Lazio – Bayern: The battle of strikers at Stadio Olimpico

They have reached the Champions League quarter-finals or better in eight of the last nine seasons. They are unbeaten in 16 European away games (12 wins), since a 3-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017. They are unbeaten in their last five visits to Italy, winning three of those games. In knockout ties against the Italian opposition, they have won four times, drawn twice, and lost five. They had 15 consecutive wins in Europe before drawing with Atletico Madrid in a meaningless match in the group stage. They are current European and World champions.

So, how do you play them? Or to be more precise, how do you play them, when you failed to keep a clean sheet in your last 17 Champions League outings? How do you play them when you nearly went out of your group and had to battle with Club Brugge? How do you play them when you have only reached the Champions League knockouts once in their previous five attempts, in 1999 (Bayern have since won the tournament three times and played in a further two finals)?

Well, first of all, you have to be happy that you made it this far. Second, you have to remember that in football, anything is possible, that’s why it’s the most popular sport in the world. Third, it’s nice to know that you have won seven out of the last eight league games, while your opponent is in the middle of a mini-crisis, drawing one and losing another Bundesliga game. And that’s exactly how Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi is seeing it.

„It’s beautiful, it’s the culmination of five years of work together with a wonderful group. We’ll try to play the game with the right carefree attitude and the usual humility. Bayern just became World Champion, they picked up a draw and a defeat in their last two games, but after five straight wins. For a long time, we knew we had to live a similar night. We’ve been thinking about it since yesterday. This game is the icing on the cake for the job we’ve done and I’m working on the strengths of Lazio rather than on Bayern’s weaknesses. We will try to do the best we have always done. We want to remain in the race in all ways. We know they are almost unplayable, but it happened to do well in the past, despite not being the favorites. We are mature, we have played many finals and the quarter-finals of the Europa League last season. Immobile and Lewandowski are two of the best forwards playing today. Immobile was the golden boot winner and Lewandowski the Balon D'or. It will be a great battle between them” said Inzaghi at the press conference.

Untypical for Italians, especially for teams not called Juventus, but Lazio has an excellent striker in their ranks, and he’s got the Golden Booth to prove it. Ciro Immobile was the top scorer in Europe’s top leagues last season with 36 goals in 37 Serie A matches. In the current campaign, the Italian striker has scored 14 goals in 21 games. But he knows, as well as his coach, who is the best striker in the world at the moment.

„Lewandowski is a complete striker. I think he is currently the best No 9 in the world, so we have to be very careful. It was crazy to beat him in the race for the Golden Boot. To challenge great players like him and Cristiano Ronaldo brought me great happiness” said Ciro.

And he is right. Lewandowski was the top-scorer in the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB Cup last season with a combined total of 55 goals. He's already on 31 for the current campaign, 26 (in Bundesliga). In last season's last 16, Lewandowski had on three goals and four assists as Bayern beat Chelsea 7-1 on aggregate and has 71 goals - a tally that puts him level with Real Madrid icon Raul at third on the competition's all-time list - in just 94 Champions League games.

Apart from Lewandowski, Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi knows that even without Thomas Muller, Bayern has a number of players capable of producing assists and supplying Lewandowski: Joshua Kimmich and Coman have 10 and 9 assists, Sane has seven and even Lewandowski has six assists.

But even with so many powerful tools, Hansi Flick still allowed Arminia to score three goals, while Eintracht Frankfurt won against his team 2-1, and it could have been more goals in Neuer’s net.

„I’m not one to make excuses. The games against Frankfurt and Bielefeld did not go well. Now we have to be at the top in the Champions League. These are special games for us and I expect the team to be particularly motivated. We are aware of what’s happened in the last few days. I want Bayern to show what we can do from the start and I am convinced that the team will show it tomorrow. We still have in mind their games against Borussia Dortmund, they played very well. Miro Klose can always help us, not only against Lazio but also because he always has good ideas. He played with some of their players and knows Simone Inzaghi well“ said Bayern coach.

One of the coaches for the Bavarians is former Lazio striker Miroslav Klose, and he knows his opponents very well.

"You can't compare Bayern Munich with Lazio, because they’re completely different types of players and the opposing coaches have different approaches. I would never make the mistake of belittling the team or badmouthing them either – that would be a mistake because I’m convinced the way they play football makes them a very dangerous team. I’ve watched a lot of Lazio games this season and, of course, their strength is primarily being compact – they know playing on the break after winning the ball is their strength, but they also play a pressing game at times and get on the front foot against opponents when they can. I do think they will sit back a bit against us, so they can try and score in counter-attacks. They have hard-running and fast players on the wings who can be a bit dangerous" said Klose.

On the injury front, hosts will be without Luiz Felipe, Stefan Radu, Thomas Strakosha, and Andreas Pereira. Apart from Covid absentees Thomas Muller and Benjamin Pavard, Corentin Tolisso, Serge Gnabry, and Douglas Costa are injured. Leon Goretzka (two goals, one assist in four Champions League appearances so far) and Javi Martinez could start are recently returning from injury.

Lazio: Reina - Patric, Acerbi, Hoedt - Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva, Alberto, Fares - Immobile (c), Correa

Bayern: Neuer (c) - Süle, Boateng, Alaba, Davies - Kimmich, Roca - Sane, Goretzka, Coman - Lewandowski

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Last 16 - First leg

Tuesday

23.00: Lazio - Bayern

23.00: Atletico Madrid - Chelsea

Wednesday

23.00: Monchengladbach - Manchester City                                

23.00: Atalanta - Real Madrid