Not much to write home about
A bland goalless draw between two teams in difficulty
Also on this day: January 11, 1998, Lazio Lecce 4-0. After a difficult first half Lazio score four times in the second to thump Lecce and stay in the loftier part of the table. Player of the day: Roberto Rambaudi
The season so far
The previous season Lazio finished 7th but had experienced the wild joy of winning the Coppa Italia beating city rivals Roma in the final.
The cup lifting manager had been confirmed but there had been some changes to the squad. The main arrivals in the summer were Albanian goalkeeper Etrit Berisha (Kalmar), young Brazilian attacking midfielder Felipe Anderson (Santos) and Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht).
There were more players leaving than arriving. It was goodbye to goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri (Genoa), defender Modibo Diakité (Sunderland), midfielders Pasquale Foggia (Dubai Club), Danilo Cataldi (Crotone-loan), strikers Libor Kozak (Aston Villa) and Mauro Zarate, this time definitely (Vélez Sarsfield-end of contract).
This season under Vladimir Petkovic had not started so positively and Lazio lost the Super Coppa final 4-0 against a vastly superior Juventus.
In Serie A the Biancocelesti had struggled too. On December 22 just before the Christmas break Petkovic had been sacked and replaced by Edy Reja. The results were not great but there was also the fact that the Swiss had accepted to train his national team from June and so was not thought to be entirely concentrated on his Roman duties. The 1-4 away defeat at Verona accelerated his departure. His legacy would however remain with the Coppa Italia triumph over city rivals Roma.
So far, Lazio had played 18 games. The Biancocelesti had won 6, drawn 5 and lost 7. Reja however had won on his debut five days earlier beating Inter 1-0 at home. Lazio were on 23 points, just above mid-table in 8th place.
In Coppa Italia Lazio would come into the competition on January 14 at home to Parma.
In the Europa League, Lazio had got through the first group phase. The Biancocelesti won 3 (Legia Warsaw 1-0 at home and 2-0 away, Apollon Limassol 2-1 at home) and drawn 3 (Trabzonspor 3-3 away and 0-0 at home and Apollon Limassol 0-0 away). Next up would be Bulgarians Ludogorec in February home and away in the Round of 32.
Bologna finished 13th the previous season under Stefano Pioli. Top scorer was Alberto Gilardino with 13 league goals.
This season Pioli had just been sacked a week earlier after a 0-2 defeat at Catania. The new manager was, former Lazio, Davide Ballardini.
Bologna had made some changes over the summer. In had come keeper Gianluca Turci (Roma-on loan), defender Andrea Mantovani (Palermo-on loan), Marek Čech (free agent), Diego Laxalt (Inter-on loan) and former Lazio forward Rolando Bianchi (free agent). Leaving were defender Marco Motta (Juventus-end of loan), midfielder, and former Lazio, Gaby Mudingayi (Inter), Tiberio Guarente (Sevilla-end of loan), Saphir Taïder (Inter) plus forwards Alberto Gilardino (Genoa-end of loan) and Manolo Gabbiadini (Juventus-end of loan).
A lot of players on loan coming and going and the loss of their top scorer did not promise too well for the Rossoblu.
In fact, as Pioli's recent sacking shows, the Felsinei were struggling. They had won 3, drawn 6 and lost 9, so with only 15 points in 17th position (out of 20).
In Coppa Italia Bologna had got through the third round, beating Brescia 1-0 at home, but then lost 1-2 at home to Siena after extra-time.
So, both sides with relatively new managers trying to find some form and consistency.
The match: Saturday, January 11, 2014, Stadio Dall'Ara, Bologna
A cold, January, Saturday night attracted a 15,000 crowd to the game.
Lazio were without Stefan Radu who was suspended and replaced by Senad Lulic at left back. Bologna had no absences.
