Venezia slows down Lazio's Champions League run: Penzo ends 0-0

Venice, 22 February 2025 – The Champions League race is further slowed down Lazio, that at Penzo he crashes against a Venezia that nails the biancocelesti to 0-0, the second draw in a row after the 2-2 against Napoli. A draw that in the end was even tighter for Di Francesco's men, who, after a first half marked by a single, colossal opportunity missed by Dia, suffered a comeback from the Venetians, capable of playing with much more intensity and determination than their opponents in the second half, coming close to taking the lead (and perhaps the winning goal) with Maric, Zerbin and Yeboah.

The choices of Di Francesco and Baroni

Di Francesco chooses 3-5-2 to deploy his Venezia with some new players in the starting eleven: among the three central defenders of Radu, there are the new arrivals Candé and Marcandalli to form a department with Idzes. The outside lanes are instead the responsibility of Zerbin and Ellertsson, with Kike Perez, Doumbia and Nicolussi Caviglia completing the midfield. Up front, the attacking tantom formed by Maric – preferred to the other new arrival Fila – and the returning Oristanio. Despite the Coppa Italia commitments in the background, Baroni does not give up on most of his big names, who lines up Lazio with a 4-2-3-1: in front of the goalkeeper Mandas there are Marusic, Gila, Romagnoli and Tavares. Guendouzi and the returning Dele-Bashiru form the midfield pair, while Isaksen, Dia and Zacccagni – ex of the day – act behind the striker who is Noslin, given the unavailability of Castellanos.

First half

Lazio leaves the initiative to the home team who tries to start by playing the ball with pace and personality but without great quality in the finalization phase, trying in the 10th minute with Maric's diagonal shot out of measure. The Biancocelesti wait and as the minutes pass they try to increase the quality of their game by bringing more men into attack and Around the middle of the half they squandered the only real, delicious opportunity to score in the first half with Dia receiving a pass from Zaccagni and, one-on-one with Radu, sensationally failing to hit the target. A flash in the dark, because after this occasion the match remains tactically blocked, as both teams do not allow space, and flows without further noteworthy episodes until the 39th minute, when Baroni is forced to throw Belahyane into the fray in place of Dele-Bashiru, knocked out by a problem after a foul with an opponent. Even this forced change, however, is not enough to unblock the situation and so the initial 45 minutes end with no goals scored.

Second half

The game starts again without changes and with a faster pace than the first half: in the 52nd minute, Venezia makes its presence felt near Mandas with Kike Perez who tries to score an Olympic goal directly from a corner with the opposing goalkeeper swatting the ball away from the goal. Lazio responds immediately, trying to increase the revs and in the 53rd minute they become dangerous with a shot from the edge of the area by Isaksen that Radu lifts over the crossbar. The game picks up pace and the two coaches try to stir things up further with the insertions of Pedro and Lazzari on one side and Schingtienne on the other. The attempts of the Capitoline team to take full control of the match are too timid and on the other side the Venetians show no fear and keep the pressure on the opposing ball carriers very high, coming close to taking the lead in the 65th minute with Maric who, following a free kick, makes a perfect move, heads the ball but fails to hit the opponent's goal by a whisker. The hosts believe in it and continue to force Lazio to throw away many balls, creating - right at the end of a counter-attack - another goal opportunity in the 73rd minute with Zerbin who unleashes a poisonous left-footed shot that Mandas promptly deflects into a corner. Di Francesco senses the possibility of pulling off a coup and with a quarter of an hour to go opts for a triple substitution: in comes Fila, Yeaboah and Busio for Maric, Oristanio and Doumbia. The freshness of the new arrivals gives further vigour to Venezia's manoeuvre, who push forward and close to the 90th minute they create another opportunity with Zerbin who, from the heart of the area, tries with a diagonal shot deflected into a corner by an opponentLazio takes the blame with a passive attitude and he also took a big risk in the 92nd minute when Yeboah received the ball from a teammate at the penalty spot, turned and kicked too weakly towards Mandas who put the exclamation point on the final 0-0. The scoreboard: Venice (3-5-2): Radu; Candè, Idzes, Marcandalli (from 55' Schingtienne); Zerbin, Kike Perez, Doumbia (from 77' Busio), Nicolussi Caviglia (from 87' Conde), Ellertsson; Oristanio (from 77' Yeboah), Maric (from 77' Fila). Coach Di Francesco. Lazio (4-2-3-1): Mandas; Marusic, Gila, Romagnoli, Tavares (from 56' Lazzari); Guendouzi, Dele-Bashiru (from 40' Belahyane); Isaksen, Dia (from 84' Tchaouna), Zaccagni; Noslin (from 56' Pedro). Coach Baroni. Markers: - Note - Yellow cards: Guendouzi, Nicolussi Caviglia, Ellertson, Schingtienne, Conde, Zaccagni.