Lazio take on the visitors Bayern Munich in the first leg of UEFA Champions League 1/8-finals. The match will be played on Wednesday, February 14th at Stadio Olimpico (Rome).
Lazio showed their best result since the beginning of the century last season. They didn't aim for the scudetto and didn't seriously threaten Napoli's triumph, but confidently finished second. After the summer break, Sarri's proteges had a disastrous start. And although they somewhat picked up momentum later on, there's still a significant chance they might finish outside the top 4 in Serie A. Things didn't go well in the country's Super Cup either. But the cycle can't be considered entirely unsuccessful for the sky blues. They continue to compete in the national cup, where, after barely beating Roma in the Capitol derby, they've already reached the semifinals. And in the Champions League, although it wasn't easy, by showing character (like Provedel's equalizing goal against Atletico) and class, they earned 10 points and advanced to the knockout stage.
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Bayern are more disappointing than satisfying lately. The Southern Star certainly missed the mark with Nagelsmann as Flick's successor. They paid record compensation to RB Leipzig for Julian, but after not giving him time to work through his second season, they unexpectedly replaced him with Tuchel last spring. Tuchel was on the verge of a complete failure, but after being eliminated from the Cup and the Champions League, in the final round of the Bundesliga, the record champions miraculously (thanks to a draw with Borussia at home against Mainz) secured the silver salad bowl. Now, with a number of newcomers led by Kane, there was a new pile of failures, giving haters something to compare: a 0-3 loss to RB Leipzig in the Super Cup, elimination by Saarbrucken, a team languishing in the third tier of football, from the cup, and a 1-5 defeat in Frankfurt. In the Bundesliga, instead of the usual gap from competitors, the favorite itself was behind Bayer, and in the last round, it stumbled in a face-to-face match with Leverkusen's representative. Of course, against the backdrop of the Champions League, it looks like a breath of fresh air. But there's a possibility that the successes there are due to the fact that their opponents in the fall were a deflated Manchester United and simply weak, given their level, Galatasaray and Copenhagen. Now it's time to seriously demonstrate their potential – will they be able to please the fans?
Three years ago, in the round of 16 of the Champions League, the Germans visited Rome – and won convincingly with a score of 4-1. And then they were stronger at home as well, albeit more modestly, with a 2-1 victory. The Germans may not live up to the status of the clear favorites in this match. But it won't be boring, let's bet that in the confrontation between Kane and Immobile, there will be a total over 2.5 goals.
Prediction for the match: Over 2.5 scored goals.