The first half was very blocked with both teams prioritising not conceding goals. The game was far from spectacular and low in intensity and quality. Bologna at least tried to create something and generally seemed more determined despite their limits. Alessandro Diamanti had a couple of innocuous shots from the distance but they did not trouble Berisha. Then in the 28th minute the home side had the only real goal scoring chance of the first half. Gyorgy Garics put in a low cross which Bianchi backheeled on the volley towards goal and Berisha saved with his foot. Half time Bologna 0 Lazio 0.
Bologna were poor and Lazio were even worse. The Biancocelesti concentrated on defending and when they occasionally proposed anything they were slow, mechanical and error strewn.
For the second half Reja threw on Balde Keita for an uninspired Anderson.
Not much changed, Lazio and Bologna continued to disappoint any hope of some entertainment. After an hour of both teams being extremely tight there was gradually slightly more space to manoeuvre. Nothing to get excited about but at least the possibility of some action.
In the 70th minute Lazio finally had a chance and it was a huge one. On an Antonio Candreva cross, Miro Klose only had to bury it, but incredibly put it over the bar with his left foot. An unusual mistake by the German striker.
There followed two substitutions, one per side, defender Marek Cech came on for Nicolò Cherubin and Ederson replaced Candreva. Then in the 80th minute midfielder Rene Krhin came on for Archimede Morleo.
Bologna then had a chance to win it. With ten minutes remaining Diamanti crossed and Panagiotis Kone's brilliant volley went extremely close to the post, with Berisha beaten.
In the 90th minute Eddy Onazi replaced Tata Gonzalez but the game had already said what it had to say, not much. Final score Bologna 0 Lazio 0.
A feeble performance by both teams, neither deserved to win and not a great advert for Serie A. On this evening’s evidence Bologna would have trouble staying in the top flight and Lazio would have to be more positive and adventurous to get more out of their players, some of whom were certainly capable of more.
The Bologna fans at the end of the match in protest chanted, "we deserve more than this". We all did.
Who played for Bologna
Curci, Antonsson, Natali, Cherubin (72'Cech), Garics, Pazienza, Christodoulopoulos, Kone, Morleo (80' Krhin), Diamanti, Bianchi
Substitutes: Stojanovic, Agliardi, Radakovic, Della Rocca, Laxalt, Perez, Cristaldo, Moscardelli, Acquafresca
Manager: Ballardini
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Cavanda, Biava, Dias, Lulic, Candreva (72' Ederson), A. Gonzalez (90' Onazi), Ledesma, Hernanes, Felipe Anderson (46' Keita), Klose
Manager: Reja
Referee: Celi
What happened next
Lazio continued their up and down season. In the remaining 18 games the Biancocelesti won 9, drew 4 (including derby 0-0 and Juventus 1-1 at home) and lost 5. Lazio finished 9th. Top scorer was Candreva with 12 league goals.
In Coppa Italia Lazio beat Parma 2-1 but were then knocked out by Napoli 0-1 away in the quarterfinals.
In the Europa League were eliminated by Ludogorec 3-4 on aggregate.
A far from memorable season for Lazio.
Bologna ended up even worse, in Serie B. The Rossoblu finished 19th. In the remaining 18 games they only won 2, drew 6 and lost 10 (including Lazio 0-1 when they were already down). Top scorer was Alessandro Diamanti with 6 goals (5 in A) despite leaving in February for Guangzhou Evergrande in China.
Juventus won the Scudetto for the 30th time and so added a third star to their shirts. Bologna were accompanied down to Serie B by Catania and Livorno (Bologna are the only ones who have made it back to A since).
Lazio 2013-14
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 54 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
Europa League | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
Super Coppa | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 49 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 67 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Candreva | 44 | 37 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Onazi | 40 | 29 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
Lulic | 37 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Keita Balde | 35 | 25 | 2 | 8 | - |
Ledesma | 34 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Candreva | 12 | 12 | - | - |
Klose | 8 | 7 | - | 1 |
Lulic | 7 | 7 | - | - |
Keita Balde | 6 | 5 | - | 1 |
Perea | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Let's talk about Etrit Berisha
Etrit Berisha was born in Pristina, on March 10, 1989. He is Albanian but also has Kosovarian citizenship.
