Zoff starts well
Zoff, in his first game after Eriksson’s resignation, steers Lazio to victory
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The season so far
The previous season Lazio won their second scudetto in dramatic circumstances. In the final game of the season Juventus had a two-point lead over the Biancocelesti. While Lazio had finished their match at the Olimpico beating Reggina 3-0, between the first and second half of Perugia-Juventus there was a massive storm that waterlogged the pitch. The second half started an hour later than it should have. Perugia scored with Alessandro Calori and Juve were unable to turn the game around. Lazio had won!!!
In the summer transfer window, President Sergio Cragnotti had decided that Lazio needed a strong centre-forward and a more reliable goalkeeper. In came Hernan Crespo (Parma), one of the best forwards in the world, and Angelo Peruzzi (Inter), one of the best goalkeepers. Other signings included forward Claudio Lopez (Valencia), midfielder Dino Baggio (Parma) and the return of Roberto Baronio from his loan at Reggina. Also bought were midfielders Stefano Fiore and Giuliano Giannichedda from Udinese but they were left to the Bianconeri on loan for an extra year. Leaving Lazio were Alen Boksic (Middlesbrough), Dario Marcolin (Sampdoria), Gianpiero Pinzi (Udinese), Marco Ballotta (Inter), Matias Almeyda and Sergio Conceição to Parma as partial payment for Crespo.
The problem was that Lazio had been unable to sign a right-winger. Lazio had tried to get Boudewijn Zenden from Barcelona but had failed.
The season was going to be a strange one since, due to the Olympic Games in Sydney, the Italian Federation decided to start the Campionato on October 1. However, Champions League would be played in September all the same so the Italian teams involved in the European competitions would play with few games in their legs. Not ideal.
After winning the Super Coppa against Inter in September, Lazio did not start too well in the campionato and by the end of the year were fourth with 21 points, way off Roma who were leading the Serie A eight points ahead. There had been a lot of problems. This first issue was that Sven-Goran Eriksson had signed a contract with the English FA to manage England starting from the summer of 2001. This meant that it was going to be his last year with Lazio. This created a negative psychological situation in the team, uncertain of what would happen in the future. Secondly, Crespo got injured early on and he was taking time to get back into form. Thirdly, the team was badly missing a right-winger since Attilio Lombardo was past his prime and Dejan Stankovic was fulfilling the task but rather reluctantly. Fourthly, Claudio Lopez, Lazio’s star summer signing, got injured early on in the season and would be out for a lengthy period.
There was still optimism but in the first game of the new year Lazio lost at home and Eriksson, realising that he might be the problem, resigned. The team was handed to Dino Zoff. In January Lazio finally bought Karel Poborsky and Lucas Castroman to fill the void created by selling Conceição.
Today was the first match under the new management.
The match: Sunday, January 14, 2001, Stadio Friuli, Udine
Lazio started really strongly and in the first minutes had three corners. On the third, Karel Poborsky, on his debut, crossed into the box and Marco Zamboni, in an attempt to clear, clumsily kicked the ball into his own net. Only three minutes had gone by.
The Biancocelesti smelt blood. Pavel Nedved on the left sent in a great cross, Hernan Crespo got a splendid header but Luigi Turci made a spectacular save.
In the 33rd minute the game changer. Nedved again from the left crossed low in the box, Marcelo Salas missed the ball, Crespo volleyed it towards the goal, Valerio Bertotto in falling touched it with his hand. Fiorenzo Treossi pointed to the spotkick and after a few minutes of indecision sent Bertotto off. Crespo made no mistake, Udinese 0 Lazio 2.
Treossi was the referee who denied the Biancocelesti a penalty in Florence in 1998 which de facto gave the scudetto to Milan. He was under a lot of pressure and from this episode on he basically lost the plot. Loads of mistakes including many non-existent off sides.
Towards the end of the half, Beppe Favalli from the left went into the penalty box and from close to the by-line passed to Salas. The Matador controlled the ball and tried a shot which went wide.
In the beginning of the second half, Lazio made it three. In the 47th minute Poborsky crossed in the centre of the area from the right, Zamboni missed the ball, Salas did not, 3-0 for Lazio.
Udinese at this point woke up and two minutes later scored with Stefano Fiore on a free kick. But the Biancocelesti immediately responded. In the 53rd minute Beppe Pancaro from the right crossed into the box, Crespo tried a volley which went under the keeper’s legs and into the net.
