Ciro's century gives Lazio dream start
Lazio outclass Sampdoria with an Immobile brace and a goal by Correa
Also on this day: August 25, 2013, Lazio Udinese 2-1. Three months of celebrating derby cup win were over but Lazio get win on league debut. Player of the day: Diego Novaretti
The season so far
Lazio started the season trying to improve on the disappointing 8th place of the previous year. A year which had however ended on a triumphal note with the victory in the Coppa Italia final against Atalanta in May (2-0).
This season in had come Slovak defender Denis Vavro (F.C Copenhagen), Spanish winger Jony (Malaga), midfielder Manuel Lazzari (SPAL) plus young Dutch forward Bobby Adekanye (former Liverpool).
Lazio had bid farewell to well-serving Dušan Basta (retiring) and also to defenders Wallace (Braga) and Romulo (Genoa-end of loan) plus midfielder Milan Badelj (Fiorentina). In hindsight they had also made the mistake of letting promising young Portuguese Pedro Neto slip through their fingers, selling him to Wolves.
Lazio had a decent pre-season where they went unbeaten and their wins included: Bournemouth 4-3, Paderborn 4-2, Al Shabab Riyad 5-1 and Celta Vigo 2-1. This evening though things got serious.
Sampdoria had finished 9th the previous season, under manager Marco Giampaolo. They had drawn 2-2 against Lazio in Rome (with an equaliser in the 99th minute) but lost 1-2 at home.
The manager this year was Eusebio Di Francesco. The main new arrivals were defenders Tommaso Augello (Spezia-on loan), Fabio Depaoli (Chievo), Jeison Murillo (Valencia-on loan), midfielders Mehdi Léris (Chievo), Morten Thorsby (free agent) and forward Federico Bonazzoli (Padova -back from loan).
Leaving were defender Joachim Andersen (Olympique Lyonnais), Lorenzo Tonelli (Napoli-end of loan), midfielders Dennis Praet (Leicester City), Riccardo Saponara (Fiorentina-end of loan), forward Grégoire Defrel (Sassuolo-end of loan from Roma), Dawid Kownacki (Fortuna Düsseldorf) and Marco Sau (Benevento).
The Blucerchiati did not appear to have strengthened their squad.
The match: Sunday, August 25, 2019, Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
There was not a full house at the former Marassi stadium also due it still being the holiday season.
Sampdoria had no injury problems while Lazio only had two reserves unavailable, Jony and Jordan Lukaku.
The first half was practically a Lazio monologue. The Biancocelesti had at least ten shots, five corners and Emil Audero made two superb saves (on Ciro Immobile) before the Romans finally got the breakthrough.
In the 37th minute Luis Alberto took a free kick in midfield. He took it quickly, taking the hosts by surprise, floating the ball behind the defence inside the area on the left where Immobile pounced and with his left foot lobbed the keeper's outstretched arms. It was his 100th goal for Lazio in Serie A. Sampdoria 0 Lazio 1 and more than deserved.
Lazio had been in complete control and the Blucerchiati had only mustered one shot, albeit a dangerous one by Vieira saved by Thomas Strakosha, soon after Lazio's lead.
The second half was no different. Lazio played excellent football and almost scored immediately with Immobile but his chip hit the keeper and went just over the bar.
In the 56th minute however Lazio made it two. Luis Alberto did not score but at least 80% of the merit was his. The Spaniard dispossessed Bartosz Bereszynski in Lazio's half and surged forward alone, his speed could not enable him to go the full distance so he stopped, fended off a defender and brilliantly teed up Joaquin Correa racing down towards goal on the right. "El Tucu" controlled the ball and from just inside the box drilled in a low shot in the opposite corner. A wonderful move by "El Mago" and Sampdoria 0 Lazio 2.
Six minutes later Lazio put Sampdoria out of their misery. A high ball by Manuel Lazzari over the distracted home defence found Immobile in front of goal, he missed the first contact with his left but it bounced up nicely and he then made no mistake with his right foot. Sampdoria 0 Lazio 3
Sampdoria tried to change things by putting on Karol Linetty and Gianluca Caprari for Jakub Jankto and Mehdi Leris while Lazio replaced Lazzari with Adam Marusic.
The game however had nothing more to say, so clear was Lazio's superiority that Sampdoria almost seemed to settle for the 0-3.
All that happened were three more substitutions, one for Samp who took off Manolo Gabbiadini for Federico Bonazzoli and two for Lazio who gave Denis Vavro his debut for Francesco Acerbi and brought on Danilo Cataldi for a superb Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Final score Sampdoria 0 Lazio 3.
A perfect debut for Lazio. The Biancocelesti played well, dominated, won and Immobile got his 100th and 101st Lazio Serie A goals. All their stars had performed, Luis Alberto, Milinkovic-Savic and "King Ciro" which promised well for the season.
