Lazio’s current form is as impressive as it is unexpected.
At the start of March, Lazio are just one point behind the reigning champions, Juventus, and are challenging the Bianconeri in a genuine title race.
Lazio are not a team that spend a lot of time with the ball (they average 51% possession in Serie A this season) or passes with much regularity (the team averages 471 passes per game, similar to the average of their opponents). However, Lazio are an extremely competent team with a very well-defined system.
Playing with three centre backs in a 5-3-2 formation, Lazio’s exceptional defensive organisation not only closes the space available to opponents in the attacking third, it also guarantees that there are always at least four players in the defensive line. This enables Lazio to control the space in their own half of the field and set a platform for strong counterattacks.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Luis Alberto are crucial to this counterattacking style, regularly receiving the ball from the defence and accelerating into the opposition half. Serving Lazio’s front pairing of Ciro Immobile and Joaquin Correa, Milinkovic-Savic and Alberto patiently wait for the moment possession is recovered before moving the ball upfield at great speed.
Combining excellent defensive organisation with world-class offensive transition play, Lazio is in a real fight to win its first Scudetto since 2000.
This article was prepared with the collaboration of Catapult. The video was edited in the Catapult Vision video analysis platform. Find out more about the software here.
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