April 4, 2004: Lazio Siena 5-2
- Simon Basten
- 21 hours ago
- 13 min read
Emperor Cesar
Cesar scores three as Lazio demolish Siena coming from behind
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The season so far
The previous season Lazio had done well reaching a Champions League qualification. But knowing Roberto Mancini, he must have been very disappointed when the Lazio management told him that there was no money for transfers. Goodbye scudetto heroes Luca Marchegiani, Giuseppe Pancaro and Diego Simeone as well as Enrico Chiesa, Dino Baggio and Lucas Castroman. Welcome Roberto Muzzi, Ousmane Dabo, Demetrio Albertini, Luciano Zauri and Matteo Sereni. Not exactly what ambitious Mancini would have wanted.
But this is what a deeply financially troubled Lazio could afford and there was nothing one could do. Impossible to extend Dejan Stankovic’s contract so he was obviously going to have to go but instead he stayed at least for the first part of the season. He was sold to Inter in January.
The season started with the Champion’s League qualifying round against Benfica. A comfortable 3-1 win at home was money in the bank for Lazio who then also won the away match. In the group stage the Biancocelesti had started well winning away to Besiktas, but a draw at home against Sparta Prague and a loss in London against Chelsea was putting a possible round of 16 in peril. A further loss against Chelsea and a draw against Besiktas meant that the Biancocelesti needed to win away against Sparta Prague. Despite Lazio having numerous chances, they lost in injury time and were last in the group, hence not even a UEFA Cup consolation.
At the end of the first half of the campionato Lazio were sixth, just two points off a possible Champions League qualification. They had beaten Juventus and Inter but lost the derby. In the second half of the season so far, they had lost just two games and were currently fourth in the company of Parma. The second derby was abandoned in the second half. A rumour spread that a boy had been run over by a police car. The Roma supporters went onto the pitch to speak to the players to tell them that they needed to suspend the match otherwise they would do something themselves to stop it. The referee at this point decided to end it there. The climate inside the stadium was pretty bad, and it got worse outside with clashes between police and fans from both sides. The game would be played later on April 21 and ended 1-1.
The real Lazio could be admired in Coppa Italia. After easily brushing off Modena, in January Lazio had to face Parma in the quarter finals. Stankovic scored both at home and away and gave Lazio the qualification pass for the semi-final against Milan. These were his final games for Lazio.
The Biancocelesti surprisingly won the first leg in Milan and in the second leg at home put on a wonderful display, perhaps one the best games Lazio have ever played, at least in their recent history, and won 4-0.
The final was against Juventus with the first leg at home. Lazio won 2-0 but it could have been even better as the Biancocelesti played at a similar level as against Milan and even missed a penalty. The second leg was scheduled for May 12.
The match: Sunday, April 4, 2004, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Three minutes and Lazio were already ahead. Leandro Cufré fouled Simone Inzaghi just inside the Siena half. The Lazio forward took the freekick very quickly, surprising the Tuscan defence, Cesar raced forwards on the left in complete solitude and made it 1-0. The ball had still been moving when Inzaghi took the free kick but the referee was not looking.
Six minutes later, Cufré crossed from the right, the ball reached Simone Vergassola but Matteo Sereni managed to parry. Gianni Guigou collected it outside the box, dribbled past Demetrio Albertini and with a low clinical shot beat the Biancoceleste keeper.
Lazio in shock and Siena took courage. In the 25th minute a long ball from Nikola Lazetic reached Rodrigo Taddei who beat Massimo Oddo for speed, went around Sereni and scored.
Five minutes later the Biancocelesti equalised. Sinisa Mihajlovic took a free kick on the right near the by-line. He crossed low in the box but the Siena defence cleared, ball to Cesar on the left who crossed again, Inzaghi let it pass and Stefano Fiore made it 2-2 from close range.
Lazio took control and almost made it three when a Luciano Zauri header on an Oddo cross from the right shaved the post. At this point Roberto Mancini made a surprise substitution. In came Bernardo Corradi for Claudio Lopez.
Just before the end of the first half there was a free kick for Lazio. Almost dead centre, 30 meters out, perfect for Mihajlovic. The Serb tried a shot, it was deflected by the wall but became a perfect assist for Cesar who made it 3-2.
Siena could have equalised immediately when Lazetic crossed into the box and Tore Andre Flo tried a header but it was saved by Sereni.
In the 49th minute Lazio closed the game. Inzaghi dispossessed a Siena defender, ball to Fiore on the right, splendid cross towards the other side and Cesar scored his hat-trick.
After Fiore had accidentally hit his own crossbar with the ball coming off his shoulder following a corner, the Biancocelesti made it five in the 77th minute. Zauri came into the box from the left, Guigou anticipated Corradi and left the ball for Marco Fortin. A second of indecision was enough for the Lazio centre forward who managed to get to it and beat the Siena keeper for the fifth time.
