Oops I did it again!!!!
Just a few weeks after beating Juventus at the Olimpico 3-1, Lazio do it again, this time in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia for the Supercoppa final.
Also on this day: December 22, 1940, Lazio Venezia 4-1. Biancocelesti managed to beat Venezia with three goals in the second half. Player of the day: Italo Romagnoli II
The Italian Super Coppa
The Supercoppa is an annual football match between the winners of the Scudetto and Coppa Italia. In case the former wins also the latter, the game is between the winner of the Italian Serie A and the runner-up in Coppa Italia.
Theoretically the match should be held at the beginning of the season in the home stadium of the league champion, but this has often not been the case. Due to sponsorship deals, the game has been played abroad many times, and in recent years it is not always played in August. The 2019 game was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Today’s two contenders were Juventus, who won the 2018-19 scudetto and Lazio, who in the final of the previous season’s Coppa Italia beat Atalanta 2-0.
It was the 15th time Juventus had played this competition (8 wins) and Lazio’s 8th (4 wins). It was also the fifth time the two teams had met for this trophy (two wins each).
Lazio won it in 1998 against Juventus in Turin, in 2000 against Inter in Rome, in 2009 in Beijing again against Inter and in 2017 against Juventus in Rome.
Lazio came into this match feeling almost invincible having won eight consecutive games including beating Juventus at home for 3-1 two weeks earlier and after the dramatic win in Cagliari.
The match: Sunday, December 22, 2019, King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh
Lazio started off very well and had the first chance of the game in the 7th minute. Luis Alberto’s shot was slightly too high. However, the superiority of the Biancocelesti and their hunger was evident.
In the 15th minute Senad Lulic’s cross from the left of the the penalty box was picked up on the other side by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic who elegantly stopped the ball, looked up, and passed it to Luis Alberto in the centre. The Spaniard scored and it was 1-0 for Lazio.
Luis Alberto tried to make it two five minutes later but his shot was saved by Wojciech Szczęsny. A minute later Juventus woke up and had their first opportunity but Cristiano Ronaldo’s shot was wide. Juve were in a lot of trouble, as if they did not really “feel” the game and were unsure of what to do on the pitch. In the 30th minute a Paolo Dybala free kick was just wide and two minutes later Lazio almost made it two. Thomas Strakosha’s long kick reached Milinkovic-Savic who headed the ball on for Joaquin Correa. The Argentinian, just like he did in the final of the Coppa Italia against Atalanta, burst past all opposition but this time his shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
With one minute to the end of the first half Juventus equalised. Lulic lost possession, the ball reached Miralem Pjanic who immediately passed it to Blaise Matuidi. There was no doubt who to pass the ball to next. Ronaldo’s shot was a dangerous one and saved by Strakosha but the Albanian could do little to stop the tap in from Dybala.
Half time, 1-1 and Lazio had to start all over again.
Juventus seemed to have worked a few things out in the changing rooms and came back a little more determined. In the 48th minute a Dybala shot was wide but then Lazio took control again and between the 51st and 56th minute had some half chances with Correa, Lulic and Ciro Immobile.
Simone Inzaghi decided that it’s time for a change and in came Danilo Cataldi and Marco Parolo who substituted Lucas Leiva and Luis Alberto. In the 68th minute a Correa header off a Cataldi corner went just wide and two minutes later a Ronaldo shot from outside the box was just slightly high.
Everything changed in the 72nd minute. Manuel Lazzari crossed the ball in from the right, Parolo’s header became a lob that reached Lulic just outside the goal area. The player who had already made history on May 26 2013 did it again. His volley was unstoppable and Lazio were in front again.
Juventus applied pressure but, with the exception of a Leonardo Bonucci header in the 89th minute, did not really do much.
In the third minute of injury time Lazio won the ball and went for the counter attack. Lazzari passed to Correa unmarked in front of Szczęsny but his shot was saved by the Pole. The ball then reached Parolo outside the penalty box but he was fouled by Rodrigo Betancur just as he was about to shoot. The Juve player got a second yellow card and was sent off. Cataldi took the free kick and it was a marvellous shot that went just under the crossbar. 3-1 for Lazio.
Game over. A triumph for the Biancocelesti.
Who played for Juventus
Szczesny, De Sciglio (55' Cuadrado), Bonucci, Demiral, Alex Sandro, Bentancur, Pjanic, Matuidi (76' Douglas Costa), Dybala, Higuain (66' Ramsey), Ronaldo.
