Lazio

The Hoops went into the make-or-break game with one point from four Group E matches but were undone with two late goals from the home side’s classy substitute Ciro Immobile.

Celtic were awarded a penalty in added time for a push on substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu inside the box but it was overturned when VAR intervened and sent referee Halil Umut Meler to the pitchside monitor for another look.

The Parkhead outfit, without Luis Palma, Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Liel Abada through suspension or injury, will finish bottom in their Champions League group for the second consecutive season.

Rodgers was quoted on bbc.co.uk/sport saying: “It’s the overall quality. We need to have our very best players available.

“What makes the difference is that bit of experience and genuine quality. That’s something we can hopefully resolve over the next couple of windows.

“This group has gained more experience and shown they can compete in some games – but we need to add quality. That’s the glaring thing that stands out.

“Sadly for us, over the course of all the games, we’ve been hampered with our squad and availability. At this level, for us, that’s the very minimum.

“But I have to commend the players that have been playing. They have given everything. The game was very competitive right the way through.

“We lose two goals but the effort and commitment was there.

“In the last 20 minutes we looked like the team that could go on and get the result, but we gave away two poor goals.

“The first one, we’re in a great position up the pitch and we lose possession and never recover our shape. Then they get a bit of luck with the deflection. That was a tough one to take.

“For the second goal, we obviously need to be stronger and better.”

The Scottish champions finished on two points in the Champions League last season and they have their final match at home to Feyenoord next month to improve on that tally.

Rodgers said: “We want to finish on a high. We want to win in front of our own supporters.

“Our support has been incredible, travelling all round Europe. They haven’t seen us win and we’d love to give them that victory at home and finish off with a positive result.”

Cabal joined from Verona in July for €11million but has battled a niggling hamstring issue at the start of his Bianconeri career, missing the last six weeks.

He returned to face Lazio on Saturday, with his cross forcing an own goal from Mario Gila as Juventus avoided a fifth draw in the space of six games.

After the match, the Colombia international revealed Lazio had shown an interest in him previously, but said he only ever had eyes for Juve.

"Lazio looked for me before, but I was only thinking about Juve. I wanted to play for Juve since I was a kid and now I am here," Cabal told reporters.

"We all know Juve's history. We have to give our lives for Juve.

"The coach saw something different and put me out, but he has faith in me. He put me on the pitch at the right time. 

"It is difficult not to play for so long. But we must always be ready. I work all week to play even one minute," 

Saturday's win took unbeaten Juventus to 16 points from eight matches, level on points with leaders Napoli, who possess a game in hand.

"The important thing is to try to win every game. We want to be champions, but I can't tell you now that we will win the championship," Cabal said.

Chiellini played the first 17 minutes of a Serie A clash with Lazio on Monday, in which Juve threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2.

First-half goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Alvaro Morata looked set to ensure the Bianconeri marked the Allianz Stadium swansong of Chiellini – and Paulo Dybala – with a win, only for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to equalise with the final kick of the game after Alex Sandro put through his own net.

The 37-year-old defender, who has won 20 trophies during his incredible career with the Turin giants, has made 392 top-flight appearances for the club, a tally bettered only by Gianluigi Buffon (489) and Alessandro Del Piero (467).

With Juventus guaranteed to finish fourth in Serie A after enduring a frustrating season, which also saw them lose the Coppa Italia final to Inter, Chiellini said the time had come for the Bianconeri's young players to take centre stage.

"The decision came in months, weeks, not days," he told Sky Sports Italia. "I have always said that I would like to leave at a high level, and I succeeded. 

"It was a difficult year, for Juventus and for me, but in the matches I managed, I played at my level. 

"All this led me to leave now, to leave room for young people. Juve need to restart, and young people have to take responsibility and mature. I helped to clip some people's wings, now it's right for them to fly alone. 

"I will cheer for them from near or far, and I made this decision with joy and serenity."

The legendary Chiellini has made 25 appearances for Juventus in all competitions this season, 17 of them starts.

Chiellini will end his Italy career after facing Argentina at Wembley Stadium on June 1, having won 116 caps to date during a glittering career with the Azzurri.

Having helped Italy to Euro 2020 glory last year, he revealed March's shock World Cup qualification play-off defeat to North Macedonia had influenced his desire to step away from both Serie A and international football.

