April 20, 2005: Cagliari Lazio 1-1
- Simon Basten
- 8 hours ago
- 12 min read
Lazio grab a point in the last minute
Lazio bring home a draw with a last-minute goal by Siviglia
Also on this day:
The season so far
On July 19, 2004 Claudio Lotito became President. The situation was critical from a financial point of view. Many of their best players such as Sinisa Mihajlovic, Beppe Favalli and Jaap Stam did not renew their contracts and went elsewhere. Manager Roberto Mancini signed for Inter despite being under contract with Lazio. But Lazio had no means to keep him and he knew it. From what is known, his contacts with Inter started in the autumn and he tried to convince many of his players to follow him to Inter. Some did, some refused (for example Stam).
Stefano Fiore and Bernardo Corradi were sold to Valencia to cover the debt remaining with the Spanish club for the signing of Gaizka Mendieta. Demetrio Albertini was sold to Atalanta as payment for the other halves of Luciano Zauri and Ousmane Dabo. Claudio Lopez was loaned to America Mexico so Lazio could save paying his wages.
Two players not under contract decided to stay: Angelo Peruzzi and Fernando Couto.
Lotito therefore inherited a team with no manager and just a few players. The team was temporarily given to Mimmo Caso, the primavera manager and hero of the -9 season, for the pre-season training in Japan. Lazio had to fulfil a contract so off they went. In Japan Caso got on well with the players (and he was also cheap), so Lotito confirmed him.
Lotito’s second move was a PR one. He needed the Lazio fans on his side, so his idea was the return of Paolo Di Canio, an unforgotten hero of the tifosi. Di Canio managed to get released from his contract and came back home.
Lotito’s last move was the signing of seven players on the last day of the summer transfer window. These included some forgettable signings, but also two players that would become the backbone of the early Lotito years: Tommaso Rocchi and Sebastiano Siviglia.
In Serie A things did not go well. In the first 16 games Lazio won four, drew five and lost seven. They had 17 points, just four clear of relegation zone. They were clearly in difficulty: badly organised, no game plan, problems between Caso and Di Canio and poor quality of some of the players. Furthermore, the Biancocelesti were eliminated in the UEFA Cup group stage, without winning a match, and were also out of the Coppa Italia beaten by Cagliari on away goals.
So, just before Christmas, Lotito called another former player, Giuseppe Papadopulo, to manage Lazio. He was seen as more apt to lead the Biancocelesti to safety. The task was immediately uphill since his first game was the derby, but amazingly Lazio won 3-1 and then again in Florence in the next match. They were currently seventh with the relegation zone 8 points away.
The match: Wednesday, April 20, 2005, Stadio Sant’Elia, Cagliari
The two teams basically studied each other for the first quarter of an hour until Cesar in the 19th minute crossed from the left but Paolo Di Canio could not get a connection. Cagliari responded with an Antonio Langella header which went only slightly wide after an Edgar Alvarez cross from the right. The home side were having difficulty in creating anything dangerous, particularly missing the creativity of their two missing players, Gianfranco Zola and David Suazo. Langella again was dangerous on the half hour on a free kick which forced Angelo Peruzzi to save into corner.
Lazio's biggest chance to score arrived in the 38th minute. Emanuele Filippini raced forward on the counter attack, ball to Di Canio who passed to Cesar on the left wing. The Brazilian crossed low into the box, Tommaso Rocchi dummied and Di Canio unmarked from three metres shot wide. Immediately after, Langella went off on the left and crossed into the box but Mauro Esposito headed wide.
The first twenty minutes of the second half were boring, then Langella was dangerous again with a shot deflected by Giuliano Giannichedda which shaved the post. From the corner taken by Daniele Conti, Simone Loria headed towards Massimo Gobbi who had the easiest of chances but his header went wide. In the 71st minute, Alessandro Budel to Esposito in the box, great volley and Cagliari ahead.
Lazio attacked looking for an equaliser which arrived in the 90th minute. Massimo Oddo took a free kick from the right, Fabio Bazzani headed towards Sebastiano Siviglia who had no problem in heading the ball past Gennaro Iezzo.
