Immobile, Morata, and Giroud lead memorable European night for old-fashioned strikers

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.

He has had lean times, too, a move to Borussia Dortmund that worked out badly, a rejection by Juventus, where he started his top-flight career, and long spells with the national team where the goals dried up and the boos got louder.

In two separate, losing World Cup qualifying play-offs Immobile was leading the line for the goal-shy Azzurri.

Lately, though, Immobile has been wearing the captain’s armband for Italy and anticipates taking the senior striking role in the defence of their European championship title next summer.

Naturally, there will be sceptics, who, a little unfairly, characterise him as a limited centre-forward, glossing over his creative contributions outside the penalty box.

It is the burden of the central striker in an era of ‘false nines’ and fluid tactical experimentation that redraws the role of the orthodox target man.

Tuesday in club football’s elite