"Of course, I wanted to get to the World Cup. It was the obsession I had after the European Championship," he added. "It is inevitable that I cannot play every match, but I wanted to be part of the national group. 

"It didn't go the way we wanted, which accelerated my choice. [But] I leave a national team and a Juve in good hands."

Chiellini is not planning on retiring, however, and has been linked with a potential move to Major League Soccer.

Although he said he had not yet made a final decision regarding his future, Chiellini hinted that a move abroad would interest him. 

"I don't know. It has attracted me, but for 10 years, I have to decide at home," he added. 

"An experience abroad enriches you, I think I need to see a little outside my life and Juve. I have to understand together with the family, I have to take a look outside, also for my future."

The 30-year-old's first-half strike in Saturday's 3-1 defeat was his 36th goal in 37 top-flight appearances during 2019-20.

That astonishing return secured Immobile the Capocannoniere as Serie A's top scorer, along with the coveted European Golden Shoe.

Here, with some help from Opta Paolo, we take a look at his special efforts.

Joining Serie A's elite

If Immobile had managed a brace at Stadio San Paolo, he would have boasted the outright best season in Serie A history.

As it is, his 36 goals equalled the best mark in a single campaign set by Gonzalo Higuain in his Napoli days in 2015-16.

Immobile is only the fifth Italian to hit the 30-goal mark in his native country's premier competition, following Giuseppe Meazza (1929-30), Felice Borel (1933-34), Antonio Angelillo (1958-59) and Luca Toni (2005-06).

Golden days

Toni's prolific 2005-06 with Fiorentina made him the first Italian to be crowned the leading marksman in Europe, with Roma great Francesco Totti following suit the next season.

Immobile becomes the third Italian on that list and the first winner from Serie A since Totti.

In the intervening period, 10 of the 13 Golden Shoes have found predictable homes, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo winning six and four respectively.

Messi's Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez has two, while the latter's countryman Diego Forlan came out on top thanks to a bountiful 2008-09 at Atletico Madrid.

Ronaldo's 2007-08 campaign at Manchester United and Suarez's 2013-14 for Liverpool marked the only two times the award had been outside LaLiga in between Totti and Immobile's triumphs.

Making history at Lazio

Immobile is the third player to pass 100 goals in Serie A for Lazio, with his tally now at 103.

Club greats Silvio Piola and Giuseppe Signori are the Biancocelesti's other centurions.

Piola scored 143 in Serie A, while Signori is now just four ahead of Immobile on 107.

All of Immobile's Serie A goals for Lazio have come under Simone Inzaghi, amounting to the biggest haul for any player under a single head coach during Italy's three-points-for-a-win era, which began in 1994-95.

Inzaghi is developing his leading forward's game in more than one aspect. Immobile scored and supplied at least one assist in six Serie A games in 2019-20 – more than any other campaign in his career.

He finished the season with nine assists to his name.

Thursday's 3-1 away defeat to Lazio knocked Napoli out of the Coppa Italia, with the home league game on Sunday giving them a chance for revenge along with the opportunity to reclaim top spot from Atalanta, who beat Milan on Friday.

However, Marco Baroni's side were victorious again, with Gustav Isaksen's goal the difference between the sides in their 1-0 win.

It is the first time in Lazio's history that they have won three consecutive away games against Napoli, while the Partenopei have now lost two of their last three home games in Serie A, as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 17.

"Today's match also tells us that the path we are taking is the right one. Our idea is to attack the opponent, to not let them control the game and create situations to hurt," Conte told DAZN.

"There is room for improvement from this point of view. We get there, but the last step is missing.

"We are working on it. I am not disappointed with the performance, the boys gave everything, playing a good match against an excellent team."

Lazio are now just one point behind Napoli, sitting in fifth, in what is turning out to be an excitingly close title race, and after their two wins over his side, Conte is not surprised with their position in the standings.

"Lazio are not a meteorite, they are doing very well," Conte added.

"I'm not disappointed or unhappy, during this journey there are some stumbles, there will probably be others. This is the team I want to see, but we need to have more quality in the final metres."

Lazio manager Baroni knows what it takes to win a Scudetto. He scored the only goal for Napoli, against Lazio, on the final day of the season in 1990 to guarantee them the league title, but he is not getting carried away with his side's success.

