JAKARTA - After advancing to the last 16 of the Europa League impressively, Lazio will travel to Viktoria Plzen's headquarters in the first leg match which will be held at the Mesta Plzne Stadium on Thursday 6 March or Friday morning WIB.
For the first time in history, both teams will face each other. The winner of this duel will face one of Bodo/Glimt or Olympiacos in the quarter-finals.
Lazio performed outstanding in the group stage by defeating strong teams such as Ajax, Porto, and Real Sociedad. The club from the Italian capital finished as the leader of the standings with a collection of 19 points, which gave them a direct ticket to the last 16 without having to go through the play-offs.
Marco Baroni's side won six of their first seven matches before finally losing their last game against unspecified Braga. With this record, Lazio are on track to record their best European campaign, which previously took place in the 1999-2000 Champions League with eight wins.
Ambitious to win the first European trophy since winning the 1999 UEFA Super Cup and Cup Winners' Cup a few months earlier, the Biancocelestes became one of the favorite teams in the Europa League this season. However, they had a poor record in the knockout stages of European competition, winning only two of their last 13 matches, with nine defeats.
Lazio have just been knocked out of the Coppa Italia after losing 0-2 to Inter Milan, who currently lead Serie A. The defeat may have left a psychological impact, but they got a huge motivational shot after a dramatic 2-1 win over AC Milan at the San Siro last weekend. Pedro's penalty goal in the 98th minute confirmed three very important points in next season's Champions League ticket race.
In Serie A, Lazio are still competing closely with Bologna, Juventus, Fiorentina, and even their city rivals, AS Roma, to finish in the top four. Therefore, they must share the focus between domestic competition and the Europa League.
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With three wins in the last four away games in European competitions, Lazio have a great opportunity to bring home a positive result before playing the second leg at Stadio Olimpico next week.
Meanwhile, Viktoria Plzen again competed at the European level after reaching the quarter-finals of last season's Conference League. Their journey in the Europa League this season was not easy. Miroslav Koubek's club only finished outside the top eight of the league phase after losing in two of the last three matches.
However, they came back in the play-offs by beating Ferencvaros. Despite losing 0-1 in the first leg, they turned things around with a 3-0 win in the second leg. Their star, Pavel Sulc, scored a goal in the win and confirmed their place in the last 16.
Plzen will now host Lazio with strong capital at home. They have only lost once in their last 12 home games in the Europa League and recorded 10 wins in that period.
In the domestic competition, Plzen also showed a slick performance. They are currently in second place in the Czech League and won three of the last four matches in all competitions, including a 4-1 win over Zlin in the domestic cup.
However, their record against the Italian team was not so good. From the last eight meetings, Plzen only won once, namely against AS Roma in the 2018 Champions League.
Coach Marco Baroni had to overcome several injury problems in the Lazio camp. Their flagship striker, Taty Castellos, is still sidelined due to injury. With the absence of Castellanos, the main striker position is likely to be occupied by Loum Tchaouna or Tijjani Noslin.
In addition, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Elseid Hysaj are also not available for this match. However, there is good news for Lazio, because full-back Adam Marusic is expected to recover from a minor knee injury and can enter the squad.
One of Lazio's key players in the Europa League, Pedro, has the opportunity to appear as a starter after scoring a winning goal against AC Milan. In addition, reserve goalkeeper Christos Mandas will replace Ivan Provedel as the main goalkeeper for this match.
On the host side, Viktoria Plzen's main goalkeeper, Martin Jedlicka, has shown impressive performance by recording the third-largest number of saves in the Europa League this season. Meanwhile, defender Szson Dweh has recorded the highest number of ball recoverys in the tournament, but he has to be careful because he has collected yellow cards and is at risk of being suspended.
In attack, Plzen will rely on the duo of Pavel Sulc and Matej Vydra, who have scored three goals and three assists in the Europa League this season, respectively.
Lazio came to this match with capital big wins in Serie A and an improving away record in Europe. Meanwhile, Plzen has the power at home and an impressive record in the Europa League.
With this condition, Lazio are still seeded to win the game, but they must be wary of the surprises of the home team that are not easily beaten in Plzen.
Viktoria Plzen (3-4-1-2):Jedlicka; Dweh, Markovic, Jemelka; Havel, Cerv, Kalvach, Cadu; Sulc; Vydra, Durosimni.
Lazio (4-2-3-1):Mandas; Lazzari, Gila, Patric, Pellegrini; Guendouzi, Belahyane; Isaksen, Pedro, Zaccagni; Noslin.
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