Suffered qualification
- Simon Basten
- Dec 8, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Game 6, Champions League Group Stage
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio Club Brugge 2-2
Lazio almost lost the match but secured qualification to the Champions League knock out phase
In Champions League things had gone well so far. After beating Borussia Dortmund in their first game, they had then drawn away to Club Brugge, drawn and beaten Zenith Saint Petersburg, and drawn away at Dortmund where only a post denied them victory. They needed just one point to reach the knock stage in second place.
The match
For a night that was meant to mark the return of Champions League stability, Lazio instead delivered a performance that veered between control, anxiety and outright chaos. By the final whistle, the Romans had secured the point they needed — a 2–2 draw with Club Brugge — but only after surviving a stoppage-time scare that left the Stadio Olimpico holding its breath.
What should have been a routine evening became a reminder of how fragile progress can feel on Europe’s biggest stage. Twenty years had passed since Lazio last reached the knockout phase. They arrived at this decisive group match unbeaten, with home advantage and facing opponents reduced to ten men before half-time. Yet qualification was nearly snatched from their grasp.
The early stages seemed to reflect a side eager to seize control of its destiny. Lazio pressed high, moved the ball quickly and were rewarded with a 12th-minute opener. One-two Luis Alberto-Joaquín Correa, the Spaniard’s shot was parried by the keeper, but the Argentinian reacted sharply to turn in a rebound. It was precisely the sort of assertive start manager Simone Inzaghi had demanded after a campaign punctuated by injuries, absences and pandemic-related disruptions.
But if Lazio’s supporters have learned anything over recent seasons, it is that their team rarely does things the easy way. Only three minutes after Correa’s strike, uncertainty crept in. Noa Lang tried a shot, Pepe Reina fumbled and Ruud Vormer capitalised to level the score — a reminder that Brugge, despite needing a win to progress, were not intimidated by reputation or circumstance. Demonstrated also by the shot only slightly wide attempted by Charles De Ketelaere in the 19th minute.
Ciro Immobile restored the lead from the penalty spot in the 27th minute drawing and converting a foul with typical conviction. Yet even at 2–1, the Italians looked unsettled, their midfield alternating between controlled possession and careless turnovers.
When Eduard Sobol received a second yellow card in the 39th minute, the evening appeared to tilt decisively in Lazio’s favour. A man up, on home soil, with attackers capable of punishing stretched defences, Inzaghi’s side had an ideal platform to play with intelligence and maturity.
Instead, they drifted.
Passes grew slower, distances between players widened and Brugge — admirably disciplined under pressure — sensed opportunity rather than defeat. With Vormer orchestrating transitions and Hans Vanaken making lung-bursting late runs, the Belgian champions began to impose themselves despite the numerical disadvantage.
The Biancocelesti did have their chances. Correa had a big opportunity to score in the 49th minute but his shot on a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic assist shaved the post. In the 73rd Immobile missed a sitter on a counterattack orchestrated by Luis Alberto. But when a powerful Vanaken header 14 minutes from time gave the Belgians the equaliser, it felt less like a surprise and more like the logical outcome of Lazio’s retreat.
From that moment, tension dominated. The Biancocelesti no longer appeared a side protecting a lead; they looked a side protecting an idea — that this season would be the one in which they rejoined Europe’s elite.
Brugge, liberated by the simplicity of their task — score or go home — pushed forward with admirable boldness. De Ketelaere, still early in his career but already radiating confidence, nearly delivered a stunning twist. Deep into stoppage time, he latched onto a loose ball inside the area and sent a rising effort past the outstretched Reina. The crossbar, rather than any defender, came to Lazio’s rescue.
It was the kind of moment that defines Champions League group campaigns: inches from disaster, inches from triumph.
Who played for Lazio
Reina, Luiz Felipe, Hoedt (46’ Radu), Acerbi, Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva (75’ Escalante), Luis Alberto (75’ Akpa Akpro), Marusic, Correa (86’ Andreas Pereira), Immobile (75’ Caicedo)
Manager: Inzaghi
Who played for Club Brugge
Mignolet, Clinton Mata (84' Van Der Brempt), Kossounou, Ricca, Sobol, Vormer, Vanaken, Balanta (77' Rits), De Ketelaere, Diatta (84' Okereke), Lang (42' Deli)
Substitutes: Horvath, Mechele, Badji, Schrijvers, Bonaventura
Manager: Clement
Referee: Çakır
Goals: 12’ Correa, 15’ Vormer, 27 Immobile (pen), 76’ Vanaken
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