"It's hard to make the climb, and it takes a moment to drop back down again," Baroni said.

"I know the league very well, the teams that are at the top, and we have to face them with this attitude. And then in the end we will see."

Napoli maintained their advantage at the summit of the standings with a 1-0 win over Torino on Sunday, with Scott McTominay on target for Gli Azzurri. 

Conte's side are not participating in Europe this season after finishing 10th in Serie A last term, providing a slight advantage in terms of their Scudetto ambitions this year.

However, having fewer games has limited some of Napoli's squad to minor minutes from the bench, but Conte has used the competition so far to rest his key players. 

Napoli have already featured in two rounds of the cup so far, brushing aside Serie B sides Modena and Palermo. 

"This year in some respects it is penalising for many players because we only have the league, and we have the Coppa Italia," Conte told reporters. 

"We played two games, the season opener with Modena, then with Palermo there was the possibility to give space to the players who had less time until then, and tomorrow we'll have another clear opportunity to test everyone's growth a bit."

Lazio have also started well in Serie A this term, sitting in fifth after 14 games of their season and only four points behind Conte's side in the division. 

They are also unbeaten in their last three games against Napoli (W2 D1), and Conte was well aware of the task awaiting his players if they are to reach the quarter-finals.

"We always look at game-by-game, so the most important is Thursday's," he added.

"Having said that, I'll make choices because there are many players in the squad. We had a good start but it must not only be thanks to the 12-13 who took part.

"The credit must be shared with the entire squad, those who took over and those who played little or nothing but kept the intensity and competition high in training."

Conte also took the time to respond to Inter president, Giuseppe Marotta, who said that Napoli are favourites to win Serie A this season. 

"The director can say what he wants," Conte said.

"But I think that at the end of the year if Inter were not to win the Scudetto he would not be very happy and would not consider the season a good season.

"They are focusing a lot on us and perhaps do not see who can really be the one who bothers them."

The 55-year-old suggested that the tournament gave him the opportunity to avoid injuries to players and make assessments on others as he rested everyone who started last weekend's 1-0 win at Torino.

The result of Conte's selection was a 3-1 defeat at the Stadio Olimpico, with Tijjani Noslin scoring a hat-trick to knock the visitors out of the competition.

"We made a very well-considered choice, we have a long season ahead of us. We can't make the sign of the cross and hope that no one gets injured," Conte told reporters.

"These are matches where we wanted to make assessments. After this match you will make your assessments, I will make mine, and the club will make its assessments. Evaluations are subjective and mine are the most important."

Serie A leaders Napoli face Lazio again on Sunday, this time at home, and are four points ahead of their fifth-placed visitors.

"It will definitely be a different game, we'll be playing at home and in a different competition," said Conte.

"Lazio is definitely a very good team and also equipped to play in the Europa League. They have a valuable squad as demonstrated again today. We will try to play our game."

Serie A is on hiatus as Italy remains on lockdown in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Italian government has extended its current strict restrictions on movement and outdoor activities until May 3, although reports in the country this week suggested some clubs are keen to return to training, resume playing by the end of the month and conclude 2019-20 in July.

Brescia's Lombardy region is the hardest hit in Italy by COVID-19 and Cellino threatened to forfeit games earlier this month when the prospect of his club resuming their fixtures was mooted.

Lazio are a point behind champions Juventus having launched a surprise title challenge but Cellino urged Lotito – who has declared Simone Inzaghi's squad to be "ready and waiting" to play - to look at the bigger picture.

"I see too much selfishness and too many people trying to take advantage of this situation," he told Giornale di Brescia.

"Lotito wants to get back on the pitch? I listen only to those who deserve to be listened to. I don't even know if Lotito represents Lazio, since he is only president of their board of directors.

"Seriously, let them take a walk around Brescia and see what’s happening here. I don't want any advantages and I'm not afraid of relegation, because I know the club won’t go bankrupt and we’ll earn our place back in Serie A."

Cellino added: "I reiterate that if there are games again, Brescia will not play.

"This is not a provocation. They can dock points if they want, I take all responsibility."

Brescia lie bottom of Serie A, nine points from safety having won four and lost 18 of 26 matches.