The Biancocelesti thought the game was over, but not Udinese, who forced Lazio on the defensive. In the 66th minute Giuliano Giannichedda tried a shot which became a good assist for Massimo Margiotta. The defence stopped to see what would happen and the Bianconero forward reduced the deficit.
Udinese believed they could reopen the game and they did so in the 86th minute. Fiore crossed low from inside the box and Roberto Sosa tapped the ball in.
But there was no more time left. Lazio won, but there were still a lot of problems to solve.
Who played for Udinese
Turci, Zamboni, Sottil, Bertotto, Diaz (22' Margiotta), Fiore, Walem (41' Alberto), Giannichedda, Gaarde (74' Micolucci), Jørgensen, Sosa
Substitutes: Basso, Bisgaard, Helguera, Gutierrez
Manager: De Canio
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, Nesta, Couto, Favalli, Poborsky (90’ Lombardo), D. Baggio (58’ Baronio), Simeone, Nedved, Crespo, Salas (65’ Ravanelli)
Substitutes: Orlandoni, Mihajlovic, Colonnese, Gottardi
Manager: Zoff
Referee: Treossi
Goals: 3’ Zamboni (og), 35’ Crespo (pen), 47’ Salas, 49’ Fiore, 53’ Crespo, 66’ Margiotta, 86’ Sosa
What happened next
Lazio with three games to go were second but five points behind Roma. The Giallorossi were tiring but Lazio threw away a game against Inter where they had 100 chances to score their second goal but the Nerazzurri then equalised in injury time. If Lazio had won they would have been only three points behind.
Coming into the final game, Roma were top, Juventus two points behind and Lazio three. In the last game Roma had to face Parma who decided not to play and allowed the Giallorossi to win their third scudetto. At that point the Biancocelesti, who were winning at Lecce, threw in the towel and lost the game.
Pavel Nedved was the player with most appearances (46) and Crespo the leading goal scorer (28). The Argentine was also the leading Serie A goalscorer with 26 goals.
What happeend in Serie A 2000-01
The previous season had seen Lazio win their second scudetto. Coming into the final game Juventus had had a two-point advantage over the Biancocelesti but had lost away to Perugia while Lazio won their game against Reggina. During the course of the interval at Perugia there was a massive thunderstorm and the pitch was waterlogged. They had to wait more than an hour to start play again and when they did Perugia scored. The Bianconeri were unable to score on a very wet pitch and Lazio, who by that time had finished their game, had to wait an eternity to see whether the miracle would take place. It did.
This season Lazio were favourites. They had added Angelo Peruzzi, Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez to an already strong team. Roma had signed Emerson and Gabriel Batistuta, Juventus acquired David Trezeguet. Roberto Baggio signed for Brescia.
July, August & September
In July Perugia and Udinese played in the Intertoto Cup. The Umbri were eliminated in the second round by Standard Liège, Udinese reached the final and beat Sigma Olomouc 6-4 on aggregate after extra time and would play the UEFA Cup.
Serie A started in October due to the fact that the Olympic team was competing in the Sydney Olympic Games which took place from mid-September. Serie A was the only European league to do so.
In August there was the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Inter were eliminated by Helsingborgs IF 1-0 on aggregate, Milan instead qualified by beating Dinamo Zagreb 6-1 on aggregate.
Three group games took place in September. Lazio after beating Shakhtar Donetsk and Sparta Prague, lost in London to Arsenal, Juventus drew with SV Hamburger 4-4 and with Deportivo La Coruña but beat Panathinaikos, Milan won against Beşiktaş and Barcelona away but lost to Leeds United.
In the first round of the UEFA Cup, Inter demolished Ruch Chorzów 7-1 on aggregate, Parma beat Pobeda 6-0 over the two ties, Fiorentina were eliminated 5-3 on aggregate by Tirol Innsbruck, Roma won 11-1 against HIT Gorica and Udinese 3-0 against Polonia Warsaw.
In August there was the Coppa Italia group stage. The winners of each group would go on to meet some of the bigger teams in the knockout phase. The teams that qualified were Piacenza, Sampdoria, Atalanta, Salernitana, Torino, Venezia, Cosenza and Brescia.
