A gala performance sends Lazio into last 16
An excellent second half puts the Biancocelesti through
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished an excellent 3rd under Stefano Pioli. They had qualified for a Champions League preliminary round.
This season Pioli was confirmed. The summer market had brought some new players: defenders Wesley Hoedt and Patric (both free agents) midfielders Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Genk) and Ravel Morrison (free agent) plus forwards Ricardo Kishna (Ajax) and Alessandro Matri (Milan-on loan).
Many players were leaving: keeper Thomas Strakosha (Salernitana-on loan), defenders Luís Pedro Cavanda (Trabzonspor), Michaël Ciani, Diego Novaretti and Lorik Cana (all end of contract), midfielders Ederson and Cristian Ledesma (both end of contract) and Álvaro González (Atlas-Mexico).
Not a great improvement to the squad, in fact Lazio were already out of the Champions League (or more like never got in - losing to Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 on aggregate). The Biancocelesti had lost the Italian Supercoppa final to Juventus, 0-2 in August, and were having an up and down start to Serie A.
Lazio had won the first game 2-1 at home to Bologna but then been thrashed by Chievo 0-4 and had never found much consistency. Since then, the Biancocelesti had won 8 (including Verona, Inter both 2-1 and Fiorentina 3-1, all away), drawn 6 and lost 8 (including Napoli 0-5 away and derby). Lazio were currently 9th on 33 points.
In the Europa League Lazio had got through the group stage, after 4 wins (Saint- Étienne 3-2 and Dnipro 3-1 at home, Rosenborg home and away 3-1 and 2-0) and 2 draws (Dnipro and Saint-Étienne both 1-1 away). Next up were Galatasaray this evening in the round of 32.
Lazio had drawn 1-1 in Istanbul a week earlier with a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic equaliser.
In Coppa Italia Lazio had beaten Udinese 2-1 in the last 16 but then been eliminated by Juventus 0-1 at home in the quarter finals (by a goal by former player Stephan Lichtsteiner).
Galatasaray had won the Turkish league and Cup the previous season. The manager was Italian Cesare Mandelli until November 27 and then Hamza Hamzaoğlu. Top scorer was Burak Yilmaz with 22 goals (16 in league).
This season the "Aslanar" (Lions) manager was initially Hamzaoğlu but he had been replaced by Mustafa Denizli on November 26. The main new signings were: defenders Lionel Carole (Troyes), Jason Denayer (Manchester City on loan via Celtic), midfielders Bilal Kisa (Akhisar Belediyespor), José Rodríguez plus forward Lukas Podolski (Arsenal via Inter). In the winter session the Turks had added defenders Ryan Donk (Kasimpaşa), Martin Linnes (Molde).
Leaving Istanbul were: defenders Gökhan Zan (retiring), Alex Telles (Inter on loan), midfielders Felipe Melo (Inter), Blerim Džemaili (Genoa on loan), Bruma (Real Sociedad on loan), Yekta Kurtuluş (Sivasspor) plus forward Goran Pandev (Genoa on loan). In the recent winter session defender Veysel Sari had left (Kasimpaşa) as well as forward Burak Yilmaz (Beijing Guoan).
In the summer, on August 8, Galatasaray had won the Turkish Super Cup by defeating Bursaspor 1-0.
In the league however "Cimbom" were not doing well for their standards and were 5th.
In the Champions League group stage, the Turks had won 1 (Benfica 2-1 at home), drawn 2 (Astana 2-2, 1-1) and lost 3 (Atlético Madrid 0-2 home and away and Benfica 1-2 away). They had therefore been relegated to the Europa League.
Lazio were favourites tonight having clinched a precious 1-1 draw in Istanbul.
The match: Thursday, February 25, 2016, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
The Europa League as usual did not pull in the crowds, about 15,000 tonight.
Lazio opted for a few changes compared to the league games, defender Milan Biševac and forward Alessandro Matri were on, Keita Balde was rested while Dušan Basta, Antonio Candreva, Stefano Mauri and Miroslav Klose were all on the bench.
Galatasaray had more or less all their squad to choose from.
Both sides were cautious to start. The away result in Istanbul advised both sides to bide their time in the early stages. Lazio knew that to protect the 0-0 could be risky but so could attacking head down.
Lazio controlled the Turks well in the first half. Senad Lulic often dropped back to midfield while Lucas Biglia gave a hand to the central defenders. The Turks too avoided attacking at full force from the beginning, opting for a prudent 4-2-3-1 with only Lucas Podolski up front.