Italy has suffered heavily during the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the world, with over 10,000 recorded deaths so far in the country, and the government has suspended all domestic sport until at least April 3.

The break is likely to continue beyond that date but former Milan striker Inzaghi, now head coach of runaway Serie B leaders Benevento, has warned of the ramifications of scrapping the campaign.

"Talking about football is difficult," Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia. "We have all taken a step back for our health, which is the highest priority.

"By the time everything ends, we want to start playing again - it would be the right thing. We all want to finish what we started eight months ago, and the championships must be finished.

"It would be the best solution to avoid misunderstandings and prevent someone from being damaged.

"We are ready to play in June, July and August: we want to end this championship, any other decision will penalise someone. We will go to the courts, some clubs will disappear, so football could risk losing two years, not two months."

Inzaghi has guided Benevento to 21 victories in 28 games so far this season, while brother Simone is enjoying a successful campaign in the top tier with Lazio.

The Biancoceleste are second in Serie A, just a point behind leaders Juventus, and Filippo was full of praise for both his brother and Ciro Immobile, Lazio's leading scorer.

"He is better than me in everything," said the Benevento boss. "I can only learn from Simone: he is a modern coach and seeing his Lazio side is a spectacle."

Asked to name a player similar to himself, Inzaghi added: "I don't like making comparisons, but I say that Immobile is the best Italian player.

"He always scores, always decisive. He is the centre-forward that I like best."

The CONI announcement on Monday confirmed a suspension, subject to government ratification, that many had expected.

Serie A and the Coppa Italia had already been heavily affected by postponements and matches being played behind closed doors, with Sunday's Derby d'Italia played in front of an eerily empty stadium.

A government decree had already confirmed there were to be no spectators at any sporting events until April 3, but the latest announcement followed a significant increase in coronavirus cases, with 7,375 Italians having been infected.

Many wider sporting events in Italy had already been postponed, but the suspension is arguably set to have the biggest knock-on effect in football, as it throws the Serie A title race – and relegation tussle – into chaos due to an ever-growing fixture pile-up.

Following Monday's news, here are the biggest clubs' Serie A and Coppa Italia matches set to be affected:

Juventus:

Bologna v Juventus, March 13

Juventus v Lecce, March 21

Juventus v Milan (Coppa Italia semi-final second leg), TBC

Lazio:

Atalanta v Lazio, March 15

Lazio v Fiorentina, March 20

Inter:

Inter v Sassuolo, March 15

Parma v Inter, March 22

Napoli v Inter (Coppa Italia semi-final second leg), TBC

Milan:

Lecce v Milan, March 15

Milan v Roma, March 22

Juventus v Milan (Coppa Italia semi-final second leg), TBC

With no matches set to take place until April 3, a deadline that could feasibly be pushed back even further, teams will resume the Serie A season with between 12 and 14 matches still to play.

With Euro 2020 set to begin on June 12, it leaves just 70 days between the two key dates, though facilities will have to be handed over to UEFA well before the tournament's kick-off.

If Champions League and Europa League matches continue to go ahead as planned, some Italian teams could have many as 20 matches across all competitions to cram into their schedules.

Juventus lead the way in Serie A on 63 points, and look set to be pushed the distance by Lazio. The Rome-based club are just a point shy, while Inter have fallen adrift of the top by nine.

Among the wider sporting events previously postponed through March and early April were: 

CYCLING

Tirreno-Adriatico, March 11-17

Milan-San Remo, March 21

Giro di Sicilia, April 1-4

SKIING

Alpine Skiing World Cup finals, March 18-22

RUGBY UNION

Italy v England, March 14

Serie A was suspended last month due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Lazio sitting sitting second and just a point behind Juventus.

It remains uncertain when, and if, the season will resume, but Luis Alberto hopes it can get back underway in June.

"Now we believe in the Scudetto. We are there and we cannot deny being in the running to win it," he told Onda Cero via Instagram.

"I think we can start playing in early June, but it is difficult to give an exact date. It depends on the evolution of the virus.

"Hopefully everything will be done as soon as possible. I want to finish the championship. It would be right both for us who are at the top of the standings and for those who are fighting not to be relegated. And I am not saying this because we are in second place."

Luis Alberto, the former Liverpool midfielder, has impressed for Lazio since arriving in 2016.

