Lazio’s next opponents in the Champions League and Europa League, respectively, both suffered home defeats over the weekend. In the Premier League, Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton was thrashed 3-0 by Fulham, and Bayern Munich was surprised by a draw with Freiburg.
Next week, Lazio will be the first Italian team playing in Europe. On Tuesday night, they will go to Bavaria to play Bayern at the Allianz Arena in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 match.
Maurizio Sarri’s team won in the Stadio Olimpico, giving them a 1-0 lead.
Since the start of the season, Bayern has struggled under Thomas Tuchel. By the end of the weekend, they might be 10 points behind Xabi Alonso’s undefeated Bayer Leverkusen team.
Bayern has only won one of their past five games in all competitions after their 2-2 draw with Freiburg.
Brighton under Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi has similarly not had a good year in 2024.
The mid-table rivals Fulham gave the Seagulls a severe 3-0 blow on Saturday; since the start of the season, the Seagulls have only won two of their eight Premier League games.
From the squad that lost 1-0 to Wolves in the FA Cup on Wednesday, Brighton had made seven changes.
For the first time since mid-August, De Zerbi was able to include highly-regarded rookie Julio Enciso back into the starting lineup; nonetheless, his presence was insufficient to save a second straight loss this week.
The unsteady performances of Bayern and Brighton in their own leagues will help Lazio and Roma. Lazio only needs a draw to go to the Champions League quarterfinals, while Roma still needs to play Brighton in two legs of their Europa League round of 16 match.
Next week, Atalanta will also be playing in Europe. On Sunday night, their opponents, Sporting CP, will take on Farense.
Milan takes on Slavia Prague, who are playing their bitter rivals Sparta Prague in an exciting league and cup doubleheader right now.
On Thursday, Fiorentina will also play Maccabi Haifa, who must first defeat Hapoel Hadera in the Israeli Premier League on Sunday.
For their respective matches against Atletico on Tuesday, March 12, and Wednesday, March 13, Napoli will go to Barcelona and Inter to Madrid.