This resulted in a blocked first 45 minutes in which it was Lazio however who attacked more. The Biancocelesti had shots with Marco Parolo (over the bar) in the 5th minute and again in the 11th (deflected into corner), a central header by Sergej Milinkovic-Savic on the subsequent corner and a cracking shot by Biglia in the 42nd (tipped over the bar by Fernando Muslera).
The visitors only attempt was a Wesley Sneijder long range shot comfortably caught by Federico Marchetti in the 18th minute.
The first half therefore ended 0-0 with Lazio not having risked anything at the back.
In the second half Lazio seemed more intent on trying to get some goals on the board to avoid having to worry about conceding an away goal even in the dying moments.
In the 57th minute Biglia surged forward, skipped past an opponent and at the edge of the area slipped the ball through two defenders to Alessandro Matri on the right side of the box, the number 17 drilled a low cross goal shot but it came off the far post.
In the 58th minute Lazio replaced Lulic with Antonio Candreva and a minute later took the lead. On a corner from the right by Biglia the ball reached the heart of the area where Parolo hit a powerful header which bounced on line and beat Muslera. Lazio 1 Galatasaray 0.
Cimbom did not even have time to reorganise that the hosts scored again. In the 61st minute Candreva set up Matri on the right side of the area and the Lombard forward squared a perfect ball into the middle which Felipe Anderson only had to tap in. A great move and Lazio 2 Galatasaray 0.
If Lazio thought their work was done they had to change their minds only two minutes later because the Bullus pulled a goal back.
In the 63rd minute on a through ball from midfield Yasin Öztekin was suddenly one-on-one with Federico Marchetti on the right side of the box, the Turk dummied a shot and then slotted it past Marchetti. A well taken goal but the Lazio central defenders had been completely distracted.
The game and qualification was suddenly back on. With one more goal it would be Gala going through on away goals. The Turks put on another forward Umut Bulut for midfielder Sabri Sarioğlu. Lazio responded by putting on Miroslav Klose for Matri.
In the 71st minute Cameroonian Aurélien Chedjou had the bad idea of trying to dribble round Klose at the edge of the box, he lost the ball and Klose was then just anticipated by Muslera who dived low at his feet, the ball came back to the German who was on the ground but he tried a shot anyway which was deflected into corner from near the goal line by Chedjou, making up for his previous blunder.
If Lazio thought they would have to suffer until the end they were once again wrong. In the 72nd minute they scored a third to give themselves a more reassuring lead. Felipe Anderson put a good ball through to Stefan Radu on the left of the area and the "Boss" squared an impeccable low ball into Klose who only had to accompany the ball in. Lazio 3 Galatasaray 1.
The "Aslanar" tried to improve their attacking threat by bringing on Olcan Adin for Oztekin in the 75th minute.
The Turks had a chance in the 84th minute with Selçuk Inan but his low freekick was parried away by Marchetti who dived to his right and saved into corner.
In the 85th minute Gala played their last card and brought on midfielder Kilal Kisa for defender Ryan Donk.
It was Lazio however who had the last goal scoring opportunity and it was an enormous one. In the 92nd minute on the counter foot Klose teed up Candreva who ran unmarked from the halfway line towards Muslera but was dispossessed while trying to push the ball around the former Lazio keeper. A huge chance but not one to regret as after three minutes of injury time the Russian referee blew up for full time, Lazio 3 Galatasaray 1.
Lazio were through to the last 16. An excellent performance by Lazio who had never really been troubled by Galatasaray. When they decided to accelerate they scored three goals and was only a collective defensive mess up which complicated things briefly before Klose definitely clinched the tie.
Who played for Lazio
Marchetti, Konko, Mauricio, Bisevac, Radu, Milinkovic-Savic, Biglia, Parolo, F. Anderson, Matri (70' Klose), Lulic (58' Candreva)
Manager: Pioli
Who played for Galatasaray
Muslera, Sarioglu (66' Bulut), Denayer, H.Balta, Carole, Donk (85' Kisa), Chedjou, Oztekin (75' Adin), Inan, Sneijder, Podolski
Substitutes: Gonen, Rodríguez, Kaya, Gunter
Manager: Denizli
Referee: Bezborodov (Rus)
Goals: 59' Parolo, 61' F.Anderson, 63' Oztekin, 72' Klose
What happened next
Lazio continued with their ups and downs. When the downs took over Pioli was sacked. After a 1-4 derby defeat on April 3 the manager from Parma was replaced by Simone Inzaghi. Lazio then won 4 (including Inter 2-0 at home) and lost 3, finishing 8th.
In the Europa League in the last 16 the Biancocelesti then crashed out to Sparta Prague 1-4 on aggregate (0-3 at home).
Galatasaray had a negative season and finished 6th. A few days after this evening's match the manager Denizli was sacked. Orhan Atik was in charge until March 16 and then Dutchman Jan Olde took over until the end of the season. Top scorer was Podolski with 17 goals (13 in league).
