LUCAS LEIVA FEATURES IN LATE WIN
Brazilian international Lucas Leiva was part of the Lazio squad that secured a late win in a tricky league game at Hellas Verona to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Lucas Leiva was named from the start for the game which ended in dramatic fashion. Hellas Verona showed why they are ninth on the league standings as far as the Italian Serie A is concerned as they gave Lazio problems during the game until the late goal from Serbian national team player Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. His goal in added time gave Lazio a 1-0 away win over their difficult opponents.
The goal from Milinkovic-Savic was also important as he helped Lazio maintain their winning run. The Italian capital club had won the last three games in the league ahead of the Verona match and the winner from the Serbian attacking midfielder made it four straight wins for Lazio.
The late victory was even more significant for Lazio due to the fact that the other seven teams in the top eight won their respective games at the weekend in the battle to qualify for European football next season.
Lazio are presently in sixth position on the log with 55 points. Their present position would be good enough for an Europa League spot but the capital giants want Champions League football. They are six points adrift of Atalanta in the fourth and final Champions League spot with a game in hand against Torino.
A win for Lazio in that outstanding game will put them just three points off Atalanta. They will have to make up that three points over the final games of the season if they want to play Champions league again after the experience they had in the competition this season. Lucas Leiva and Lazio got to the round of 16 before they were eliminated by holders Bayern Munich.