Ciro Immobile’s landmark goal set off a lengthy sprint towards the crowd. Because of the running track at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, there’s a significant distance between fans and goal-line.
At times in Immobile’s career, that wide space has been a blessing, a wide buffer between the boos and their target. But on Tuesday, he ran eagerly towards his loyalists.
Immobile’s match-winning goal against Feyenoord was his 200th for Lazio, where he is mostly appreciated and the fact he reached that milestone in the Champions League and with it pushed the Rome club up into one of the qualifying positions for the knockout phases made it extra special.
Immobile is 33, and he divides opinion. He has had fabulous seasons as a centre-forward, above all 2019-20 where he won Europe’s Golden Shoe for the most prolific scorer across the continent’s domestic leagues.