Lazio SS
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic
will miss and it can be big blow for team
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - Midfielder (CM) - Regular player
Lazio have become round of 32 regulars but face a stern test as they take on three-time UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla.
Two of the UEFA Europa Leagues most assiduous performers are back in the knockout phase as Lazio, playing their 63rd match in the competition proper, host three-time winners Sevilla at the Stadio Olimpico.
• Lazio reached the round of 32 for the sixth time in eight seasons as runners-up in Group H, finishing with nine points, half as many as section winners Eintracht Frankfurt. The Italian club did, however, qualify two matchdays in advance of Sevilla, who lost at Krasnodar and Standard Liège but defeated the Russian side 3-0 at home in their final game to finish above them at the top of Group J on the head-to-head rule.
• Despite both clubs wealth of European experience, their paths have never crossed in UEFA competition.
• Lazio have won just five of their 18 matches against Spanish clubs and three of nine in Rome, losing home (1-3) and away (0-1) in the 2011/12 UEFA Europa League round of 32 against eventual winners Atlético Madrid, their most recent fixtures against Liga opposition. They did win the last ever UEFA Cup Winners Cup final against Spains Mallorca, prevailing 2-1 at Birminghams Villa Park 20 years ago.
• Sevillas record against Italian opposition is W3 D2 L5. Their sole victory – and only goals – on Italian soil came at Fiorentina in the second leg of the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League semi-final (2-0, Daniel Carriço scoring the second goal) after a 3-0 win in Spain. That is their only previous trip to Italy in this competition.
• Edged into fifth place in last seasons Serie A by Internazionale on the final day, Lazio are participating in the UEFA Europa League for the seventh time, their best performances having been when they reached the quarter-finals in 2012/13 and 2017/18.
• The Rome side have played more games in the competition than any other Italian club, with only Villarreal (68 matches) and Salzburg (66) having been more active. Including this season, their last six UEFA Europa League group stage participations have all been successful after failure in the first.
• Lazio have won three of their five UEFA Europa League round of 32 ties. The defeat by Atlético in 2011/12 preceded a victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2012/13 (3-3 away, 2-0 home), but the following season brought another elimination, by Bulgarias Ludogorets (0-1 home, 3-3 away), before successes in 2015/16 against Galatasaray (1-1 away, 3-1 home) and last term against FCSB (0-1 away, 5-1 home).
• Their round of 32 record at the Stadio Olimpico is W3 L2, the three wins all coming in the second leg (and securing qualification) and the two defeats both occurring in the first leg en route to elimination.
• Runners-up to Inter in the 1997/98 UEFA Cup, Lazio have won 11 of their last 15 continental fixtures in Rome (D2 L2). In the UEFA Europa League knockout phase overall their home record is W5 D2 L3.
• Lazio boss since April 2016, when he replaced Stefano Pioli, Simone Inzaghi represented the club as a forward between 1999 and 2010, winning the Italian double in his debut season and the Coppa Italia twice more in later years. The younger brother of fellow ex-Italian international Filippo Inzaghi, with whom he played at home-town outfit Piacenza, he began coaching Lazios youth teams immediately after hanging up his boots. His first trophy as coach was the 2017 Italian Super Cup.