seen in many, many years. It is a sheer delight to watch Italian football each week because of the unpredictability that is going to occur.

European Football at its Best

For this is the same reason why the Premier League is, arguably, the most enjoyed league in the world.

Like the English Premier League, Serie A is not the best competition in terms of quality. That has to be Spain's La Liga. But not every spectator tunes in to be utterly wowed by the world-class dominance of Juventus - hence why Italian football went out of fashion through the Bianconeri's six-year dominance.

However, what the average fan does enjoy, is competitiveness. And finally Serie A has a show every match day that promises great, attacking football with a great sense of ambition

27th September 2017. By Ryan Baldi.
What should have been a landmark moment in his career, a commendable leap of faith to join a foreign giant with the promise of regular Champions League football, ended up tuning into a nightmare for Ciro Immobile.

The Italian international striker, fresh of a Capocannoniere season with Torino, at 24, was one of the hottest properties in Europe in the summer of 2014. With an €18 million bid, Borussia Dortmund snared the promising striker, taking him to the Bundesliga and Signal Iduna Park, where he was to replace Robert Lewandowski, the prolific Polish striker who'd joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer.

Filling Lewandowski's boots was always going to be tough for Immobile, and the pressure of expectation, the move to a new league in a foreign country, all amounted to a serious weight on the young forward's shoulders. It would ultimately prove too much to handle.

His maiden season in Germany returned just three league goals in 24 outings, slipping down the pecking order in Jürgen Klopp's side as the season drew on. And there would be no second chance, no admission that a period of adjustment and adaptation was perfectly normal and, if anything, to be expected. Instead, Immobile was shipped out on loan to Sevilla for the 2015/16 season.

The same challenges presented themselves the new country, different team with different tactics, and a new league with its own, unique demands  and the same struggle ensued. In a bizarre twist of circumstance, owing to the way many modern loan deals are structured, despite only eight La Liga appearances and two goals, an obligation to buy was triggered in November, meaning Sevilla purchased the player for the pre-agreed €8 million fee, on top of the €3 million they have shelled out for the initial loan period.

Far from assuring Immobile's status i

13th March 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Ciro Immobile followed on beautifully from what he described as one of the best nights in his career in Lazio's sensational Coppa Italia semi final victory over AS Roma last week by putting in another exceptional performance against Bologna in the league.

Immobile's brilliant brace vs Bologna saw him continue his stunning rejuvenation at Lazio, after tough loan spells at Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla over the last couple of seasons, with the 27-year-old now back to his best, propelling his Serie A goal tally to 16.

The former Capocannoniere winner with Torino in 2013/2014 used his explosive set of attributes, in tandem with his intuitive movement, to put the Rossoblu to the sword in fine style.

From his centre forward slot, his targeting of the left half space was a key theme of his showing, regularly using this area of the pitch effectively. Whenever Lazio attacking midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who usually operated in and around the left half space, would drag his opponent upfield when he dropped deep towards the half way line, Immobile would wait for his opportunity to pounce. Once Emil Krafth, Bologna's right wing back, followed Savic deep, Immobile would immediately angle his runs into the now vacated space.

With his teammates regularly looking for his runs, he regularly latched onto through balls in this area. A key byproduct of this tactic was that Bologna's left sided central defender, Marios Oikonomou, would be forced to track him and leave his post, thus creating vital space in the centre. In addition, by often inheriting passes at pace and not hugging the touchline, he could then isolate his marker in 1v1 situations, using his wicked pace and technical qualities to often beat his man or manufacture space for himself to shoot.

A testament to the success

By Edward Stratmann.

Due to the Stadio Olimpico hosting the Six Nations Rugby contest between Italy and England, Lazio's Serie A match with Hellas Verona was pushed forward to the unusual timeslot of 7.45pm on a Thursday night.

Stefano Pioli's men knew they were in for a real battle against the bottom placed strugglers, however, for the Mastiffs were unbeaten in their last five matches heading into the clash. Ultimately, while Luigi Delneri's side put in a spirited showing, they eventually succumbed to Lazio's quality, losing 5-2.

One man whose performance deserved special mention was Felipe Anderson. The enigmatic attacker, who's endured a rather turbulent campaign to date, once again showed why he's such a frustrating player for Lazio's fans. On his day, he's unstoppable, but he's had far too many off days this season. But then, to remind us all of his incredible talent, he'll put in a performance like the one against Verona on Thursday. One full of skill, pace, incision and intelligence.

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From his post on the right wing, the Brazilian wreaked havoc on his direct opponent, inexperienced 19-year-old left-back Mohamed Fares, by using his speed, trickery, frighteningly quick acceleration and razor sharp changes of direction. In a game where he recorded an outstanding four successful dribbles, the two-footed Anderson posed a hugely unpredictable threat that Fares simply couldn't deal with. Midway through the first half, Delneri clearly instructed Bosko Jankovic, Verona's left winger at the time, to track back vigorously and support the young fullback of Algerian descent at all times.

With almost 51 minutes gone, in an attempt to limit Anderson's influence, Delneri opted to take off Fares and bring on 22-year-old