Good win for the Biancocelesti who were able to overturn a moment of difficulty.
Who played for Lazio
Sereni, Oddo, Stam, Mihajlovic, Zauri, Fiore (82’ Couto), Albertini, Dabo, Cesar, Inzaghi (73’ Muzzi), Claudio Lopez (40’ Corradi)
Manager: Mancini
Who played for Siena
Fortin, Cufré, Juarez, Mignani, Guigou, D'Aversa (67' Ventola), Cucciari, Vergassola, Lazetic (67' Chiesa), Flo (80' Fernando Menegazzo), Taddei
Substitutes: G. Rossi, M. Innocenti, Berretti, Argilli
Manager: Papadopulo
Referee: Dondarini
Goals: 4’ Cesar, 9’ Guigou, 25’ Taddei, 29’ Fiore, 45’ Cesar, 49’ Cesar, 77’ Corradi
What happened next
Lazio were constantly very close to a Champions League qualification but missed out in the end. Too many injuries, too much uncertainty and too many controversial refereeing decisions to be able to achieve the objective. The team managed to play some extremely spectacular games but also put in some dismal performances. Too inconsistent to hope for anything better than a UEFA Cup qualification.
But the Biancocelesti did win the Coppa Italia. The return match of the final against Juventus was complicated and Lazio went 2-0 down, but a splendid header by Corradi, the worst player on the pitch up to that moment and a Stefano Fiore equaliser gave Lazio their fourth Coppa Italia.
The 2003-2004 season was the end of an era. Nothing would ever be the same. Claudio Lotito was on his way.
What happened in Serie A 2003-04
Juventus had won the scudetto the previous season. After the first half they were a little behind since Milan were top followed by Lazio and Inter. Juventus were fourth. By mid-February they were joint leaders with Inter and then they went off alone in early March. With five games to the end of the season they had a six-point advantage over Inter and they became champions with two games to spare.
In the summer transfer window, the Bianconeri signed defender Nicola Legrottaglie, Inter got Julio Cruz, Milan acquired Cafu and Kaka and Roma Christian Chivu and Amantino Mancini.
Before the start of the season there was chaos.
Two players in Serie B, Vito Grieco (Catania) and Luigi Martinelli (Siena) had been suspended for one game during the course of 2002-03 Serie B. The two did not play the game after they were suspended but did play with the Primavera that weekend. With two main differences. In the Catania case the first team had already played, whereas in the Siena case the two games were at the same time. The week after Martinelli regularly played Catania-Siena which ended 1-1. Riccardo Gaucci, president of Catania, demanded that Siena should be given a 0-2 defeat because Martinelli should not have been playing since he was suspended.
At the end of the season Catania arrived fourth bottom and were relegated. But if they were to be given the win against Siena, this would mean that there would be a need for a playoff between Napoli and Venezia. There was absolute chaos and a decision was made to have 21 teams in Serie B for 2003-04. But in case this was not enough, Venezia appealed for victory over Catania due to Grieco having played the previous Sunday with the Primavera and they won, meaning that now Catania were relegated and Venezia were still in Serie B. This however created more chaos as Salernitana, Genoa and Cosenza jumped at the opportunity to avoid relegation via the judiciary. In the end, on August 19, the Italian Football Federation determined that Serie B would have 24 teams, hence the annulment of the relegations of the previous season, plus Fiorentina who substituted Cosenza who had gone bankrupt. The Viola only the previous season had been relegated to C2 after they had gone bust and had won their C2 group and should have played in C1. But the Federation promoted them to Serie B on Sporting merit and because of their large fan base.
At this point a final decision was made. Serie A would go from the current 18 clubs to 20 for the 2004-05 season and Serie B from 24 to 22. This meant that five teams would come up from Serie B, three teams would be relegated from Serie A and the final place would be determined by a playoff between the 15th place in Serie A and the sixth place in Serie B.
Juventus were obviously favourites but Milan too could look at the current season with ambition.
August-September
The Supercoppa final, held in East Rutherford in the US between Juventus who had won the previous scudetto and Milan who had won the Coppa Italia in August, ended in a goalless draw and needed extra time. They then scored one each so there was a penalty shootout which Juventus won clinching their fourth title in the competition.
In Serie A Roma, Juventus and Milan took the lead early on since they all won three and drew one. The Giallorossi and Bianconeri drew in Turin.
In August there was the third qualifying round of the Champions League to gain access to the group stage. Lazio defeated Benfica 4-1 on aggregate.
In the first two games of the group stage in September Inter won in London against Arsenal and also beat Dynamo Kyiv, Juventus beat Galatasaray and Olympiakos, Lazio won in Istanbul against Besiktas but drew at home against Sparta Prague, Milan beat Ajax and drew with Celta Vigo.
