By Zach Lowy
Since that 2-2 attract Rome, Lazio have drawn 0-0 at Venezia and misplaced 2-0 to Inter within the Coppa Italia quarterfinal, however they nonetheless stay a powerful contender for UEFA Champions League qualification and might e book their ticket by way of two completely different paths: Lazio sit fifth within the league desk, two factors behind Juventus who occupy the fourth and last Champions League spot, while they are going to go into their UEFA Europa League Spherical of 16 match in opposition to Viktoria Plzeň because the overwhelming favorites. But when they’re to say their first European trophy in 26 years, they’ll want Mattia Zaccagni to be at his sensible greatest.
After growing at AC Bellaria Igea Marina, Zaccagni joined Hellas Verona in 2013, the place he performed for the youth groups earlier than slicing his enamel with then Serie C sides Venezia and Cittadella on mortgage. Zaccagni broke into the Hellas first-team in 2016/17 and emerged as an everyday contributor because the Gialloblu oscillated between the top-flight and second tier, however it wasn’t till the 2019/20 season that he managed to make a reputation for himself in Serie A underneath Ivan Jurić. Having beforehand been utilized as a holding midfielder, Jurić moved him to an attacking midfield function, the place he has performed ever since. The Croatian supervisor noticed that Zaccagni interpreted soccer otherwise to his different gamers – he was somebody who had the creativity, dynamism and imaginative and prescient to improvise and create an answer out of skinny air.
“He’s some of the clever gamers I’ve coached to this point,” said Jurić. “He has the uncommon capacity to play nicely whereas additionally making the sport simpler for his teammates.”
It wasn’t lengthy earlier than Italy’s largest groups got here calling, with Lazio signing Zaccagni on mortgage with a conditional obligation to purchase for €7.1 million on August 31, 2021. After steadily adjusting to Maurizio Sarri’s ways in 2021/22, Zaccagni loved a career-best season in 2022/23, registering 10 objectives and seven assists in 35 league appearances as Lazio completed second. He took a step again in 2023/24 with 6 objectives and a pair of assists in 28 matches as Lazio regressed to seventh, inflicting them to sack Sarri in March, however that didn’t cease Italy supervisor Luciano Spalletti from calling him up for the 2024 UEFA European Championship. Two years after making his Azzurri debut, Zaccagni was going to be enjoying in a significant event for the primary time.
After driving the bench vs. Albania and enjoying a half-hour vs. Spain, Zaccagni was thrown on for the ultimate minutes of their group stage match vs. Croatia, who have been successful 1-0. If the consequence held, Italy’s marketing campaign would go up in flames. Within the last minute, Riccardo Calafiori trotted infield and located an unmarked Zaccagni. Slightly than taking a contact to regular himself, Zaccagni selected to hurry issues up and blast a rocket into the top-right nook, retaining Italy’s title hopes alive by a razor-thin margin. Italy ended up shedding to Switzerland within the following spherical, however the message was clear: Zaccagni was able to take the following step and cement himself as among the best gamers in Serie A.
Lazio rewarded Zaccagni’s stellar shows with a contract extension till 2029 earlier than endeavor a summer time rebuild that noticed them lose three veteran leaders in assault in Felipe Anderson, Luis Alberto, and all-time main scorer Ciro Motionless. Zaccagni took the No. 10 shirt from Alberto and the captain’s armband from Motionless, and it’s apparent that this added accountability has labored wonders for his confidence. Zaccagni has excelled on the left facet of assault in Marco Baroni’s 4-2-3-1, able to attracting a number of opponents earlier than deftly maneuvering previous them and producing a numerical superiority within the last third. He has the anticipation and fearlessness to get to unfastened balls earlier than his rival, in addition to the ingenuity and finesse to guard the ball and drive his marker into fouling him to be able to cease the circulate.
Having beforehand been accustomed to ‘demise by 1000 passes’ underneath Sarri, Lazio are actually using a extra direct attacking method underneath new supervisor Marco Baroni. It means Zaccagni has way more time and house to work with as a substitute of being congested into the ultimate third, and it additionally signifies that his teammates will look to offer him with the ball virtually instantly. And while Zaccagni was beforehand used to being double-teamed, the arrival of Nuno Tavares signifies that Lazio now have a left again who can bomb ahead, entice the eye of the opposing defenders, and allow Zaccagni to shift inside and wreak havoc.
“Zaccagni has develop into extra of a frontrunner,” said Vittorio Campanile, the co-host of the English-language podcast Lazio Lounge. “He’s essentially the most skilled participant we now have within the crew alongside Alessio Romagnoli. He’s the Lazio participant with essentially the most high quality, and as such, he must be the chief.”
“What Baroni needs is a winger that begins from the left and strikes centrally earlier than making a key move or a shot on track within the half-spaces, which dovetails properly with Zaccagni’s model. Zaccagni at all times shined with Sarri by transferring centrally and making an attempt to complete moderately than going to the nook and whipping in crosses. He likes to be one-on-one with the defender, and 75% of the time, he’ll win the duel and create probabilities because of this.”
Zaccagni is probably not the quickest participant or the tallest at 5’9”, however with regards to in-game intelligence, he’s a titan on the pitch. He has the intangible capacity of being in the appropriate place on the proper time and selecting the passing possibility that, even when it isn’t essentially the most aesthetically pleasing, yields the best probabilities of leading to a objective. He’s able to instigating counter-attacks together with his adroit footwork, ball manipulation, and audacious dribbles, and when the going will get powerful, he’s the participant that different Lazio gamers search for to create a golden alternative. He’s somebody who, on account of studying the sport a step faster than the opposite 20 outfield gamers, has the know-how and pausa to sluggish the sport down earlier than stepping on the gasoline and pushing the assault into overdrive.
As he approaches 30 years outdated, Mattia Zaccagni is hitting the perfect type of his total profession. Having registered simply 9 objective contributions in 36 appearances final season, he’s already supplied 17 objective contributions in 32 for Lazio, who will go to Milan on Sunday. Zaccagni has not solely established himself as a task mannequin for Lazio’s youthful gamers like Nicolò Rovella and Gustav Isaksen, however he’s staked his declare as among the best gamers in Serie A. He’s created 44 probabilities – second solely to Genoa’s Aarón Caricol (51) – and he’s the highest rated Serie A participant in FotMob’s database, with solely Ademola Lookman (7.53) near his 7.55 common score.
Again when he was having fun with his breakout season in Verona, Jurić said, “If [Zaccagni] can learn to be extra incisive within the final 20-25 metres, he can aspire to be within the nationwide crew.” To date, Zaccagni hasn’t fairly managed to nail down a spot within the Azzurri setup, making simply 9 appearances, enjoying simply 4 minutes because the Euros, and lacking out on the final two worldwide call-ups. With Spalletti preferring a 3-5-1-1 formation with two strikers working in tandem, it appears there isn’t fairly a pure match for Zaccagni within the line-up. Nevertheless, if he continues to ship the products for Lazio, Spalletti could don’t have any different selection however to recall him for the March worldwide window.
(Cowl picture from IMAGO)
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