Lazio on top of the world
Lazio beat the European Champions and win Super Cup. A goal by "El Matador" Salas sinks the Red Devils
Also on this day; August 27, 1995, Lazio Piacenza 4-1. Signori, who was supposed to be sold, opens the score for an ultimately comfortable win. Player of the day: Massimiliano Esposito
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had come agonizingly close to winning the title. They were only overtaken by eventual champions Milan in the penultimate game of the season and in controversial circumstances. Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw in Florence with some extremely dubious refereeing decisions by Treossi, including the denial of a clear penalty on Marcelo Salas.
Lazio had however triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup in May (2-1 against Mallorca in Birmingham). Goals by Christian Vieri and Pavel Nedved had clinched a hard-fought game against the Balearic "Piratas". Top scorer had been Salas with 24 goals (15 in league)
This season there had been some important changes to the squad. Three more Argentinians were signed: defender Nestor Sensini (Parma), midfielders Diego "El Cholo" Simeone (Inter) and Juan Sebastian Veron "La Brujita" (Parma). Another midfielder Dario Marcolin was back from a loan spell (Blackburn) and striker Simone Inzaghi was added (Piacenza). In the summer big Swedish forward Kennet Andersson had also arrived from Bologna (after the winter market session he went back to Emilia and was replaced in January by Fabrizio "Silver Fox" Ravanelli from Olympique Marseille).
Lazio had also lost an important player in striker Christian Vieri who was sold to Inter for a then world record transfer fee of 90 billion Lire (approx 45 million Euros). Spanish midfielder Ivan de la Peña had gone to Olympique Marseille after a disappointing spell at Lazio and Roberto Baronio went to Reggina on loan.
That glorious evening at Villa Park in May however had earned Lazio a shot at the European Super Cup. Their opposition were the Treble winners Manchester United. The Red Devils had won the Premier League, FA Cup (Newcastle 2-0) and the Champions League (Bayern Munich 2-1). Top scorer had been Dwight Yorke with 29 goals (18 in league)
The Champions League final in Barcelona had been full of drama. The Germans had gone ahead early on with Basler but injury time goals by Teddy Sheringham (91’) and Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer (93’) turned the game around.
This season Alex Ferguson's squad saw very few changes. So far, the only new signings were keeper Mark Bosnich (Aston Villa) and Quinton Fortune (Atlético Madrid). All Man. Utd's stars had stayed on and they were plenty, to name a few: Jaap Stam, David Beckham, Andy Cole, Ryan Giggs, the Neville brothers, Roy Keane, Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes, Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer, Dwight Yorke.
Manchester United were favourites tonight in the Principality, but Lazio fancied their chances. The Red Devils might underestimate Lazio as a club but looking at the Biancocelesti's team sheet might have to change their minds.
The match: Friday, August 27, Stade Louis II, Monaco
It was a warm evening with 27 degrees in Monte Carlo and there were more Lazio fans than United's in the small Monaco stadium.
The line-ups held no real surprises. For Lazio Sven-Goran Eriksson played Giuseppe Pancaro rather than Beppe Favalli and his only forward was Simone Inzaghi and not Marcelo Salas, with Alen Boksic injured. Ferguson was less cautious and played with Solskjaer, Sheringham and Cole up front with Giggs and Yorke on the bench.
The start of the match saw the English champions show more attacking spirit. Lazio were more prudent with long balls up front and then hoping for sudden incursions by their many and talented midfielders. One of these saw a Nedved certain winner walled and blocked by Stam.
The first English chance came in the 11th minute but Luca Marchegiani came out well and diving low anticipated Sheringham in a one-on-one challenge, risking a penalty but clearly touching the ball.
Lazio replied two minutes later with a Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick just wide.
Inzaghi was soon at the receiving end of Stam's tough defending style. The Italian striker suffered an involuntary blow from a Jaap Stam elbow and was clearly in pain. Stam in an interview had once criticized the Inzaghi brothers' calling them shams.
The game went on and the Man. Utd keeper, Van der Gouw, almost gave a goal away by kicking the ball directly against Roberto Mancini's backside but it bounced and went just over the bar.
