Atletico boss Diego Simeone returned to Rome and lapped up the applause from the rapturous Biancocelesti faithful, after being part of the Lazio side that won a Serie A and Coppa Italia double 23 years ago.
The Argentine would have been concerned by his side’s start in the Olimpico, with Jan Oblak called into action to keep out efforts from Mattia Zaccagni and Daichi Kamada, while Luis Alberto’s speculative volley went just wide of the post.
But the Colchoneros rode out the storm and drew first blood, largely against the run of play, through Pablo Barrios. The 20-year-old scored his first-ever UCL goal with a long-range strike that took a wicked deflection off Kamada in the 29th minute.
That frustration was compounded when Luca Pellegrini was forced off injured and replaced by Manuel Lazzari, as Maurizio Sarri was forced to shuffle his pack before the break.
Clearly buoyed by that goal, Simeone’s men upped their intensity after the break and had a chance to double their lead, but Provedel kept out Axel Witsel's effort at the end of some lovely, free-flowing football.
Ciro Immobile was having a comparatively quiet game by his own lofty standards, but was almost gifted a goal when Felipe Anderson intercepted Oblak’s sloppy clearance to play in the Lazio skipper, only for the Slovenian shot-stopper to redeem himself with a smart save.
There were chances for both sides as the game entered the final 20 minutes, with Antoine Griezmann blazing over after being teed up by Marcos Llorente, before turning provider for Samuel Lino, who was denied a first UCL goal by Provedel.
Meanwhile, Oblak was forced into a fine save to push Zaccagni’s looping effort over the bar after the Italian made a surging run to the byline. Alberty was next to try his luck and his rasping strike just cleared the bar, with Sarri’s anguish on the touchline clear to see.
But just when the Biancocelesti looked to have been down and out, the most breathless of endings came true when the Lazio shot-stopper Provedel amazingly headed home from Alberto’s cross-shot, mere seconds before the referee blew for full time.
Simeone’s men will have that sinking feeling in this competition once again, after finishing rock bottom of their group last season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ivan Provedel (Lazio)
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