Substitutes: Buffon, Pinsoglio, de Ligt, Danilo, Rugani, Emre Can, Rabiot, Pjaca, Bernardeschi.
Manager: Sarri
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Radu, Lazzari, Milinkovic-Savic, Leiva (64’ Cataldi), Luis Alberto (67’ Parolo), Lulic, Correa, Immobile (81’ Caicedo)
Manager: Inzaghi
Referee: Calvarese
Goals: 17’ Luis Alberto, 45’ Dybala, 73’ Lulic, 90’+4’ Cataldi
Lazio 2019-2020
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 79 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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 |
Acerbi | 45 | 36 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
Immobile | 44 | 37 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Strakosha | 44 | 38 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Milinkovic-Savic | 43 | 37 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Luis Alberto | 41 | 36 | - | 4 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Immobile | 39 | 36 | 1 | 2 | - |
Correa | 10 | 9 | - | 1 | - |
Caicedo | 9 | 9 | - | - | - |
Milinkovic-Savic | 8 | 7 | - | 1 | - |
Luis Alberto | 7 | 6 | - | - | 1 |
Let’s talk about Danilo Cataldi
Danilo Cataldi is a typical Lazio Story. He has been at Lazio since he was a kid and has always been a Lazio fan. Easy to appease, all he wants is to play and train for his beloved team. And he is not too bad, unlike what many critical fans say.
Born in Rome on August 6, 1994, he joined Lazio in the 2006-07 season. He went through all of the youth teams and many predicted a bright future for him. He won the 2012-13 Primavera Championship together with Thomas Strakosha and Keita Balde.
In 2013-14 he participated in Lazio’s pre-season training but Lazio wanted him to gain experience so they sent him on loan to Crotone in Serie B. He did very well in Calabria, so Lazio took him back the next season. Due to a string of injuries, he skipped most of the winter but was occasionally played by Stefano Pioli in the rest of the season. Lazio did very well and made it to the Champions League playoff and Cataldi too benefited from the team playing well.
The 2015-16 season was not so good. The team was at a loss unable to replicate the previous year’s form. Pioli too seemed in total confusion. Cataldi did not do as well but he scored his first goal in Serie A on January 24 2016 against Chievo Verona.
He scored again in the beginning of the 2016-17 season under Simone Inzaghi but started playing less and less so he asked to go on loan somewhere to get more playing time. In January he went to Genoa. This is where the problems started.
Genoa were not doing very well when Lazio went to play at the Ferraris Stadium. When Goran Pandev scored in the second half putting Genoa ahead, Cataldi was accused of celebrating a bit too much. Many fans saw it as a betrayal and the club was not that pleased either. On coming back from Genoa he was sent to Benevento for the 2017-18 season on loan but with an obligatory buy-out option in case Benevento managed to stay in Serie A. It looked as if Lazio no longer believed in him.
Benevento were relegated at the end of the season but Cataldi played well and it seemed as if he has finally found his place in Italian football. He came back to Lazio willing to accept the bench. All he wanted to do was to play for Lazio. The fans forgave him, only some of them at first but more and more as he continued to play. He won over everybody’s hearts on March 19 2019 when he scored Lazio’s third goal against Roma.
Both Inzaghi and Maurizio Sarri used him as a play maker when Lucas Leiva was too tired or injured. It may not be his natural role, but he has improved and is always ready to give 100%.
So far (up to the 2022-23 season) Cataldi has played for Lazio 210 times (160 in Serie A, 12 in Coppa Italia, 4 in Champions League, 30 in Europa League, 2 times in the Conference League, and twice in Supercoppa) and has scored nine times (6 in Serie A and one each in Coppa Italia, Europa League and Supercoppa).
Lazio Career (Updated December 18)
Season | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Conference League | Super Coppa |
2014-15 | 21 | 16 | 5 | - | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 27 (2) | 20 (1) | 1 (1) | - | 5 | - | 1 |
2016-Jan 2017 | 11 (1) | 11 (1) | - | - | - | - | - |
2018-19 | 18 (2) | 12 (2) | - | - | 6 | - | - |
2019-20 | 28 (2) | 21 (1) | 1 | - | 5 | - | 1 (1) |
2020-21 | 23 | 19 | - | 4 | - | - | - |
2021-22 | 43 (2) | 32 (1) | 3 | - | 8 (1) | - | - |
2022-23 | 39 | 29 | 2 | - | 6 | 2 | |
2023-24 | 16 | 12 | 1 | 3 | |||
Total | 226 (9) | 172 (6) | 13 (1) | 7 | 30 (1) | 2 | 2 (1) |
Sources
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