In the 21st minute Lazio went close again when Mancini crossed for Dejan Stankovic who headed it forward and with the ball falling put a low left foot narrowly wide.
In the 23rd minute Inzaghi was unable to continue after Stam's "attentions" and was replaced by Chilean Marcelo Salas.
The Red Devils in the meantime had an opportunity when a Beckham cross was headed by Cole but Marchegiani saved.
In the 27th minute another Mihajlovic free kick was punched away by the Dutch keeper. In the 32nd minute Paolo Negro tried his luck from a distance but his shot was powerful but central and easily saved by the keeper.
Manchester United continued to attack more but without threatening and in the 35th minute it was Lazio who scored. Pancaro lobbed the ball to Mancini who headed it back to the edge of the area to Salas, the "Mapuche" chested the ball down into the box and then at incredible speed hit a low left footed volley which the keeper touched but could not stop. Man. Utd 0 Lazio 1.
The English champions responded immediately with a Sheringham left footed effort from a low cross but Marchegiani was ready, he dived and blocked on the near post.
It was Lazio however who went close again in the 38th minute. Sebastian Veron, who had grown into the game and now pulling the strings in midfield, set up Nedved at the edge of the box, the Czech's curling right foot shaved the post.
In the 42nd minute came Marchegiani's masterpiece. A perfect Beckham cross from the right found Scholes unmarked in front of goal, he headed it towards the low left-hand corner but "Il Conte" with amazing reflexes managed to dive to his right and slap it away. A superb save.
In the 47th minute came an extremely controversial episode. Veron chipped a ball over Stam into the area to Salas who chested it down and had only the keeper to beat, he pushed the ball past him and was then clearly hacked down. An obvious penalty but not for the referee, Polish Mr. Wojcik, an incredible decision. Halftime Man. Utd 0 Lazio 1 but Lazio denied a chance for a possible second.
The second half started with no changes. On the field it was Lazio who started strongly. On a similar move to the Salas goal, the "Matador" this time was the assist man with a header for Nedved whose cracking shot was tipped over the bar by Van der Gouw.
In the 51st minute Lazio missed the most incredible of chances to double their lead. Nedved teed up Salas with only the keeper to beat, he went round him and only had to slot the ball in but unbelievably pulled it wide and then Stankovic hit the side netting.
On the hour mark Alessandro Nesta showed his defensive masterclass when he sprinted across to challenge Solskjaer and dispossessed him with a long, sliding tackle.
In the 63rd minute Solskjaer jiggled his way into the area but his shot was walled by Nesta and lost power, giving Marchegiani a routine save from a potentially dangerous move.
In the 65th minute, another huge chance for Lazio. Pancaro did well on the left dribbling his way into the area, he then put in a low cross which was controlled by Salas and pulled back to Stankovic for a free, close range shot but the Serb, possibly caught unawares, shot wide.
In the 66th minute Lazio replaced Nedved with more defensive Diego Simeone while ten minutes earlier the Red Devils had already changed Stam and Beckham and brought on Curtis and Jordi Crujff (luckily for Lazio not a patch on his dad.. but who was).
Nesta continued to dominate in defence but in the 86th minute a Greening cross, who had come on for Cole, was headed backwards by Sheringham but went wide even if Marchegiani seemed to have it covered anyway.
Manchester United attacked in the last minutes but apart from a couple of scrambles never really threatened. On one, Jordi Cruijff headed a ball across goal from a throw in but there were no red shirts to get a foot to it.
After three minutes of injury time the referee blew up giving Lazio another prestigious European trophy and a historic win over Manchester United. A huge satisfaction for Lazio who were now considered one of the top clubs in the world. For us who had been through the lows of the 80's it all seemed unreal but fortunately it was all very true.
Lazio deserved to win, possibly even by more goals. They had been the better team and had more chances. Manchester United may have underestimated Lazio and even the competition (some years later they pulled out of the FA Cup) but the history books will forever say, 1999 Super Cup Winners: SS Lazio.
