The striker played once in Turin, but Sarri is not speeding up his return. For the qualification objective, it needs to be maxed out
Finding the real property right away. Lazio desperately need their striker to get back on track for the season. With the Italian Cup gone, after the elimination by Juventus, the Biancoceleste team will now concentrate all its forces on the Champions League goal to pursue in the league. To hit the finish line, Sarri’s team can’t do without the goals and charisma of its captain, who has so far been able to have little impact on the fate of his team during this troubled season.
Turn the page
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In Turin, the attacker remained on the field for the first 45 minutes, after having played the last twenty of Sunday’s match against Fiorentina. A part-time job, that of yesterday, somehow budgeted for. Ciro is not at his best yet, he only started training again last Friday after the first degree strain to his right thigh remedied on January 15 in Reggio Emilia in the match against Sassuolo. His return could only be gradual. In the next league match in Verona on Monday, he should stay on the pitch longer, probably until the 90th minute. Sarri hopes to see him more brilliant than yesterday’s match and the one with Fiorentina, during which (as was to be expected) he still appeared to be down on a physical level. His size doesn’t allow him to start a thousand again immediately, we need to wait a little longer before seeing him again at his usual levels. At the same time the attacker must be careful, he can’t force too much, given that what he has just recovered from is the fourth muscle injury of this season. Two were first degree strains, the other two were serious contractures. A vulnerability that had never manifested itself in recent seasons and which leads him and the medical staff to proceed with lead feet. His gradual return (20 minutes with Fiorentina, 45 with Juve) can also and above all be explained by these considerations.
Hunt for records
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However, Immobile can’t wait to go back to recording for his team. Also because, due to repeated absences, he has scored much less than in previous seasons, to the point that for the first time since he has been at Lazio he is not the team’s top scorer in the league (he scored 7 goals, Zaccagni precedes him with 8). At stake, in addition to the Champions League goal that Ciro cares about very much, there are also the goal records that he continues to update. In particular there is a double quota 200 to be cut. That of the total goals with the Lazio shirt (he has scored 190) and those of the goals in Serie A (he is at 189). Without the injuries, which made him miss 8 cup and championship games (but in reality there are 9, because he only played a few minutes at the end of the match against Monza), that double goal would probably now be very close. But Immobile prefers to look only to the future. He wants to resume his personal march not only to give Lazio the goals needed to reach one of the top four positions in the league. The real record for him would be to qualify with Lazio in the most important of European competitions.
February 3, 2023 (change February 3, 2023 | 1:57 pm)
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