A good and deserved point for Lazio
Who played for Cagliari
Iezzo, D. Lopez, Loria, Bega, Agostini, Alvarez (60' R. Bianchi), Conti, Budel, Gobbi, M. Esposito (87' Abeijon), Langella
Substitutes: Brunner, F. Pisano, Vignati, Albino, Brambilla
Manager: Arrigoni
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Oddo, Siviglia, Giannichedda, Zauri, A. Filippini, E. Filippini, Dabo, Cesar (65’ Liverani), Di Canio (55’ Bazzani), Rocchi
Substitutes: Casazza, Oscar Lopez, Talamonti, E. Gonzalez
Manager: Papadopulo
Referee: Brighi
Goals: 71 Esposito, 90’ Siviglia
What happened next
With six games from the end of the season Lazio were 7th and relatively safe but then they lost three in a row and things got worrying. Lazio then drew the last three matches and managed to stay in Serie A. Papadopulo was able to add a greater fighting spirit to the side, but little else. Lotito had a lot of work to do if he wanted to improve the side.
Oddo was the player with the most appearances (42) and Rocchi the most goals with 17
What happened in Serie A 2004-05
In the previous season the scudetto was won by Milan miles ahead of Roma and Juventus. Midway the Giallorossi had been ahead with a three-point lead over Rossoneri and Bianconeri, but in the second half of the season Milan took off and the other two teams were unable to keep up the pace.
In the summer transfer window, the Rossoneri were further strengthened with the arrival of Jaap Stam from Lazio and Hernan Crespo from Chelsea. Inter purchased Fabio Cannavaro from Parma and Juve got Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Emerson.
The Biancocelesti were forced to let go most of their star players due to financial difficulties and even manager Roberto Mancini left. He went to Inter and brought Sinisa Mihajlovic and Beppe Favalli with him. New President Claudio Lotito also sold Stefano Fiore and Bernardo Corradi to Valencia, but brought back Paolo Di Canio, returning to the capital after 14 years.
As far as managers were concerned, Fabio Capello left Roma and moved to Juve, Lazio chose Mimmo Caso and Roma Rudi Voeller.
August
In August there were the Champions League qualifying matches. Juventus beat Djugårdens IF 6-3 on aggregate despite drawing the first game at home after being 2-0 down. Inter also qualified, eliminating Basel 5-2.
In August there was the first group phase of the Coppa Italia. Torino, Atalanta, Triestina, Livorno, Fiorentina, Ternana, Salernitana and Messina qualified for the first round where they would play against the mid table Serie A clubs.
Milan won the Supercoppa beating Lazio 3-0 with an Andrij Shevchenko hat trick.
September
Juventus immediately set the pace followed by surprise Lecce and Messina. Lazio also started well despite losing the last game of the month at home to Milan.
In the first games of the Champions League group phase, Roma lost both at home against Dynamo Kyiv and away to Real Madrid despite being 2-0 up. Juventus won both their matches against Ajax away and Maccabi Tel Aviv at home as did Milan vs Shakhtar Donetsk and Celtic and Inter with Werder Bremen and Anderlecht.
In the UEFA Cup Lazio qualified for the group phase by beating Metalurh Donetsk 6-0 on aggregate as did Parma (3-2 against Maribor). Udinese were eliminated by Panionios 3-2 on aggregate.
In Coppa Italia, Torino, Fiorentina, Cagliari, Bologna, Siena, Lecce, Palermo and Atalanta qualified for the round of 16 where they would meet the big teams.
Juventus 10, Lecce 8, Messina 8, Milan 7, Lazio 7, Inter 6, Chievo 6, Palermo 6, Reggina 6, Bologna 6, Cagliari 6, Udinese 5, Roma 4, Fiorentina 4, Siena 4, Sampdoria 3, Brescia 3, Livorno 2, Atalanta 2, Parma 2
October
Juve continued to lead followed by Milan while Lecce and Messina lost ground even if they continued to be in good positions. Roma sacked Voeller and put Luigi Delneri on the bench. In his first game they drew 3-3 at home with Inter despite trailing 3-1, won away to Livorno but then drew at home with Palermo and lost again to Juve. The Milan derby ended goalless.
In the Champions League, Roma lost again away to Bayer Leverkusen and any type of qualification was going to be difficult. Juventus beat Bayern Munich, Milan won against Barcelona and Inter thrashed Valencia 5-1 away.
In the UEFA Cup, Parma lost to Athletic Bilbao and Lazio drew at home with Villareal.
Juventus 25, Milan 20, Lecce 15, Messina 14, Inter 13, Fiorentina 13, Chievo 13, Cagliari 13, Roma 12, Udinese 12, Lazio 12, Sampdoria 12, Livorno 11, Bologna 10, Palermo 10, Brescia 9, Siena 9, Reggina 7, Parma 7, Atalanta 5
November
Juventus still ahead with a lead reduced by one compared to October. The Bianconeri drew with Inter and lost away to Reggina but Milan were unable to take advantage. Below, Atalanta in deep trouble already.
