Lazio Set the Early Pace

The ball was out of Udinese’s reach, Lazio’s players were turning towards one another, and the away end had found its voice. A 1-0 win on 1 September kept the Romans perfect: three matches, three victories, nine points, and the only unbeaten record in Serie A.

That is the table’s clearest message after this week’s games. Lazio lead on nine, with U.S. Sassuolo, FC Internazionale Milano and Atalanta all on six from two matches. Roma sit fifth on four, unbeaten after a 2-2 draw at Torino. Lazio have not merely made the best start; they have played more than the three clubs immediately behind them and still have not dropped a point. The rest must catch up on the pitch, not in arithmetic.

Napoli supplied the week’s most arresting result, beating AC Milan 2-1 on 2 September. It came after Juventus had edged Napoli 1-0 on 25 August, leaving the Neapolitans with a win and a defeat from their two games. Juventus, meanwhile, followed that opening victory with a 0-0 draw at Perugia. Two matches, four points: solid enough, but hardly a charge at Lazio.

Inter have made their own quiet case. They beat Cittadella 2-0 on Monday, after winning 2-1 at Frosinone, and have six points from two. Sassuolo’s 3-0 victory at Bologna was the emphatic scoreline of the round; their opening two games have both ended in wins. Atalanta also have six from two, while Fiorentina’s 1-0 victory over Bologna was undone by a 2-0 defeat at Brescia.

The lower end is already a hard place to look. Crotone, Cittadella and Bologna are all pointless after two matches, each with two defeats. Bologna’s latest was especially bruising: Sassuolo left with three goals and all the points. But the season is young, and one ugly week is not a verdict. The verdict, for now, is simply that these clubs have ground to recover.

Lazio’s win over Udinese followed their 2-0 derby victory against Perugia on 26 August, a result that made the opening weeks feel properly Roman. This is a team now led by Adrián García, the former Las Palmas manager whose appointment we examined in July. He could hardly ask for a sharper beginning; the players have answered with results rather than speeches.

And there is the point for the rest of Italy. Lazio may have lost Marco Cincilla to Girona in the summer, but the early table is not a memorial to departures. It is a live challenge to the northern giants and everyone else: three games, nine points, no defeats. Can anyone make them blink?