Lazio’s next three weeks will not feel much like a break. Eight members of the squad are due to leave Formello between 24 September and 6 October, with 26 international fixtures spread across the Nations League calendar. For those regularly selected, the programme could mean four matches in a short window, while Gennaro Gattuso will follow the results closely from Rome.
Denmark provide Lazio’s largest international group
Denmark have called up two Lazio players, giving them the biggest biancoceleste contingent during this spell: Gustav Isaksen and Oliver Provstgaard. Their schedule is particularly demanding and includes a meeting with a Lazio teammate.
- Isaksen and Provstgaard face Norway tomorrow.
- Denmark then play Wales on 27 September and again on 4 October.
- Their other fixture is against Portugal on 1 October.
- Nuno Tavares will meet Denmark with Portugal, as well as facing Wales tomorrow and Norway on 27 September and 4 October.
Those overlapping appointments are among six international matches in which Lazio players could find themselves on opposing sides.
Taylor and Mandas on the same Nations League route
Taylor and Christos Mandas are both involved in Group B, where their teams are set to cross paths in a sequence featuring Germany, Serbia and Greece.
- Taylor’s Netherlands begin against Germany before taking on Serbia twice and Greece.
- His match against Mandas’ Greece is scheduled for Thursday, 1 October.
- Mandas starts tomorrow against Serbia, then has two games against Germany.
Their respective matches fall across the same dates as Tavares’ commitments, adding further travelling and selection demands before the domestic campaign resumes.
Frattesi carries Italy’s call-up
Davide Frattesi, who celebrated his 27th birthday yesterday, is the only Italian player in the Lazio squad selected by Roberto Mancini. Italy’s fixtures bring a challenging run against Belgium, Turkey and France.
- Italy play Belgium on Friday.
- Turkey are the opposition on 28 September and 5 October.
- France await on 2 October.
For Frattesi, the international interval offers another stage in a season where individual responsibility and club expectations continue to run together.
Sutalo and Gudmundsson begin on Saturday
Josip Sutalo and Albert Gudmundsson start their international programmes on Saturday, though the level of opposition differs sharply.
- Sutalo is expected to start for Croatia against the Czech Republic on 26 September.
- Croatia then face Spain on 29 September and 6 October, with England between those games on 3 October.
- Sutalo is the only Lazio player to have featured at the most recent World Cup, although his involvement after the opening match may depend on Croatia’s rotations.
- Gudmundsson’s Iceland compete in Nations League C and meet Estonia on 6 October, Luxembourg on 29 September and Bulgaria on 3 October.
The international calendar therefore leaves Lazio’s staff with little room for a quiet fortnight: players will return from matches of varying weight, but all with the league’s next chapter waiting at Formello.