He has been linked with a return to boyhood club Sevilla, but Luis Alberto said he would be renewing his contract with Lazio.

"I have always said that Sevilla is my home and that I would like to return," he said.

"But now my future is in white and blue. We are well under way for the renewal, I believe it will come soon."

Like all major competitions across the world, Serie A is on hiatus as part of efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19, with northern Italy particularly badly affected by the virus.

Mancini was due to lead the Azzurri at Euro 2020 in June, but the tournament has been put back 12 months.

The former Inter and Manchester City boss believes sport can act as a social boost for a population hit hard by the events of recent weeks.

"It is a terrible thing for many families who have lost loved ones," Mancini told SportMediaset.

"I hope everything returns as before. I heard some guys [players], they are all well and I hope we can go back to playing as soon as possible.

"I hope it starts because football is also a very important social thing, then we'll see what will happen.

"And I hope this terrible thing will end soon. It will take a little more attention, but we deserve to go back to living as before. Everything that happened was unjust."

Serie A paused in the midst of a gripping title race, with long-reigning champions Juventus one point ahead of surprise package Lazio with 12 games remaining.

Mancini believes the unscheduled and lengthy break will lead to unpredictability if the action resumes, meaning he refuses to rule former employers Inter in third and free-scoring Atalanta in fourth out of contention.

"I think anything can happen because there has never been such an upheaval," he said.

"It's difficult to make predictions. Juventus are in the lead and remain the strongest, but anything can happen.

"Inter could also be back in the race and Atalanta. When you stop for so long it can change everything. Nothing is excluded."

Following a government decree issued on Monday, Italy is on lockdown and all public gatherings are banned until April 3.

This development also means all sporting events in that timeframe have been postponed, throwing Serie A – which had previously been due to continue behind closed doors – into doubt.

Should Serie A resume on April 4, teams will have between 12 and 14 matches to cram in before the end of May, while some sides also have European ties to contend with.

FIGC has a limited amount of time to work with too, given Euro 2020 is set to begin in Rome on June 12, meaning facilities will need to be handed over to UEFA well in advance.

Italy's governing body is considering its options, accepting Serie A could either: finish early; be decided by play-offs; or simply halted and the title would go to no one.

A statement on the FIGC website read: "With reference to the recovery of Serie A matches, taking into account that the other leagues [Serie B, Serie C et cetera] have no international deadlines and therefore a wider margin of programming, the federal president proposed to the Serie A league to take advantage of all the dates available until May 31.

"If the COVID-19 emergency does not allow the conclusion of the championships, president Gabriele Gravina has submitted to the attention of the leagues concerned some hypotheses on which to discuss in the meeting of the Federal Council on 23 March.

"Without any order of priority, a hypothesis could be the non-assignment of the title of Campione of Italy and consequent communication to UEFA of the teams that qualified for the European competitions [Champions League and Europa League]; another would be to refer to the rankings accrued up to the moment of interruption; third and last hypothesis, to play only the play-offs for the title of Campione d'Italia and the play-offs for relegation to Serie B."

As it stands, Juventus are top of Serie A with 63 points – one clear of Lazio. Brescia, SPAL and Lecce occupy the three relegation spots, with the latter tied on 25 points with 17th-placed Genoa.

As of Tuesday, Italy is the most-affected European nation, with 9,172 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Ronaldo was on target in the 51st minute at the Allianz Arena as he confidently tucked a penalty into the bottom-right corner after Bastos was ruled to have handled in the area.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner reached his half-century in 61 outings for the Bianconeri.

He promptly made it 51 goals three minutes later, Paulo Dybala going through on goal and laying the ball on a plate for Ronaldo to tap into the empty net.

Former England manager Eriksson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year, saying in January he had "at best, a year left to live".

Eriksson, who won league titles in charge of Benfica and Lazio as well as leading Roma and Sampdoria to Coppa Italia triumphs, has since been the subject of an Amazon Prime documentary.

In a preview of the documentary, Eriksson delivered a poignant message to fans, saying: "I had a good life.

"I think we are all scared of the day when we die, but life is about death as well. You have to learn to accept it for what it is. 

"Hopefully, at the end, people will say, 'yeah, he was a good man', but not everyone will say that.

"I hope you will remember me as a positive guy, trying to do everything he could do. 

