Lazio’s stunning form in the last couple of months has seen them move into second place in the Italian Serie A after a 4-0 win over Empoli.

This was the fifth consecutive victory in the league for the club. This coupled with the fact that teams like Roma and Napoli have been struggling for form has ensured that Lazio are up into second spot ahead of their archrivals Roma. This was a great moment for manager Stefano Pioli, who had his doubters when he came to the club. After Juventus suffered a shock defeat against Parma, Lazio have closed the gap at the top to 12 points.

The league title may still be away from the clutches of the team from Rome,but Pioli is very happy with the run nonetheless. It would still take an astronomical slipup from Juventus for Lazio to be champions once again. More importantly, this kind of form could see Lazio return to Champions League without having to go through a play-off match. The top three teams will qualify directly for the European competition. After having been satisfied with only Europa league up until now, this would be a major boost for the club. Apart from the recent success in the league, Lazio also reached the Coppa Italia final by beating Napoli.

"(Roma coach) Rudi Garcia is right, this is not the final result. We are satisfied with our current position.Of course this streak means something, but we only got here by taking it one game at a time and we must not let go of that approach until the end of the season.This was the most important week to really show our maturity.We won the Coppa Italia semi-final and the fans welcomed us back at 2am, so a normal team could easily slip into complacency,” said Pioli.