MADRID, Jan 22 – Real Sociedad travel to Italian club Lazio this Thursday at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome (9:00 p.m. GMT) for the seventh day of the Europa League group stage. The Basque team’s aim is to improve their chances of making the top eight, which would guarantee direct qualification for the knockout stage.
Under the leadership of coach Imanol Alguacil, the team heads to Rome full of optimism, having recently recorded two notable home wins against Ajax (2-0) and Dynamo kyiv (3-0). However, there is no margin for error as any failure could jeopardize their ambitions and complicate their play-off position as the top seeded team. Currently, they occupy twelfth place with ten points.
The ‘txuri urdin’ collective is hungry for revenge after their defeat against Valencia at the Mestalla. Alguacil faces no significant injury concerns but must make decisions regarding squad rotation ahead of their next match against Getafe on Sunday. We expect to see Mikel Oyarzabal, Take Kubo and Luka Sucic back in the starting XI after being rested in the last meeting.
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For their part, Lazio are looking to consolidate their position among the top eight teams in the tournament, which would allow them to progress to the knockout stages without needing to play the preliminary rounds. Despite a difficult spell in Serie A, where they have won just two of their last six matches, they have been in impressive form in Europe, with five wins and one draw.
-Lazio need just one point to secure a place in the top eight. However, their coach Marco Baroni insisted that they will approach the match with a winning mindset rather than focusing on the standings. “We have to play to win, without losing our identity and without speculating. But to win, we have to put in an exceptional performance in front of our fans,” he said.
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Regarding personnel, Lazio will be without the services of suspended Samuel Gigot and Luca Pellegrini, as well as injured players Patric and Manuel Lazzari, which will severely impact their defensive line. However, they will be able to count on world champion Pedro Rodríguez, back at 100% and ready to start after recovering from an injury that sidelined him for several matches.
Historically, these two teams have never met, but Real Sociedad’s record against Italian clubs is not very encouraging, having only managed one victory against Serie A teams in UEFA competitions – that victory dates back to 1979 against Inter Milan (2-0).