For Sampdoria it looked as if it could be a difficult season but fortunately for them, they would not always be playing Lazio.
Who played for Sampdoria
Audero, Bereszynski, Murillo, Colley, Murru, Linetty (66' Jankto), Ekdal, Vieira, Gabbiadini (76' Bonazzoli), Quagliarella, Caprari (66' Leris)
Substitutes: Falcone, Ferrari, Chabot, Augello, Regini, Thorsby, Barreto, Bahlouli, Ramirez
Manager: Di Francesco
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi (70' Vavro), Radu, Lazzari (64' Marusic), Milinkovic-Savic (76' Cataldi), Parolo, Luis Alberto, Lulic, Correa, Immobile
Manager: S. Inzaghi
Referee: Rocchi
Goals: 37' Immobile, 56' Correa, 62' Immobile
What happened next
It was a season to remember for several reasons. Lazio started inconsistently, drawing the derby, losing away to SPAL, beating Parma, losing to Inter, beating Genoa, drawing with Bologna.
Then on October 19 came the home game against Atalanta. After 37 minutes Lazio were trailing 0-3 and their season already seemed doomed. The Biancocelesti however then fought back and scored three goals in the last twenty minutes to draw 3-3.
Lazio then won 12 games in a row (including Milan 2-1 away after 30 winless years and Juventus 3-1).
On December 22 Lazio again defeated Juventus 3-1 in Riyadh to lift the Italian Supercoppa.
In early March the Biancocelesti were still pushing Juventus for top spot in the league, only one point behind the leaders, when disaster struck, not only for Lazio but for the entire world. The outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic interrupted the league for 4 months. On Saturday February 29, 2020, Lazio beat Bologna 2-0 at the Olimpico and then didn't play again until 24 June.
The season restarted in empty stadiums but Lazio's magic had gone. The fact of having to play 3 matches a week was never going to work for Lazio's limited numbered squad. They had an almost perfectly oiled machine but only in 12-13 players, without strength in depth compared to rivals Juventus, Inter or even Atalanta. The fast and furious oncoming of games soon took its toll and Lazio faded and tired, ending up 4th. Top scorer was Ciro Immobile with 39 goals (36 in A).
This still meant a Champions League qualification after 13 years but Lazio will forever be left thinking about what could have been. Up until February Lazio had seemed unstoppable and gone from strength to strength while Juventus were, yes winning games, but not playing great football and often struggled. The general consensus was that Lazio were the best team that season and could have fought for the Scudetto until the end. Alas it was not to be and Lazio's dream was brutally shattered by global events.
In Europa League the Biancocelesti were eliminated in a group with CFR Cluj, Rennes and Celtic after 2 wins and 4 defeats.
In Coppa Italia Lazio went out to Napoli 0-1 away in the quarter finals.
It was in Serie A that Lazio will have eternal regrets.
Sampdoria had a poor season and finished 15th. After seven games Di Francesco was sacked and replaced by Claudio Ranieri. "La Samp" won 12 (including derby 1-0), drew 6 and lost 20 (including Lazio 1-5 and derby 1-2). In Coppa Italia they were eliminated 1-2 by Cagliari away in the 4th round. Top scorers were Fabio Quagliarella and Manuel Gabbiadini with 12 goals (11 in A).
The Scudetto was won by Juventus while SPAL, Brescia and Lecce slipped down to Serie B. The Salentini are the only ones who have made it back since.
Lazio 2019-2020
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 79 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 |
Europa League | 6 | 2 | - | 4 | 6 |
Super Coppa | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
Total | 47 | 28 | 6 | 13 | 92 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
45 | 36 | 2 | 6 | 1 | |
44 | 37 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
44 | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
43 | 37 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
41 | 36 | - | 4 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Ciro Immobile | 39 | 36 | 1 | 2 | - |
10 | 9 | - | 1 | - | |
9 | 9 | - | - | - | |
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic | 8 | 7 | - | 1 | - |
Luis Alberto | 7 | 6 | - | - | 1 |
A brief history of U.C Sampdoria
The Unione Calcio Sampdoria were founded in 1946. The club was formed by a merger between two local clubs, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria.
Sampierdarenese were formed in 1899. They played from 1899 to 1927, when the Fascist regime forced them to join Andrea Doria and become La Dominante. In 1931 they returned to be Sampierdarenese but in 1937 up to 1946 they became A.C Liguria. Sampierdarenese won two Serie B championships.