In the Champions League, Roma drew at home with Bayer Leverkusen but lost away to Dynamo Kyiv and were out of Europe. Juventus won again in Germany against Bayern Munich and at home against Ajax. With one game left they were sure of topping their group, just like Milan who lost against Barcelona but beat Shakhtar Donetsk. Inter drew with both Valencia and Werder Bremen and needed to beat Anderlecht in the final game to ensure first place.
In the UEFA Cup, Parma beat Steaua Bucharest but lost against Standard Liege. They needed to beat Besiktas in their last game to qualify for the next phase. Lazio lost against Middlesborough and drew with Partizan. They were virtually out of the competition.
In the first leg of the Coppa Italia Round of 16, Atlanta, Cagliari, Fiorentina and Inter won at home respectively against Juventus, Lazio, Parma and Bologna. Udinese (5-4!), Milan, Siena and Sampdoria won away at Lecce, Palermo, Roma and Torino.
Juventus 32, Milan 28, Udinese 22, Cagliari 19, Palermo 18, Messina 18, Inter 17, Lecce 17, Sampdoria 17, Chievo 17, Roma 16, Fiorentina 16, Lazio 16, Reggina 16, Livorno 16, Brescia 14, Bologna 13, Parma 12, Siena 11, Atalanta 7
December
The big match between Juventus and Milan ended in a goalless draw keeping the distance between the two teams unchanged. Udinese consolidated their third place. Palermo was doing rather well, fourth, whilst Lazio had plummeted forcing the sacking of Caso and the arrival of Giuseppe Papadopulo on the bench.
In the last game of the Champions League group phase, Roma lost again at home to Real Madrid and came last in their group. Juventus drew away with Maccabi Tel Aviv but were already sure of topping their group just like Milan who drew away to Celtic. Inter beat Anderlecht at home and also topped their group.
In the UEFA Cup Parma beat Besiktas and qualified for the next round. Lazio instead drew with Egaleo and were out.
Juventus 39, Milan 35, Udinese 31, Inter 24, Palermo 24, Sampdoria 24, Roma 23, Fiorentina 22, Cagliari 22, Lecce 21, Livorno 20, Chievo 20, Reggina 19, Messina 18*, Lazio 17, Brescia 17, Bologna 16, Siena 13, Parma 12, Atalanta 7*
* one game in hand
January
Juventus drew their first game of the year and Milan went to -2 but then the Rossoneri lost two games in a row and the Bianconeri raced away. Inter now third and Roma, despite being crushed by Lazio in the derby, were one point behind Udinese. Atalanta by now must be considered relegated.
In Coppa Italia, Atalanta, vs Juventus, Cagliari (in extra time), Fiorentina, Inter, Udinese, Milan, Roma and Sampdoria qualified for the quarter finals. In the first leg of the latter, Cagliari, Milan and Roma won at home against Sampdoria, Udinese and Fiorentina, Inter won away in Bergamo.
Juventus 50, Milan 42, Inter 35, Udinese 34, Roma 33, Sampdoria 32, Reggina 30, Palermo 29, Cagliari 29, Lecce 28, Bologna 27, Messina 27, Livorno 26, Chievo 25, Lazio 23, Fiorentina 23, Parma 22, Siena 19, Brescia 19, Atalanta 11
February
It was Juventus’ turn to lose two in a row so Milan again went to -2. They then caught up as the Bianconeri drew with Messina and the Rossoneri beat Cagliari with a goal in injury time. Milan also won the derby.
In champions league, Juventus lost the first leg of the Round of 16 to Real Madrid 1-0, Milan won in Manchester against United whilst Inter drew with Porto. In the UEFA Cup Round of 32 Parma eliminated VfB Stuttgart 2-0 after extra time.
In Coppa Italia, Inter, Cagliari, Udinese and Roma (on penalties) qualified for the semi final
Milan 57, Juventus 57, Sampdoria 44, Inter 43, Udinese 42, Palermo 42, Roma 38, Lecce 35, Reggina 35, Cagliari 34, Bologna 33, Lazio 33, Livorno 31, Messina 29, Chievo 28, Fiorentina 27, Parma 26, Siena 25, Brescia 23, Atalanta 18
March
Milan and Juventus won all three of their March games and continued to lead hand in hand. Below Brescia lost ground and there were another four teams fighting for survival including former greats Parma and Fiorentina. Third change on the bench for Roma as Delneri was fired and replaced by Bruno Conti.
In Champions League Juventus beat Real Madrid 2-0 in extra time and went through to the quarter finals as did Milan who beat Manchester United at home and Inter who beat Porto 3-1. In the UEFA Cup round of 16, Parma qualified for the quarter finals beating Sevilla 1-0 on aggregate.
