Former Celtic ace Massimo Donati believes Kyogo Furuhashi could be the biggest threat to Lazio ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League group-stage clash at the Stadio Olimpico.
Any doubts about his ability to make the step up and translate his fearsome domestic form onto the European stage have been dispelled in recent weeks, Kyogo Furuhashi scoring in the reverse fixture against Lazio before stunning Atletico Madrid with a gorgeous clipped finish at Parkhead.
And with Celtic’s European hopes hanging by a thread, Rodgers could do with another piece of Kyogo magic in Rome tonight.
The Glasgow giants need a win if they are to keep alive their chances of continental football after Christmas.
Celtic face Lazio in Champions League
“Rodgers’ team doesn’t change the way they play when they go away (from home). They focus a lot on pace, bringing strong forward pressure,” Donati, the former Serie A ace who spent two years at Celtic, tells Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Celtic want to boost their chances of finishing third place. But Lazio is aiming for qualification (for the Champions League knockout rounds).
“The centre-forward Furuhashi,” Donati adds when asked to name Celtic’s most dangerous player. “He moves a lot, is very quick and in the first leg he even scored.”
Lazio needed a last-gasp Pedro winner to see off Celtic at Parkhead, Luis Palma denied a decider of his own by a VAR call minutes earlier.
And former Chelsea, Juventus and Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri – full of praise for Celtic after that meeting in Glasgow – is under no illusions about the difficulties his out-of-sorts Lazio side could face in the Italian capital.
Two European goals already for Kyogo Furuhashi
“(Celtic) have decent technical qualities and play at a very high pace,” Sarri tells Tuttomercatoweb. “It’s not an easy team to face. The two away defeats were conditioned by a double numerical inferiority (Celtic picking up red cards against both Atletico Madrid and Feyenoord).
“It will be a complicated match tomorrow.”
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