In the first leg of the UEFA Cup qualifying round, Udinese won away against Wustenrot Salzburg, Parma drew away with Metalurh Donetsk, Perugia won at Dundee and Roma crushed Vardar 4-0 at the Olimpico.
The Coppa Italia started in a weird way. In protest against the last second decision to have 24 teams in Serie B many clubs refused to play the group phase, so some Serie C teams qualified for the second round such as Pro Patria, Teramo and Brindisi. In the end Reggina, Palermo, Modena, Siena, Venezia, Perugia, Sampdoria and Bologna qualified for the round of 16 where they would meet the bigger Serie A clubs.
Roma 10, Juventus 10, Milan 10, Parma 8, Inter 8, Lazio 7, Chievo 7, Siena 5, Sampdoria 5, Bologna 4, Modena 4, Udinese 4, Reggina 3, Lecce 3, Brescia 2, Perugia 2, Empoli 2, Ancona 1
October
Milan, who won the derby, and Juventus took the lead as Roma with a couple of draws lost a little bit of ground.
In Champions League Inter collapsed in Moscow against Lokomotiv, Juventus beat Real Sociedad, Lazio lost away to Chelsea and Milan at home to Club Brugge.
In the second leg of the UEFA Cup qualifying round, Udinese lost at home to Wustenrot Salzburg and were eliminated on away goals. Parma won 3-0 against Metalurh Donetsk and qualified for the second round, as did Perugia who beat Dundee at home too, and Roma who drew away with Vardar.
Milan 19, Juventus 19, Roma 15, Parma 14, Lazio 13, Chievo 11, Udinese 11, Modena 10, Inter 10, Siena 9, Reggina 8, Sampdoria 6, Brescia 6, Bologna 5, Perugia 5, Lecce 3, Ancona 2, Empoli 2
November
Roma back on top, in the company of Milan, with Juventus one point behind. Roma took advantage of Milan and Juventus drawing in the big clash at the beginning of the month and the Bianconeri's defeat at home against Inter. The Giallorossi also won the derby.
In the Champions League Inter drew at home with Lokomotiv Moscow and were crushed 5-1 by Arsenal in San Siro. They needed to win away to Dynamo Kyiv if they wanted to qualify. Juventus drew away to Real Sociedad and lost to Galatasaray but they had already qualified first in their group. Lazio lost at home to Chelsea and drew with Besiktas. They needed to win against Sparta Prague away in order to qualify. Milan were also already qualified as top in their group after beating both Club Brugge and Ajax away.
In the UEFA Cup, Parma, Roma and Perugia qualified for the next round eliminating Wustenrot Salzburg 9-0, Hajduk Split 2-1 and Aris 3-1, all on aggregate.
Roma 27, Milan 27, Juventus 26, Inter 22, Parma 21, Lazio 19, Sampdoria 16, Udinese 15, Siena 14, Chievo 14, Modena 14, Reggina 10, Brescia 8, Lecce 8, Bologna 7, Perugia 7, Empoli 6, Ancona 4
December
Roma sprinted ahead alone as Juventus lost against Lazio and drew with Lecce, Milan lost at home to Udinese while Roma won all their games. The Biancocelesti also beat Inter. Below, the situation looked dire for Ancona and Empoli.
In the Champions League Inter drew away to Dynamo Kyiv and were “relegated” to the UEFA Cup. Juventus qualified for the next round. They were already certain of first place but still crushed Olympiakos 7-0. Lazio were out of the tournament having lost in Prague against Sparta. Milan, already qualified in first place, lost at home to Celta Vigo.
In the Coppa Italia Round of 16, Juventus, Udinese, Parma, Lazio, Milan, Perugia, Roma and Inter qualified for the quarter finals.
Roma 36, Juventus 30, Milan 30*, Inter 28, Lazio 28, Parma 24, Udinese 24, Sampdoria 21, Chievo 18, Modena 16, Siena 15*, Reggina 14, Brescia 13, Bologna 11, Perugia 9, Lecce 9, Empoli 6, Ancona 4
* one game in hand
January
Roma lost at home against Milan and since the Rossoneri won their game against Siena which had been called off, they were the new leaders with Juventus in third place. Despite the fact there were still half the fixtures to play one could safely say that Ancona were doomed.
In the quarter finals of Coppa Italia, Inter, Lazio, Milan and Juventus eliminated Udinese, Parma, Roma and Perugia respectively.
Milan 45, Roma 43, Juventus 40, Inter 32, Parma 32, Lazio 32, Sampdoria 27, Udinese 27, Chievo 25, Siena 21, Bologna 21, Brescia 19, Modena 18, Reggina 17, Empoli 13, Lecce 12, Perugia 10, Ancona 5
February
Roma crushed Juventus but in the next game drew away to Ancona allowing Milan to go +5. The Rossoneri won the derby yet again, pushing their city rivals down to sixth place.
