Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel tells story of sensational header in Atletico Madrid draw

Provedel then scored a dramatic header to rescue a point for his side.

And the Italian has now opened up after his goal, revealing the feeling hadn't sunk in yet while joking he'd copied striker Ciro Immobile.

“It was difficult to hear anything from the bench, so we were unable to communicate on whether I should go up or not," he said.

"They did manage to tell me when it was the penultimate minute, so I figured there must be 30 seconds left and it was the last chance.

“I don’t think I’ve quite realised what happened. Football is quick, both in good and bad ways, so we have another game coming up in Serie A where we haven’t started well and need to get back on track.

“As for today, we didn’t win the game, we only got a point.

“I could joke and say I’ve been studying Ciro Immobile. Luis Alberto usually fires to the back post, I thought it was the only gap I could see, so I went there.”

It wasn't even the first goal of the goalkeeper's career.

Provedel netted during a 2-2 draw between Ascoli and Juve Stabia back in February 2020.

But the 29-year-old wasn't keen to compare the two.

“They are two different situations, two very important goals, two very important seasons for me and they both mean a great deal to me," he stated.

Lazio boss Maurizio Sarri, who used the manage Chelsea, also spoke out.

"Trailing at half-time considering the way the two teams had played their football was not fair," he stated.

"And we risked feeling like victims of bad luck, of surrendering to the circumstances."

Sarri also hit back at suggestions Lazio were struggling at present, too, having endured a slow start to the new Serie A season.

"People claim we are struggling, but in the last three games we have faced Napoli, Juventus and Atletico Madrid, ending up with a win, a defeat and a draw," he added.

"Atletico Madrid are very strong on the counter-attack, so there was every chance we would struggle, but we allowed them none except for the final 20 minutes when we were chasing the game."

And, on Provedel's late intervention, he said with a smile: "We found a solution eventually!"

In the other game of Lazio's group, Feyenoord beat Celtic 2-0.

Calvin Stengs opened the scoring before the interval, with Celtic duo Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm then both seeing red within a five-minute spell.

And Feyenoord secured victory late on with Alireza Jahanbakhsh on target in the 76th minute.

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Lazio are next in Champions League action against Celtic on October 4. Before that they face Monza, Torino and AC Milan in Serie A.