The Lions of Istanbul did however win silverware when they defeated bitter city rivals Fenerbahçe 1-0 with a Podolski winner to lift their 17th Turkish Cup.
Serie A was won by Juventus for the 32nd time while in Turkey Beşiktaş were champions for the 14th time. In the Europa League Sevilla triumphed defeating Liverpool 3-1.
Let's talk about Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol
Fernando Muslera was born in Buenos Aires, on June 16, 1986. He is Uruguayan.
He started his footballing for Montevideo Wanderers youth sector in 2001. Between 2004 and 20007 he joined the first team squad and played 44 games for the "Bohemios". He then played 4 games for Nacional Montevideo before starting his European adventure.
Lazio were looking for a keeper as Angelo Peruzzi had retired. The choice fell on highly rated Argentinian Juan Pablo Carrizo but due to bureaucratic problems he would have to stay with River Plate another year. The Romans then turned to Muslera who arrived in Rome in the exchange of 3 million Euros.
In Rome Muslera's first manager in 2007 was Delio Rossi. He made his debut in Lazio -Empoli on September 15, 2007. In his fifth match he made a series of howlers in a 1-5 home defeat against Milan and was dropped in favour of veteran Marco Ballotta. He played on and off getting 9 league games and 4 in Coppa Italia. Lazio finished 12th.
In the 2008-09 season, again under Rossi, he played slightly more often despite the arrival of Carrizo. The Argentine, welcomed like the new messiah, was not as reliable as hoped and Muslera made 15 league appearances and 6 in Coppa Italia. Muslera played the winning derby in March but it was in the Cup Final against Sampdoria that he lived his finest hour saving two penalties in the shoot-out helping Lazio lift the trophy.
The following season Lazio had a new manager, Davide Ballardini. The season started well and Lazio won the Supercoppa 2-1 against the seemingly invincible Inter of Mourinho. Muslera had a brilliant game making some superb and crucial saves. Lazio’s season then went downhill. Ballardini was sacked and replaced by Edy Reja on February 10. Muslera however had a good season playing 36 league games, 2 in Coppa Italia, 4 in EL plus the historic Supercoppa in Beijing. Lazio came 12th in the league.
In 2010-11 Edy Reja stayed on and Lazio had a decent season coming 5th. Muslera played 36 league games but these would be his last for Lazio. The Biancocelesti had signed Federico Marchetti from Cagliari and Muslera was sold to Galatasaray in the deal to bring Albanian defender Lorik Cana to Lazio.
Muslera has been with "Cimbom" in Turkey ever since. He has played 539 games (431 in league, 21 in cup, 78 in Europe and 9 in Supercups). He has won plenty; 7 league titles, 4 Turkish Cups and 6 Supercups. In 2012 he scored a goal from a penalty in a 4-0 win against Manisaspor. Last year he suffered a serious leg injury but he is now back and going strong. He is a club hero at "Gala".
At international level he has earned 133 caps for Uruguay. He is their most capped goalkeeper in history and 4th player in total. He has played in three World Cups; 2010, 2014, 2018 and was in the squad in 2022. In 2010, in South Africa, Uruguay reached the semi-final only missing out on the final after a 3-2 defeat by Holland. In the epic quarter final against Ghana he saved two penalties in the shoot-out. In 2018 his mistake contributed to the defeat by France in the quarter finals. He has played in 5 Copa Americas, winning one in 2011. He officially retired from "La Celeste" on April 25, 2024.
Muslera is 1.91 for 74 kilos. He is a very agile keeper with good reflexes. He is capable of amazing saves but is also prone to unexpected mistakes, with age however these have become less frequent.
At Lazio he arrived very young. He was immediately thrown into the deep end as an alternative to Carrizo. He showed his age and inexperience with a series of mistakes but improved with time. For his youth and physical appearance, he was affectionately nicknamed "Castorino" (Little Beaver). He was never considered completely reliable but made some incredible saves and won two trophies as absolute protagonist. He played 113 games for the Biancocelesti. All Laziali have a soft spot for "Castorino" and think of him in connection to the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa of 2009.
On a personal note I was in Norway when the Supercoppa was being played in Beijing. In mid-afternoon a message came through to the fjords on my old Nokia phone, it was from my late father, it read Lazio 2 Inter 1! Muslera brilliant!
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2007-08 | 13 | 9 | 4 | - | - |
2008-09 | 21 | 15 | 6 | - | - |
2009-10 | 43 | 36 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
2010-11 | 36 | - | - | - | - |
Total | 113 | 96 | 12 | 4 | 1 |
Sources
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