October 28, 2020: Bruges Lazio 1-1, Champions League
Lazio Battle to a Point in Bruges
Correa gives Lazio the lead, but Vanaken's penalty earns Bruges a draw in a night of extraordinary adversity
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had come fourth securing a Champions League qualification for the first time since 2007. At one point there were even scudetto hopes, but the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic and the forced stoppage took away the exceptional state of form Lazio were in, so they had to settle for fourth.
This season there were high hopes to maintain the position acquired last year and to do well in CL. In the summer transfer window new players arrived: Pepe Reina (free agent), Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (Salernitana), Gonzalo Escalante (free agent), Mohamed Fares (Spal), Andreas Pereira (on loan from Manchester United), Vedat Muriqi (Fenerbahçe) and the return of Wesley Hoedt on loan from Southampton. Leaving Lazio were Jordan Lukaku (loan to Antwerp), André Anderson (loan to Salernitana), Jony (loan to Osasuna), Bobby Adekanye (loan to Cadiz), Valon Berisha (Stade Reims), Riccardo Kishna and Ivan Vargic who had not renewed their contracts.
The summer was characterised by the possible arrival of David Silva, splendid Spanish midfielder who had not renewed his contract with Manchester City. The first contacts between the player's agent, his brother Nandez Jimenez, started on July 27. The first offer arrived on August 4: three-year contract, 10 billion euros gross, apartment in central Rome, use of private jet. Jimenez arrived in Rome on August 7 to fine tune the details and all was decided. David Silva would be playing for Lazio.
Slight problem. He had not signed the contract. Lazio sent the documentation and waited. The agent literally disappeared and Silva continued to train with Man City. Sporting director Igli Tare tried to reach out to the player and his entourage but to no avail.
The club decided to issue an ultimatum for August 16. Still no news. On the 17th Jimenez contacted Lazio to say that the deal was off and a few hours later Silva signed for Real Sociedad.
What happened? David Silva’s agent used Lazio to get a deal with Real Sociedad. As a consequence, with the fans fuming with anger at Tare for not having closed the deal, the club got anxious and signed Muriqi paying him way too much. But Igli needed to send a sign to calm things down. A big mistake.
In Serie A things were not going too well. They were currently tenth on seven points together with Fiorentina and Cagliari. In Champions League however they had had an excellent start beating Borussia Dortmund in their first game. Today was the second
The match: Wednesday, October 28, 2021, Jan Breydelstadion, Bruges
Lazio arrived in Bruges for their second Champions League group match with their squad reduced to the bare minimum.
Simone Inzaghi was without a remarkable number of players, including Ciro Immobile, Luis Alberto, Thomas Strakosha, Luiz Felipe, Lucas Leiva, Manuel Lazzari and Stefan Radu, while Senad Lulic was still a long-term absentee. The Covid-related situation had further complicated matters, with Andreas Pereira only receiving clearance to travel after a further test.
Inzaghi consequently had only twelve outfield players available, with Primavera midfielder Szymon Czyz among the substitutes. The coach responded by adopting a cautious approach, keeping the lines close together and deliberately slowing the tempo. Lazio frequently played the ball back to Pepe Reina, attempting to draw Bruges forward before looking for space behind their defence.
The strategy worked in the opening stages. Joaquin Correa had already tested Simon Mignolet before Lazio took the lead in the 14th minute. Adam Marusic combined with Correa, who cut inside and curled a left-footed shot into the corner to make it 1-0.
Lazio subsequently found opportunities to exploit the space created by Bruges' high defensive line, but the final pass repeatedly let them down. Mohamed Fares, in particular, missed one promising counter-attacking opportunity that could have produced a second goal.
Bruges enjoyed possession without creating many clear chances. Charles De Ketelaere came close after Krépin Diatta's cross, while another dangerous situation resulted from Patric failing to clear a cross cleanly. For the most part, however, Lazio were defending in an organised fashion and appeared capable of reaching half-time ahead.
Then came the turning point.
With the first half almost over, a Bruges corner was headed away by Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, but Patric was adjudged to have held Mats Rits. Referee Anthony Taylor initially allowed play to continue before the VAR intervention sent him to the pitch-side monitor. A penalty was awarded and Hans Vanaken sent Reina the wrong way to make it 1-1.
It was a frustrating end to a first half in which Lazio had largely executed their game plan.
Patric, who had already been booked and was also suffering from illness, was replaced at half-time by Andreas Pereira. Inzaghi immediately reorganised the team, moving Marco Parolo into the right side of the defence and pushing Akpa Akpro into a deeper midfield position.