"Don't be sorry, smile. Thank you for everything, coaches, players, the crowds. It's been fantastic. Take care of yourself and take care of your life, and live it."

Eriksson became the first foreign manager to lead England when he took charge in 2001, overseeing runs to the quarter-finals at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, also reaching the same stage of Euro 2004.

In March, Eriksson coached a Liverpool legends team to a 4-2 victory over a side made up of former Ajax players in a charity match at Anfield, having revealed it was his lifelong dream to manage the Reds.

Having received a standing ovation from a capacity crowd, Eriksson described the occasion as "absolutely beautiful", adding: "That will be a huge memory in my life."

He was also invited to attend Lazio's final game of the 2023-24 season at the Stadio Olimpico, receiving a rapturous ovation from supporters of the team he led between 1997 and 2001.

The Serbia striker and Federico Chiesa gave Juve a 2-0 interval lead and after Luis Alberto had pulled one back for the visitors, Vlahovic produced another emphatic finish.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side, without the suspended Paul Pogba following his recent positive drugs test, have leapfrogged Inter and AC Milan into top spot ahead of their derby clash at 5pm.

Juve went straight on the offensive and Filip Kostic’s angled drive was palmed away by Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel before Vlahovic slammed home Manuel Locatelli’s superb cross at the near post in the 10th minute.

The goal stood after VAR had checked whether the ball had gone into touch during the build-up.

Kostic forced Provedel into another save and successive headers from Weston McKennie and Vlahovic were narrowly off target as Juve continued to threaten.

Daichi Kamada had Lazio’s first shot on target in the 25th minute, which was held by Wojciech Szczesny and the visitors fell 2-0 behind less than 60 seconds later.

Adrien Rabiot tried to make room for a shot inside the penalty area and the ball broke for Chiesa, who buried an emphatic finish into the bottom corner.

Fabio Miretti was a fraction away from adding a third with a shot from outside the penalty area before Lazio twice went close to reducing the deficit on the stroke of half-time.

Ciro Immobile’s header from Felipe Anderson’s cross and Mattia Zaccagni’s angled effort both forced Szczesny into full-length saves.

Provedel kept Juve at bay early in the second period, saving successive headers from Rabiot, but Lazio began to threaten.

Anderson dragged his effort wide after being played in by Luis Alberto, who then pulled one back for the visitors in the 64th minute as he crashed a shot into the top corner from outside the box.

Juve regained their two-goal lead three minutes later when Vlahovic arrowed home his fourth goal of the season into the bottom corner.

Danilo, Arkadiusz Milik and Timothy Weah all went close to extending Juve’s lead in the closing stages and after Valentin Castellanos fired wide for Lazio, Milik headed Rabiot’s cross narrowly off target.

Lukaku and Immobile are two of the form front men in European football, and the duo have earned recognition following their latest goalscoring exploits.

Inter striker Lukaku grabbed both goals in a 2-0 away win at Udinese on Sunday.

And Immobile matched that haul as Lazio thrashed SPAL 5-1, the Italy international's brace taking his 2019-20 league tally to 25 already.

The duo are far from the only big names in this week's selection, however, with Roberto Firmino, Jadon Sancho and Hugo Lloris also among the new in-form cards.

Find the full squad below.

TEAM OF THE WEEK

GK: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham) - 89

CB:Matthijs de Ligt (Piemonte Calcio/Juventus) - 87

LB: Alex Telles (Porto) - 87

CB:Yerry Mina (Everton) - 84

CM: Daniel Parejo (Valencia) - 88

RM: Angel Di Maria (Paris Saint-Germain) - 88

CAM: Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) - 87

CM: Santi Cazorla (Villarreal) - 86

CF: Roberto Firmino (Liverpool) - 88

ST:Ciro Immobile (Lazio) - 90

ST: Romelu Lukaku (Inter) - 88

SUBSTITUTES

GK:Steve Mandanda (Marseille) - 83

CB:Kaan Ayhan (Fortuna Dusseldorf) - 81

RM:Robert Snodgrass (West Ham) - 81

ST:Francesco Caputo (Sassuolo) - 84

RW:Daniel Ginczek (Wolfsburg) - 82

ST:Kasper Dolberg (Nice) - 81

LW:Oussama Idrissi (AZ) - 81

RESERVES

CM:Alexandru Maxim (Gaziantep) - 79

CM: Alexandru Cicaldau (Universitatea Craiova) - 78

LM: Ahmet Engin (Duisburg) - 76

LM: Nathan Thomas (Carlisle United) - 74

LW: Said Benrahma (Brentford) - 80

Lloris made clear earlier this summer his desire for a new challenge after 11 years at Spurs and was not involved in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Brentford.

