Celtic lost their opening Champions League group stage game of the season against Feyenoord. It was a decent display in the first half but all their good work was undone by conceding an avoidable goal and then seeing two players sent off. As a result, their next game in the competition, against Lazio at Parkhead, is somewhat of a must-win for Brendan Rodgers’ side.
This is one of the games which looks winnable for Celtic. Most people might view Lazio as the favourites, but they are not in good form right now.
Lazio currently sit at 14th in the Serie A table. They have lost four of their seven league games this season till now. On top of that, they are dealing with a number of fitness issues as well. Thus, this seems like a good time to come up against them.
Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri clearly is not happy with their schedule and has let it be known publicly. As reported by the Daily Record, he said:
"“In all my years in football, I have never seen a schedule like this. They have made us have three away games in a row at Napoli, Juventus and AC Milan. This is why we are struggling.“I don’t know what our aim is in Europe – the only thing we can do is try to get out of the group. But the Champions League is a luxury for us. Serie A is our main priority. We are not a great team. But we have had about 50 muscle injuries this season. We have to play every three days and then the players go and play in international breaks.“I hope FIFA, UEFA and Serie A accept responsibility for this. I am completely outraged by them. I don’t know who will be fit for the Celtic game because we have so many injuries. For example, I had to put Ciro Immobile on the bench because he had a slight knock before the match. It was a risk putting him on. I will turn my attention to Celtic on Monday.”"
Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri angry before facing Celtic
While Sarri might not view the Champions League as a priority for Lazio, do not expect him to put out a weakened team in midweek. The Italian side got a positive result in their opening fixture, all things considered, as they drew 1-1 against group favourites Atletico Madrid.
If Celtic are to have any chance of not finishing bottom of the group, then they need to take some points against Lazio. They are the team out of the four, who look the most out of form right now.
Celtic will have good memories of facing Lazio in the recent past. A few years back, the Hoops managed to win at both home and away against the Italian club, when the two teams met each other in the Europa League.