Bruges began to increase the pressure, particularly down Lazio's left, where Fares was struggling. Inzaghi responded by introducing Vedat Muriqi and changing to a 4-4-2, with Milinkovic-Savic and Akpa Akpro operating centrally, Correa on the left and Pereira on the right.
The Belgian side now dominated the second half, but Reina repeatedly kept Lazio alive. He first denied Emmanuel Dennis and then produced another important save from Mats Rits' header. Eduard Sobol then missed an extraordinary opportunity when he failed to find the target with the goal open.
Lazio were forced increasingly into a defensive role. Felipe Caicedo eventually had to leave the field with a shoulder problem, prompting the unexpected Champions League debut of 19-year-old Szymon Czyz. The young Pole immediately showed energy and personality in a match in which simply surviving had become Lazio's priority.
Yet Lazio still had moments when they could have stolen the victory.
Milinkovic-Savic nearly produced the decisive goal when he controlled a long ball from Francesco Acerbi and advanced towards Mignolet, only for the Bruges goalkeeper to come out quickly and block his effort. Andreas Pereira also had a late opportunity but could not find the finish.
Bruges continued to push until the final whistle, but Lazio held firm.
For Lazio, the 1-1 draw meant remaining at the top of Group F alongside Bruges after two matches. More importantly, it was a performance shaped by circumstances that forced Inzaghi to improvise throughout the evening: only twelve outfield players were available, Pereira arrived in Belgium on matchday, and Czyz was ultimately thrown into the action for his first official appearance for the senior team.
Who played for Bruges
Mignolet, Clinton, Kossonou, Deli, Diatta, Vormer, Rits, Vanaken, Sobol, De Ketelaere (83' Lang), Bonaventure (88' Krmencik)
Substitutes: Horvath, Balanta, Schrijvers, Ricca, Okereke, Badji, Mechele
Manager: Clement.
Who played for Lazio
Reina, Patric (46' Pereira), Hoedt, Acerbi, Marusic, Akpa Akpro, Parolo, Milinkovic-Savic, Fares (54' Muriqi), Correa, Caicedo (68' Czyz)
Substitutes: Furlanetto, Alia, Bertini, Franco, Pica
Manager: S. Inzaghi
Referee: Taylor
Goals: 14’ Correa, 41’ Vanaken (pen)
What happened next
The season was characterised by great games, on a par with the previous season, and matches where Lazio were completely absent. So often the team would make three steps forward one week and two back the week after. And these steps back were often against “weaker teams”.
Why were there problems? There were probably four reasons.
Lazio, for the first time in many many years, were in the Champions League. This sapped some of the strength out of the team.
The second problem was that the players purchased in the summer were not doing well and the much-needed reinforcements came in areas where there was no need (€20 million for Vedat Muriqi) instead of where they were desperately needed (defence).
Simone Inzaghi was making many mistakes. He chose Mohamed Fares and the return of Wesley Hoedt in the transfer window and they were just not good enough; he kept on insisting to play Joaquin Correa who was the shadow of the previous season; kept Luis Alberto on the pitch for 90 minutes on his off days and substituted him early in the second half on his good days; had problems in reading the games and therefore often blundered substitutions. The management of Thomas Strakosha was also terrible and ruined not only the player but also his relationship with the club.
The last problem was Covid. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Lazio had lost themselves. Before Covid they were on top of their game, since, they were struggling.
In the Champions League the Biancocelesti were eliminated by Bayern Munich. In Coppa Italia they reached the quarter finals but were defeated by Atalanta.
At the end of the first half of the season they were sixth with Napoli and had four consecutive victories, including a 3-0 in the derby. The wins on the trot (including beating Atalanta in Bergamo) became six before falling to Inter.
However, an unjustifiable loss at Bologna in February took them back to where they started. Another five consecutive wins allowed the Biancocelesti to fight for 4th place before being hammered 5-2 by Napoli.
There was still hope after beating Milan at home 3-0 but another black out against Fiorentina and a dismal performance against Roma were the nail in the coffin as far as a Champions League qualification went. At least Lazio qualified for the Europa League.
The player with most appearances this season was Marusic with 46 games, and the top scorer was obviously Immobile with 25 goals.
Let’s talk about Damiano Franco
Damiano Franco was born in Rome on February 22, 2002. A defender, he played for Lazio at Under-17 level and from 2019 to 2021 with the Primavera team. In the 2020-21 season, he made seven appearances on the bench between Serie A and the Champions League.
In the summer of 2021, he signed for Reggina in Serie B but made just one league appearance.
He played a little more with Robur Siena in Serie C the following season, making 13 appearances.
He returned to Reggio Calabria but never played for Reggina.
In 2024, he joined Montevarchi as a free agent and in 2025-26 played for Montespaccato in the same division. In the summer of 2026, he signed for Anzio.
Sources
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