The World Cup winner is now closing in on a switch to Lazio after talks between the clubs started, but a final agreement on a fee is still to be reached, the PA news agency understands.

If Lloris does leave, as has always been expected in this transfer window, his final appearance for Tottenham would be the thumping 6-1 loss at Newcastle in April.

A thigh injury ruled Lloris out of the final weeks of the campaign and the French keeper revealed in June his desire “to do other things” in the future.

While no move was forthcoming during the early part of the transfer window, Spurs’ focus was on Bayern Munich’s public pursuit of Harry Kane and incomings with James Maddison able to sign.

Lloris was left out of the club’s pre-season tour of Perth, Bangkok and Singapore in July to explore transfer opportunities, but Kane moved on before the Frenchman with his switch to Bayern finalised on Saturday.

Spurs announced their new captain on the same day with Son Heung-min named as Lloris’ successor, while Cristian Romeo and Maddison were listed as vice-captains.

Lloris retained his number one shirt when Tottenham unveiled their squad numbers on Sunday, but he was left out of the squad at Brentford despite back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster injured with a back problem.

It meant academy graduate Brandon Austin was named on the bench as deputy to new number one Guglielmo Vicario, who endured some nervy moments on his Premier League debut.

Vicario will be able to move forward at Tottenham without the shadow of Lloris after talks between Lazio and the club stepped up this week.

With Lloris still having a year left on his contract, Spurs hope to get a fee for their former captain but it is now expected the 36-year-old will begin the next chapter of his career in Italy.

Lloris will leave Tottenham after 447 appearances and 151 clean sheets, having helped the club reach three finals during his 11 years, including the 2019 Champions League Final.

Lucas made 247 Premier League appearances during a 10-year spell with Liverpool, scoring just one goal in the competition, before joining Serie A giants Lazio in 2017.

The former Brazil international then re-joined Gremio – the club where he began his career – after leaving Italy at the end of the 2021-22 campaign. 

On Tuesday, Lucas tweeted a statement from the Gremio's medical department, announcing he would sit out the team's pre-season preparations while undergoing assessment.

The statement read: "The Gremio medical department communicates that the athlete Lucas Leiva presented, in pre-season routine exams, a picture of having an altered cardiac rhythm.

"Consequently, he is removed from physical activities until the conclusion of complementary exams and treatment of the condition."

Gremio – who have won the joint-most Copa Libertadores titles of any Brazilian club (three) – won promotion from Brazil's second tier in 2022 after finishing second.

Gascoigne made a high-profile switch from Tottenham to the Roman club in 1992, his star still riding high in Italy after his superb performances inspired England's run to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup.

However, he had since endured a year of rehabilitation from a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained during the 1991 FA Cup final and fitness woes were a constant during Gascoigne's stay in the Italian capital, which ended when he joined Rangers in 1995.

Germany international Doll played for Lazio between 1991 and 1994 and he has fond memories of his fellow midfielder – a figure as popular in the dressing room as he was on the terraces.

"Paul was a real team player and a real good guy who found himself comfortable very quickly because of his humour and also because of his class," the told Stats Perform.

Doll explained himself, compatriot Karl-Heinz Riedle, Netherlands midfielder Aaron Winter and Gascoigne palled around as Lazio's foreign legion, but no one in the dressing room was safe from the Englishman's trademark sense of humour.

"Paul was a joker for everybody," he recalled. "For example, he tied the shoelaces of the players together or he crashed interviews while only wearing his underwear and such things. There were so many stories about him."

Doll also painted the picture of a selfless figure who remains much-loved by supporters in his retirement.

"He was very kind to the young players," he added.

"When he was in England, he sometimes brought back CD players and donated them to the young players, or he picked them up if they had no car at that time.

"He was a totally crazy guy, but the whole team liked him very much."