In the Champions League Juventus lost the first leg of the Round of 16 away to Deportivo La Coruña and Milan drew in Prague against Sparta.
In the first leg of the UEFA Cup third round, Roma lost away to Gaziantepspor, Perugia drew at home with PSV Eindhoven, Parma lost at home with Gençlerbirliği and Inter drew with Sochaux away.
In the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Lazio demolished Milan 6-1 on aggregate and Juventus beat Inter on penalties after both games had ended 2-2.
Milan 58, Roma 53, Juventus 52, Lazio 40, Parma 39, Inter 36, Udinese 36, Sampdoria 33, Chievo 29, Brescia 27, Bologna 25, Lecce 25, Modena 23, Siena 22, Reggina 22, Empoli 20, Perugia 17, Ancona 6
March
Milan went to +9 and that was it as far as the scudetto was concerned unless the Rossoneri decided to commit suicide. They won in Turin against Juventus, closing the contest while Roma beat Inter. The Rome derby was suspended after fans interrupted the game following a false rumour that a boy had been run over by a police car.
Juventus were beaten also at home by Deportivo La Coruña and were out of the tournament. Milan beat Sparta Prague and proceeded to the quarter finals where in the first home leg they beat Dépor 4-1 coming from behind.
In the second leg of the UEFA Cup, Roma beat Gaziantepspor 2-0 and qualified for the next round as did Inter on away goals vs Sochaux. Perugia lost away to PSV and were eliminated as were Parma who collapsed in Turkey against Gençlerbirliği.
In the fourth round, Inter drew away against Benfica but then beat them 4-3 at home to qualify for the quarter finals. Roma were instead eliminated by Villarreal 3-2 on aggregate.
In the first leg of the Coppa Italia final, Lazio beat Juventus 2-0 with a Stefano Fiore brace.
Milan 68, Juventus 59, Roma 57*, Lazio 44*, Parma 44, Inter 43, Udinese 39, Sampdoria 38, Bologna 34, Chievo 33, Brescia 31, Siena 30, Lecce 28, Reggina 27, Modena 25, Empoli 23, Perugia 22, Ancona 7
* one game in hand
April
Milan had a couple of draws so Roma went to -6. The Rome derby was played and ended in a draw. For the four champions league positions, Inter, Parma and Lazio were battling it out for the last available place. Below, Ancona were in Serie B, Perugia almost and Empoli were not in a good position. either. Modena, Reggina and Empoli were fighting it out to avoid the last relegation spot and the play off with the Serie B sixth placed team. Three matches to go.
In the Champions League Milan collapsed 4-0 against Deportivo La Coruña and were eliminated. In the UEFA Cup Inter lost both ties against Marseille in the quarter finals and were out.
Milan 76, Roma 70, Juventus 63, Inter 53, Lazio 52, Parma 52, Udinese 46, Sampdoria 45, Bologna 38, Chievo 37, Brescia 34, Lecce 34, Siena 31, Modena 30, Reggina 30, Empoli 27, Perugia 23, Ancona 10
May
Milan beat Roma in the third from last game and secured the title. As far as the champions league positions were concerned, Parma beat Ancona, Juve lost at Lecce and Lazio drew at home with Reggina. The Biancocelesti then lost at Brescia, compromising any hope of qualification, while Inter beat Parma and overtook them. Their final win at Empoli gave them qualification.
In the battle to avoid Serie B, Roma graciously gave Perugia a win, Siena beat Modena and Empoli lost at Ancona. So, with 90 minutes left, the fight was to get to the playoff, with Modena and Empoli on 30 points and Perugia on 29. And it was the Umbrians who clinched the spot by beating Ancona in the final match while the other two lost against Lazio and Inter.
The top five in Serie B were Palermo, Cagliari, Livorno, Messina and Atalanta. Fiorentina were sixth and faced Perugia for the final place. The Viola won in Umbria in the first leg and then drew at home hence were also promoted.
In the second leg of the Coppa Italia final, Lazio and Juventus drew 2-2 hence the Biancocelesti won the Cup for the fourth time. They were trailing 2-0 but then managed to equalise thanks to goals from Bernardo Corradi and Fiore.
Therefore Parma, Lazio and Udinese qualified for the UEFA Cup.
Top scorer was Andrij Shevchenko (Milan) with 24 goals.
Final table: Milan 82, Roma 71, Juventus 69, Inter 59, Parma 58, Lazio 56, Udinese 50, Sampdoria 46, Chievo 44, Lecce 41, Brescia 40, Bologna 39, Siena 34, Reggina 34, Perugia 32, Modena 30, Empoli 30, Ancona 13
Sources
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