Soccer Football - Champions League - Lazio v Bayern Munich - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - February 14, 2024 Lazio's Ciro Immobile and Pedro celebrate after the match REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
ROME (Reuters) -Ciro Immobile scored a 69th-minute penalty to earn hosts Lazio a 1-0 victory over 10-man Bayern Munich on Wednesday in their Champions League round of 16 first-leg clash.
Immobile converted his spot-kick after Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano's clumsy challenge on Gustav Isaksen for which the France international was sent off with a straight red card.
Disciplined Lazio stifled the German side's attacks and Bayern were toothless throughout, failing to get a single effort on target in the match.
The Bavarians, favourites going into the game, were desperate to bounce back from Saturday's 3-0 Bundesliga loss to leaders Bayer Leverkusen which left them five points off the top.
They will return to Munich with more pressure piling on coach Thomas Tuchel and his team after their second straight defeat. They have failed to score in their last two games.
"We started well had a chance in the first minute and then with Harry Kane and then with Jamal Musiala. We had the game under control in the first half," Tuchel said.
"But in the second our performance dropped inexplicably. We made too many individual errors and made our opponents stronger and we lost concentration. We lost our rhythm.
"It was completely our responsibility. We lost a game today that in the first half looked like we could not lose it."
Tuchel played down concerns about his situation.
"Worried about my future? No I am not," he said.
Bayern created early chances for Joshua Kimmich and Harry Kane, who both narrowly missed the target.
The Italians, who lost 6-2 on aggregate to Bayern at this stage of the competition three years ago, responded with a fierce Luis Alberto strike that flew wide of Manuel Neuer's goal.
The tempo gradually dropped, Bayern struggled with the disciplined Italian back line and had to wait until the 40th minute to threaten again when Musiala fired over the bar from close range.
Lazio should have taken the lead two minutes after the restart when Isaksen only had Neuer to beat but the keeper stood his ground to block his shot.
The Dane won a penalty when Immobile passed to Isaksen in the box and Upamecano arrived late and stepped on his ankle.
Immobile kept his cool and sent Neuer the wrong way to give Maurizio Sarri's team the advantage going into the return leg in Munich on March 5.
"We worked and prepared for this match to have a say in it," said Immobile. "I was convinced that the team would put everything out there.
"We had some opportunities and we had to be good at exploiting them ahead of the return match and we did just that."
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)
