After the dramatic scenes in the first day of the 2023/2024 UEFA Champions League Last 16, the second day of this stage of the competition this season had Ciro Immobile’s S.S. Lazio taking on German Bundesliga 1 juggernauts Bayern Munich and French giants Paris Saint-Germain facing Real Sociedad from the Spanish La Liga. In contrast to many predictions, Thomas Tuchel’s Bavarians did not come out on top against their counterparts from the Italian Serie A, with Ciro Immobile’s side overcoming their visitors with a 1-0 score line, thanks to a goal from the spot by the 33-year-old Italian skipper and forward in the second 45 minutes.
Upamecano Saw Red in the Second Half
Bayern Munich visited Lazio at Stadio Olimpico on the back of a devastating 3-0 loss suffered against league leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the German top-flight football last weekend; The defeat not only left Tuchel’s men 5 points trailing Xabi Alonso’s team in the league table, but Bayer 04 Leverkusen also remained undefeated in all competitions they have participated in the 2023/2024 Season thus far, winning 27 times and scoring a staggering total of 93 goals in 31 matches in all tournaments.
Despite their aim to recover from the disappointment against Leverkusen in the league last time around, Bayern Munich saw themselves fall behind for the second consecutive game, as Ciro Immobile’s Italian Serie A outfit gained advantage in the number of players not long after the hour mark.
German wonderkid Jamal Musiala was dispossessed in a failed attack by the visitors, followed by Felipe Anderson being unleashed towards the Bayern goal. The Brazilian forward then relentlessly charged forward, and squared a pass to his captain Ciro Immobile, who showed his superb dribbling technique that beat several Bavarians. Ciro Immobile’s subsequent shot was blocked by the defence, but before Gustav Isaksen could have a shot at the ricocheted ball, the young Danish striker was fouled by Dayot Upamecano via a late challenge, forcing the referee to award a penalty to the home team and give the Frenchman his marching orders as penalisations.
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Ciro Immobile’s Spot Kick Sealed the Deal for Lazio in the UCL Last 16 First Leg
Upstepped Ciro Immobile for the following spot kick from 12 yards, and the veteran player sent the fit-again German shot stopper Manuel Neuer to the wrong way. The goal that found the bottom right corner was Ciro Immobile’s fourth goal in seven appearances in the UEFA Champions League in 2023/2024 so far, bringing his season tally to double digits in 28 games played in all competitions. Both teams did not manage to find any more goals in this UEFA Champions League Last 16 first leg, meaning S.S. Lazio will be taking the 1-0 advantage to Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich, for the returning leg of this continental cup tie three weeks from now.
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👑 Ciro Immobile
Lazio lead Bayern… 👀#UCL pic.twitter.com/Gf6LUOMs7s
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 14, 2024
Did Upamecano Deserve to Be Sent Off?
The 25-year-old France national team centre-back deserved to be penalised for his late and reckless challenge on Isaksen inside the penalty box, which eventually led to the only goal of the game being scored by Ciro Immobile, but the decision that saw the Frenchman redcardded perhaps was a little too harsh according to many football pundits and fans. To make matters worse, as the main culprit of Bayern Munich’s second consecutive loss in all competitions following his red card, Upamecano received racist comments over his actions, leading the German football giants to condemn these remarks via their official social media account.
In a post on X, the 33-time German top-flight football champions said: “FC Bayern strongly condemn the racist comments being directed towards Dayot Upamecano on social media. Anyone who comments hateful words such as these is no fan of our club. We’re all behind you, Upa!”
FC Bayern strongly condemn the racist comments being directed towards Dayot Upamecano on social media. Anyone who comments hateful words such as these is no fan of our club. We’re all behind you, Upa!
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) February 14, 2024
Tuchel on the Lazio Defeat and His Future
Tuchel certainly was not satisfied with Bayern’s performance after they were defeated by Lazio via Ciro Immobile’s penalty. The German said: “We’re frustrated and angry about the defeat. I think we lost the game, I’m not sure Lazio won it. We did everything we could to fall behind, making errors and losing confidence. (There was) no need for Upamecano to go in like that. It’s not wild or intentional – but just block the shot.”
The ex-Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea manager went on to add: “We started well, had a chance in the first minute and then with Harry Kane and then with Jamal Musiala. We had the game under control in the first half. But in the second our performance dropped inexplicably. We made too many individual errors and made our opponents stronger and we lost concentration. We lost our rhythm. It was completely our responsibility. We lost a game today that in the first half looked like we could not lose it. Worried about my future? No I am not.”
Thomas Müller, on the other hand, offered his thoughts about the Lazio-Bayern Munich matchup in the knockout round of the UEFA Champions League. “From my perspective, we produced a reaction in the first half. We should definitely have taken the lead in the first half. We had three clear-cut goal scoring opportunities in the first half and to have that many chances inside one half of a Champions League away game in Rome, you have to convert them,” said the one-club man at the Bavarians.
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