Milan 66, Juventus 66, Inter 50, Udinese 48, Sampdoria 47, Palermo 44, Bologna 38, Roma 38, Cagliari 38, Lecce 36, Livorno 36, Messina 36, Reggina 35, Lazio 34, Fiorentina 31, Chievo 31, Parma 30, Siena 29, Brescia 26, Atalanta 24
April
After Milan lost at Siena, Juventus took the solitary lead only to be caught up again a week later when the Bianconeri lost at home to Inter. Below, Atalanta finally got going but were still a little behind. It was still all very close for the relegation battle which now also included Roma. Just five games left.
Inter and Juventus crashed out of the Champions League. The Bianconeri lost 2-1 away to Liverpool in the first leg but were unable to beat the English at home. Milan beat Inter 2-0 in the first leg and in the second the game was interrupted due to fan trouble and the Rossoneri were awarded the 3-0. In the first leg of the semi-finals, Milan beat PSV Eindhoven 2-0.
Parma qualified for the UEFA Cup semi-finals eliminating Austria Wien on away goals. In the first leg they drew with CSKA Moscow.
Milan 73, Juventus 73, Inter 59, Sampdoria 55, Udinese 53, Palermo 48, Livorno 43, Messina 43, Lazio 41, Cagliari 41, Bologna 40, Roma 39, Reggina 39, Lecce 38, Siena 36, Chievo 35, Fiorentina 34, Brescia 34, Parma 34, Atalanta 31
May
The title race was decided on May 8 with the big clash between the top two teams. Juventus won in Milan, and the Rossoneri threw in the towel. In the penultimate match, the Bianconeri drew away with Livorno and won the scudetto. With Inter comfortably in third place, the battle for fourth, and Champions League, was between Udinese and Sampdoria. With two games to go, they were tied on 60 points and had drawn 1-1 in their game in Udine. But with 90 minutes left, Samp lost at home with Inter and Udinese drew at Cagliari. In the last game Samp was hold to a draw at Bologna and the Bianconeri by drawing at home with Milan took fourth place.
The battle to avoid relegation was complicated with lots of teams involved. With one game left the table read Atalanta 35 in Serie B, Fiorentina 39, Siena 40, Bologna, Parma and Brescia 41. Last matches: Fiorentina-Brescia, Siena-Atalanta, Bologna-Sampdoria and Lecce-Parma. After 45 minutes, Fiorentina, Siena and Lecce were winning, Bologna and Samp was 0-0. In the second halves, Parma managed to equalise, the other games stayed as in the first half. So, Brescia joined Atalanta, and there was a playoff between Bologna and Parma. Fiorentina had earned more points in the direct clashes with the other two so they were safe. In the first leg Bologna won at Parma but in the second the Gialloblu overturned the result and stayed in Serie A.
In the semi-final of Champions League Milan lost 3-1 to PSV Eindhoven but managed to reach the final on away goals They would face Liverpool, who eliminated Chelsea, in Istanbul.
The final was a rollercoaster with Milan ahead 3-0 after the first 45 minutes but Liverpool managed to equalise in seven minutes in the second half and the match finished in a penalty shootout which Liverpool won.
Parma missed out on the final of the UEFA Cup. They lost 3-0 in Moscow against CSKA.
Roma and Inter qualified for the Coppa Italia final beating Udinese (3-2 on aggregate) and Cagliari (4-2). In the final, which took place in June over two legs, Inter won 2-0 in Rome and 1-0 at home, clinching their fourth title.
So, Juve, Milan, Inter and Udinese qualified for the Champions League, Sampdoria, Palermo and Roma for the UEFA Cup. Bologna, Brescia and Atalanta were relegated.
Top scorer was Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno) with 24 goals.
Promotion from Serie B was a little bit complicated. At the end of the season Genoa and Empoli had been promoted and the play offs were between Torino, Perugia, Treviso and Ascoli which in the end was won by the Granata. But there was a problem. Genoa were found guilty of corrupting Venezia in their last game and relegated to Serie C, Torino went bust as did Perugia. So Empoli, Treviso and Ascoli were promoted to Serie A.
Final table: Juventus 86, Milan 79, Inter 72, Udinese 62, Sampdoria 61, Palermo 53, Messina 48, Roma 45, Livorno 45, Lazio 44, Lecce 44, Reggina 44, Cagliari 44, Siena 43, Chievo 43, Fiorentina 42, Parma 42, Bologna 42, Brescia 42, Atalanta 35
Aftermath
Following the calciopoli scandal of 2006, Juventus was stripped of their scudetto. It was not assigned to any other team.
Sources
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