Feyenoord drop from first to third in the UEFA Champions League after loss against Lazio

Feyenoord have dropped from the top of their UEFA Champions League group to third after losing 1-0 against Lazio in Rome on Tuesday. Ciro Immobile’s first-half goal was enough to separate the two sides.

Arne Slot started the match with Igor Paixao in the left-wing position. The Brazilian was preferred to Luka Ivanusec. They were boosted by Mats Wieffer returning to the side. The Oranje international has recovered from the flu.

The Rotterdammers went with a different game plan compared to the home fixture against Lazio two weeks ago. Slot’s side were a lot more cautious and defensive.

Despite this, they were closest to taking the lead after 31 minutes. Santiago Gimenez received the ball behind the Lazio defence. The Mexican striker hit a shot on the turn, which Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel just about got his fingertips to, ensuring the ball was pushed wide for a corner.

Feyenoord were growing into the game, yet they went into halftime a goal down. Felipe Anderson assisted experienced striker Ciro Immobile. The Feyenoord defence stepped up for an offside trap, but Lutsharel Geertruida stayed too far behind the rest, giving Immobile the space to dribble past Justin Bijlow in the Feyenoord goal before hitting it into the open goal.

Gimenez had another chance to get on the scoresheet in the 66th minute. Paixao whipped in a brilliant cross, which the Mexican striker glanced to the far corner. But the attempt went narrowly wide.

Feyenoord had a big chance to equalize with the last chance of the match. Again, it was a cross causing the danger as Ayase Ueda met Alireza Jahanbaksch’s cross, but his header was straight at Provedel.

Atletico Madrid beat Celtic 6-0 in the other match in Group E, putting them top of the group with eight points. Lazio are second with seven points, Feyenoord are in third, which would eliminate them from the Champions League and put them in the Europa League.