Who played for Manchester United
Van der Gouw, G. Neville, Stam (56’ Curtis), Berg, P.Neville, Beckham (57’ Cruijff), Keane, Scholes, Solskjaer, Cole (78’ Greening), Sheringham
Substitutes: Wilson, Giggs, Yorke
Manager: Ferguson
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Pancaro, Stankovic, Almeyda, Veron, Nedved (66’ Simeone), Mancini (84’ Lombardo), S. Inzaghi (23’ Salas)
Manager: Eriksson
Referee: Wojcik (Poland)
Goals: 34' Salas
What happened next
It was an epic season for Lazio. They won the domestic double, Scudetto and Coppa Italia. In the league they pulled off a dramatic comeback and overtook Juventus in the last game of the season. They famously had to wait over an hour to finally celebrate as the Bianconeri's match in Perugia was interrupted due to a waterlogged pitch and then resumed and won by the hosts with "Il gol di Calori". Lazio were champions 26 years after Maestrelli's crazy gang of 1974.
In the cup they beat Inter 2-1 on aggregate to complete a historic double. An unforgettable season. Top scorer was Simone Inzaghi with 19 goals while in Serie A it was Marcelo Salas with 12.
Manchester United did not repeat the Treble but did win the Premier League again. They also won the Intercontinental Cup defeating Brazilian's Palmeiras 1-0 with a goal by Roy Keane. In the Champions League they went out in the quarter-finals against eventual winners Real Madrid 2-3 on aggregate. Top scorer was Dwight Yorke with 24 goals (20 in league).
Lazio 1999-2000
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 64 |
Coppa Italia | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
Champions League | 14 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 26 |
UEFA Super Cup | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Total | 57 | 32 | 18 | 7 | 109 |
Top five appearances (complete player statistics)
Players | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Super Cup |
47 | 28 | 6 | 12 | 1 | |
47 | 28 | 7 | 11 | 1 | |
47 | 31 | 4 | 11 | 1 | |
46 | 26 | 7 | 12 | 1 | |
Giuseppe Pancaro | 45 | 28 | 5 | 11 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers (complete player statistics)
Players | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | UEFA Super Cup |
19 | 7 | 3 | 9 | - | |
Marcelo Salas | 17 | 12 | - | 4 | 1 |
Sinisa Mihajlovic | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | - |
Juan Sebastian Veron | 10 | 8 | - | 2 | - |
8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - |
Let's talk about Marcelo Salas
José Marcelo Salas Melinao was born in Temuco, in Northern Chile, on December 24, 1974.
He started playing football with local team Santos Temuco FC in 1983. In 1991 he joined Universidad de Chile in the capital Santiago.
He made his debut for "La U" in 1993 and in two seasons played 126 games with 76 goals. It was with the "Los Azules" he was first nicknamed "El Matador" for his cold blood in front of goal. Salas also started his famous matador celebration after scoring. He won two league titles in 1994 and 1995.
In 1996 he moved to Argentina and joined Baires giants, River Plate. He stayed two seasons with "Los Milionarios", playing 68 games with 31 goals. The "Banda" won an Apertura in 1996 (Salas scored double in decisive game), a Clausura 1997, an Apertura 1997 (Salas scored title winning goal) and a South-American Super Cup (Salas scored 2 goals in the final versus São Paulo). In 1997 he was voted best South-American and Argentinian player of the year.
At this point there was talk of Alex Ferguson and Manchester United being interested in him to replace Éric Cantona.
In 1998 he played an excellent World Cup in France, scoring 4 goals (2 Italy, Austria and Brazil).
Fortunately, by this stage he had already been signed by Lazio (January '98 for the following season). He arrived in Rome and found a competitive team under Sven-Goran Eriksson who had just won the Coppa Italia and were now ready to go up a level.
In his first year Lazio went extremely close to winning the Scudetto. They lost it in the last two matches in controversial circumstances but Salas had an excellent season. He played 43 games and scored 24 goals (15 in Serie A including Inter, Roma, Juventus). He struck up an excellent attacking partnership with Christian Vieri from January onwards when the Italian returned from injury.
