At Lazio Rome, things are going haywire these days. A new low has now been reached: captain Ciro Immobile was “verbally and physically attacked” on the street with his family
The situation at Lazio Rome is getting worse around a week and a half after the Champions League round of 16 exit against Bayern Munich. On Friday, Ciro Immobile reported that he and his family were attacked on the street – “verbally and physically”. According to the report, the incident took place in front of his four-year-old son’s preschool.
Immobile also has a suspicion as to where the great resentment against him might come from. Lazio supporters have been stirring up trouble against the captain on social media for allegedly plotting against coach Maurizio Sarri.
However, the words Immobile dedicated to the coach, who resigned on Wednesday, do not fit in with this. The former Dortmund striker shared a picture of Sarri and himself on Instagram – and thanked the 65-year-old for the “journey together that has made me grow in many ways.”
Sarri was in charge from summer 2021 until Wednesday, during which time he achieved a points average of 1.64. His previous assistant Giovanni Martusciello stepped in as interim coach. The resignation was a reaction to Lazio’s sporting freefall, having recently suffered four consecutive competitive defeats. The Romans are only ninth in the league with 40 points and are already seven points behind sixth-placed Atalanta Bergamo
206 goals for Lazio in 331 games
In the direction of the fans who turned other supporters against him on the internet, Immobile said: “Inciting hatred is a crime and must be punished.” The 34-year-old spoke of a “smear campaign” and announced that he would press charges against the perpetrators. The media and journalists also did not come off well in Immobile’s all-round attack, as they spread “hateful” messages and “do not report according to reality”.
Lazio Rome stood in front of its striker and wrote on Friday evening: “Any act of verbal or physical violence must be condemned unanimously, firmly and without justification.”
According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Immobile is planning his departure from Roma in the summer, which is only likely to become more likely as a result of the physical confrontation. Immobile moved to Italy’s capital from Sevilla eight years ago, scoring 206 goals and setting up 54 more in 331 competitive games for Lazio. This season, Immobile has six goals and one assist in 24 Serie A appearances