Andrea Doria were founded in 1900. In 1927, when they were forced to join Sampierdarenese, at the time Andre Doria were fourth for participations in the top division. Andrea Doria were re-formed in 1931 until 1941 and again from 1944 until 1946 when they were definitely merged to form U. C. Sampdoria. Andrea Doria won 4 prestigious FGNI tournaments.
In their first year in Serie A Sampdoria finished 10th. The Blucerchiati stayed in the top flight for twenty years, their best finish was 4th in 1960-61, under manager Eraldo Monzeglio
In 1966 they were relegated for the first time but bounced straight back up again, winning Serie B under Gigi Poggi.
After ten years of mid-table finishes the Blucerchiati were relegated again in 1977. They were promoted again five years later, in 1982 under Renzo Ulivieri.
In 1984-85 Doria won their first historic silverware, the Coppa Italia defeating Milan 3-1 on aggregate. In the league they finished a record high 4th. The manager was Eugenio Bersellini and the squad included Moreno Mannini, Pietro Vierchowod, Luca Pellegrini, Fausto Pari, Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli (Scudetto winners a few years later) plus Alessandro Scanziani, Graeme Souness and Trevor Francis.
In 1988 and 1989 Sampdoria triumphed in the Coppa Italia again under Vujadin Boskov. They also finished 4th and 5th in Serie A. In 1989 They reached the final of the Cup Winners Cup but lost 0-2 to Barcelona.
In 1990 they won the Cup Winners Cup defeating Anderlecht 2-0 in extra-time with a Vialli double.
In 1991 came their masterpiece. Sampdoria won the Scudetto. Other important players in the triumph were Gianluca Pagliuca, Toninho Cerezo, Beppe Dossena, Attilio Lombardo, Oleksij Mychailyčenko and Srečko Katanec.
In 1992 the Blucerchiati won their first Italian Supercoppa beating Roma 1-0. They had an excellent run in the European Cup but lost the final 0-1 in extra-time to Barcelona at Wembley.
In 1992-93 Sven-Goran Eriksson took over and in 1994 won another Coppa Italia. Their star players included Alberico Evani, Ruud Gullit, Vladimir Jugovic, David Platt plus scudetto survivors Pagliuca, Vierchowod, Lombardo and Mancini.
In 1998-99 however Sampdoria were relegated. Eriksson had left for Lazio in 1997 with Mancini and the Blucerchiati went down under Luciano Spalletti (with a brief 5-game David Platt interlude).
Sampdoria did not come up again until 2003, under Walter Novellino. There followed stable years with 8th, 5th, 12th, 9th, 6th, 13th and 4th place finishes. In 2009 they reached the Coppa Italia final but lost to Lazio on penalties.
In 2011 however "La Samp" were relegated again, under Domenico Di Carlo and then Alberto Cavasin. This time however they immediately won promotion under Giuseppe Iachini, via the playoffs.
A decade of mid-table finishes ended in 2023 when the Doriani were relegated again, first under Marco Giampaolo and then Dejan Stankovic. They will be there at least another year as on May 17, 2024 they lost 0-2 to Palermo in the playoffs under manager Andrea Pirlo.
Almost 80 years of history with two glorious decades, the 1980's and 90's. In these years the owner was Roman and Lazio fan, Paolo Mantovani (1979-92). A period in which they won a Scudetto, 3 Italian Cups, 1 Italian Supercoppa and 1 Cup Winners Cup plus reaching a European Cup final.
The player with the most appearances is Roberto Mancini with 567. The top goal scorer is also Mancini with 171 followed by his "twin" Gianluca Vialli with 141. Other legends include: Adriano Bassetto (1946-53), Giuseppe Baldini (1946-50, 1953-55), Gaudenzio Bernasconi (1954-65), Ernst Ocwirk (1956-61, manager 1962-65) Guido Vincenzi (1958-69), Ernesto "Tito" Cucchiaroni (1958-63), Pietro Battara (1961-72), Giancarlo Salvi (1963-64, 1965-76), Domenico Arnuzzo (1972-1981), Marcello Lippi (1970-79), Moreno Mannini (1984-99) and Fabio Quagliarella (2006-07, 2016-23).
Sampdoria club colours are blue, black, red and white and their shirts are widely considered to be among the nicest in Italy, if not the world.
Sampdoria fans have special friendships with those of Verona, Ternana, Parma, Bari and St. Pauli.
Their biggest rivals are obviously Genoa fans while there is also bad blood with those of Torino, Napoli and Bologna.
Sampdoria fans themselves include actors Paolo Villaggio, TV personality Enrica Bonaccorti, Roger Federer (due to childhood holidays), boxer Marvin Hagler, TV comedian Maurizio Crozza, TV presenter Fabio Fazio, cyclist Fausto Coppi, historic radio commentator Alfredo Provenzali and F1 driver Jean Alesi.
Sources
Comments