Lazio lost out on the Scudetto but triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup. They defeated Mallorca 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham. Salas scored 4 goals in the tournament (Lausanne, Partizan Belgrade x2, Panionios).
The following year Lazio won the Scudetto. Salas played 28 league games with 12 goals (including Milan x2), 3 in Coppa Italia, 10 in the Champions League with 4 goals (Dinamo Kiev, Maribor x2, Valencia) and the European Super Cup with the winning goal against Manchester United.
The following year with the arrival of Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez he played slightly less. He made 21 league appearances with 7 goals (including Juventus, Inter), 2 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal and 9 games in Champions League. Lazio had a difficult start and Eriksson was replaced by Dino Zoff after 13 games (the Swede had signed for England from the following summer causing uncertainty). The Biancocelesti improved and went close to another title but ultimately fell short and finished 3rd.
Sadly, the immensely popular "Matador" was then sold to the "Old Lady" Juventus. The Bianconeri were coached by Marcello Lippi and won the Scudetto but Salas suffered a serious injury in October which kept him out for the rest of the season. He played 7 league games with 1 goal (Chievo), 1 game in the Coppa Italia and 4 in the Champions League. Before his injury he famously blasted a last-minute penalty over the bar in the derby against Torino with the score on 3-3 (after Juve had been 3-0 up)
The following year he still did not feature regularly. Juventus had David Trezeguet and Alex Del Piero up front and even Marcelo Zalayeta played more than the Chilean. Salas made 11 league appearances with 1 goal (Udinese), 4 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal and 4 in the Champions League with 1 goal (Dinamo Kiev). Juventus won the league again and were runners-up in the Champions League (Milan on penalties).
In 2003 he returned to Argentina and River Plate. He stayed two seasons and played 48 games with 14 goals. In 2004 the"El más grande de Argentina" won the Clausura title.
In 2005 he went back to his homeland and his first big club, Universidad de León. He stayed another four seasons with 74 appearances and 36 goals for "El Bulla".
At 38 he retired after playing his last match on November 23 against Cobreloa and scored 2 goals in a 3-2 win.
At international level he won 70 caps with 37 goals. He is third all-time goal scorer for "La Roja". He played in a World Cup in 1998 and 2 Coppa Americas in 1995 and 1999 (reaching semi-final lost to Uruguay on penalties).
Marcelo Salas is a legend in Chile and River Plate in Argentina. He is considered Chile's best ever striker. At River Plate he is considered the greatest ever non-Argentine player alongside Uruguayan Enzo Francescoli. He has two other nicknames, "El Fenómeno" and "El Shileno"
Salas was not a giant centre-forward at 1.74 but was strong and tenacious. He was very skilful with a surgical left foot and superb aerial ability with great elevation. He was a prolific striker throughout his career but could also play for his attacking partners.
At Lazio he was and still is adored. He is considered one of their best foreign players ever. Some of his goals are legendary, such as Juventus away ('98) and Milan at home ('99) but he scored many, a total of 34.
The chant "Matador Matador che ce famo con Ronaldo noi c'avemo er Matador" (What do we need Ronaldo for when we've got the Matador) was by far the most sung chant in those glory years.
In Rome with Lazio, he won a Scudetto, a Coppa Italia, 2 Italian Super Cups, a European Cup Winners Cup and a European Super Cup, all in 3 years and they could have been more.
Despite his relatively short spell at Lazio, he is one of the most popular players in their 123-year history.
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Cup Winners Cup | UEFA Super Cup | Super Coppa |
1998-99 | 43 (24) | 30 (15) | 6 (5) | - | 6 (4) | - | 1 |
1999-00 | 42 (16) | 28 (12) | 3 | 10 (4) | - | 1 (1) | - |
2000-01 | 32 (8) | 21 (7) | 2 (1) | 9 | - | - | - |
Total | 117 (48) | 79 (34) | 11 (6) | 19 (4) | 6 (4) | 1 (1) | 1 |
Sources
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