Old is gold as super Lazio eye Europe return with Serie A second place

Miroslav Klose and Stefano Mauri, second and third from left, have scored the goals to propel Lazio to second spot. Giampiero Sposito / Reuters

At the Stadio Olimpico, they can almost hear the first notes of the Uefa Champions League anthem.

There will be group stage football, at least, in Europe’s principal competition in Italy’s capital next season.

There may be a double dose of it if both Roma and Lazio join Juventus, the Serie A champions-elect, in the tournament.

The joust between them is heating up.

Which of the pair gains the automatic place awarded to the eventual runner-up in the table, or risks the lottery of a qualifying play-off as the third place finisher, may run all the way to their derby meeting on May 24, or even the season’s last round of fixtures.

Lazio players have not lined up to attention to the trademark tune of European Cup football since 2007. Roma’s current crop would rather forget the last two occasions they did so at the Olimpico, the autumn defeats by Manchester City and Bayern Munich, the latter thrashing them 7-1.

For Roma, those games were signs of flaws that have since been regularly revealed through a season that started with great promise and has wheezed downhill since.

For Lazio, quite the contrary. They may well be the most electrifying team in Italy to watch right now, and they take on Atalanta tomorrow looking to consolidate second place and continue a run in which they have lost once in their past 13 games across competitions.

They also have an Italian Cup final to look forward to, against Juventus, in June.

The main pilots of the Lazio juggernaut are a couple men you might expect to pacing themselves, panting wearily at this stage of the campaign.

Not a bit of it from Miroslav Klose, who will celebrate his 37th birthday next month.

The German retired from international football last July, having just established himself as the highest scorer in World Cup finals tournaments and collected a winner’s medal from his last one.

He is not only Lazio’s leading marksman this season but has appeared in more games for his club than anybody else.

Club captain Stefano Mauri, who turns 36 in July, has hardly been winding down, either. He is one off double figures for league goals this campaign.

Klose hit his seventh goal in nine appearances in the 4-0 defeat of Parma.

He has been visibly rejuvenated in recent weeks.

The Klose who used to build his diary around massage sessions and specialist’s appointments to deal with back aches and other strains seems to have enjoyed the release of no longer chasing milestones in a Germany jersey.

His evergreen poaching instincts have also been stimulated by good service into the penalty area.

Antonio Candreva, the Italy international, has been the most reliable supplier and Felipe Anderson, the 22-year-old Brazilian, the most exciting.

Anderson, a close friend of Barcelona’s Neymar, used to be suspected of having some dubious lifestyle habits and was criticised for putting on weight when he first came to Italy in the summer of 2013.

He later explained it was his language difficulties, not his appetite, that were to blame.

His Italian was so limited that he only knew how to order pasta carbonara, a dish with a creamy sauce, in restaurants. His vocabulary has grown, his form sharpened and Lazio know that to keep him from being lured to a wealthier club they must put Champions League football on his menu next season.

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