He started his football in Kosovo for 2 Korriku Pristina between 1998 and 2008.
In 2008 he moved to Sweden and joinec Kalmar in the Swedish top division. He did not play in the first two seasons but played for the U19's. The Kalmar first team won the league in 2008 and the Super Cup in 2009. In the third (2010) he played 14 league games and 1 in the domestic cup. He stayed another three seasons, playing 77 league games, 7 in the Swedish Cup and 6 in the Europa League. In total he played 105 games for the Götalanders and even scored 4 goals (all penalties).
In 2013 he signed for Lazio in Serie A where Albanian Igli Tare was sports director. Lazio had just triumphed in the Coppa Italia beating historic rivals Roma in the final. The manager was first Vladimir Petkovic until end of December and then Edy Reja. Federico Marchetti was the number one keeper to start but Berisha from Reja's arrival onwards played regularly, making 17 league appearances, 2 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the Europa League. Lazio finished 9th.
In 2014-15 Stefano Pioli arrived as manager and Marchetti reconquered the first-choice keeper position. Berisha played 10 league games and 7 in Coppa Italia. Lazio had an excellent season finishing 3rd (CL qualifier). The Biancocelesti also reached the Coppa Italia final but lost 1-2 to Juventus after extra-time.
In 2015-16 Lazio started off with Pioli but ended with Simone Inzaghi (game 32-38). Lazio failed to get into the Champions League proper (Bayer Leverkusen 1-3 on aggregate) and lost the Italian Supercoppa to Juventus 0-2. In the league Lazio finished 8th. Berisha played 11 league games, 2 In Coppa Italia and 7 in Europe (2 in CL+ 5 in EL).
In 2016 Berisha left Lazio and joined Atalanta. He stayed three seasons under Gian Piero Gasperini. The "Dea" finished 4th (EL), 7th and 3rd (CL). In 2019 the Nerazzurri also reached the final of Coppa Italia but lost 0-2 to Lazio. Berisha played 91 games for the Bergamaschi (75 in A, 6 in Coppa Italia and 10 in Europa League).
In 2019 he signed for SPAL in Serie A. The manager was Leonardo Semplici (1-23) and then Luigi Di Biagio (24-38). The Estensi were relegated and Berisha played 26 league games and 3 in Coppa Italia. His teammates included former Lazio, Sergio Floccari and Alessandro Murgia plus future Lazio, Mohamed Fares.
In 2020-21, in Serie B under Pasquale Marino (1-29) and then Massimo Rastelli (30-38), Berisha played 25 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia (SPAL reached quarter finals, 0-4 Juventus). The Biancazzurri finished 15th.
In 2021 Berisha signed for Torino in Serie A. He stayed two seasons. In the first, under Ivan Jurić, he played 10 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia. "Il Toro" finished 10th. In the second he made no appearances (first keeper was Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, Sergej's brother) and in February fell out with the manager. The Granata again finished 10th.
In August 2023 Berisha joined Empoli in Serie A. The manager was Paolo Zanetti, for the first four games, and then Aurelio Andreazzoli. Berisha is currently first choice keeper.
At international level he has won 80 caps for Albania. He is the 3rd most capped player in the " Shqipojat" (The Eagles) history (top is another Lazio connection, Lorik Cana with 93). Twenty of his caps have been as captain. He played all three games in Albania's first historic participation in a major tournament, Euro 2016.
Berisha is a decent goalkeeper. He is 1.94 and 92 kilos. He has played more than 150 games in Serie A so despite the occasional clumsy error he is a reliable keeper.
At Lazio he played a total of 60 games, 38 in Serie A. Apart from the first year, where he played regularly under Reja, he was usually reserve to Federico Marchetti.
Lazio Career
Season | Total Appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League |
2013-14 | 23 | 17 | 2 | - | 4 |
2014-15 | 17 | 10 | 7 | - | - |
2015-16 | 20 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Total | 60 | 38 | 11 | 2 | 9 |
Sources
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