In the second knockout phase played between the end of August and early September Atalanta, Brescia, Lecce, Piacenza, Sampdoria, Salernitana, Torino and Venezia all qualified. The big teams arrived for the round of 16. The qualifiers for the quarter finals were Brescia (vs Juventus), Inter, Udinese, Atalanta (who eliminated Roma), Lazio, Fiorentina, Milan and Parma.
In the Supecoppa final between Lazio and Inter, the Biancocelesti beat the Nerazzurri at the Olimpico 4-3 and won their second title in the competition.
October
Lazio immediately showed some problems and in the first three games they drew with Atalanta and lost at Verona. Inter too were in difficulty losing at Reggio Calabria and Udine. Roma took advantage of the favourites' slow start and raced ahead.
In the Champions League Lazio drew with Arsenal then thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk and with one game left had already qualified second. Juventus drew with Deportivo La Coruña and lost at home against SV Hamburger. They needed to beat Panathinaikos in the last match to go through. Milan drew with Barcelona and won away at Beşiktaş. If they avoided defeat in the last game with Leeds, they would top the table.
In the first leg of the second round of the UEFA Cup, Udinese beat PAOK, Inter drew at home with Vitesse, Roma won away to Boavista and Parma beat Dinamo Zagreb 2-0.
Roma 9, Udinese 7, Atalanta 7, Juventus 7, Bologna 6, Verona 5, Fiorentina 5, Lazio 4, Milan 4, Perugia 4, Lecce 4, Reggina 3, Inter 3, Brescia 2, Parma 2, Bari 1, Vicenza 0, Napoli 0
November
There were five games. Roma lost their first match away against Inter and were overtaken by Udinese. But it did not last long. Lazio drew with Milan and other favourites Juventus continued to struggle.
In the Champions League Lazio won in Prague and came second in their group, Juventus lost to Panathinaikos and were eliminated since they came bottom, Milan drew with Leeds and won their group.
In the second group phase, Milan drew at home with Galatasaray and Lazio lost away to Anderlecht.
In the second leg of the UEFA Cup, Udinese were eliminated by PAOK in extra time, Inter managed to score against Vitesse and their 1-1 draw allowed them to go through on away goals, Roma drew at home with Boavista and also qualified, as did Parma despite losing 1-0 with Dinamo Zagreb.
In the first leg of the third round, Inter drew away with Hertha BSC, Parma 2-2 at home with 1860 Munich and Roma won 1-0 at home with Hamburger SV.
In the first leg of the Coppa Italia quarter finals, Lazio beat Udinese 2-1, Parma and Fiorentina crushed Inter and Brescia 6-1 and 6-0 respectively and Milan beat Atalanta 4-2.
Roma 18, Udinese 16, Atalanta 15, Bologna 13, Lazio 12, Juventus 12, Parma 11, Lecce 11, Fiorentina 10, Inter 10, Milan 9, Perugia 8, Verona 7, Vicenza 7, Brescia 3, Napoli 3, Reggina 3, Bari 2
December
Roma continued their march beating Lazio in the derby but were stopped by Juventus at home. They ended the year 2000 with a six-point lead over the Bianconeri. Down below Brescia, Bari and Reggina needed to wake up and fast.
In the second group phase of the Champions League Milan won away to Deportivo La Coruña and Lazio lost again, this time at home to Leeds United, compromising their qualification to the quarter finals.
Inter, Parma and Roma all qualified for the next round of the UEFA Cup against Hertha (2-1 on aggregate), 1860 Munich (4-2) and SV Hamburger (4-0).
In Coppa Italia Udinese, Parma, Milan and Fiorentina qualified for the semi-finals.
Roma 29, Juventus 23, Atalanta 22, Lazio 21, Fiorentina 20, Udinese 19, Milan 19, Parma 18, Bologna 17, Perugia 16, Inter 16, Lecce 13, Verona 12, Vicenza 12, Napoli 11, Brescia 9, Bari 8, Reggina 7
January
Lazio lost at home to Napoli in the first game of the year and Sven-Goran Eriksson resigned. He was substituted by Dino Zoff. The Biancocelesti went on to win three consecutive games, including beating Inter and placed themselves in third place. Roma continued to lead but now were +3 after having lost against Milan who drew the derby with Inter.
One semi-final of the Coppa Italia was played: Milan and Fiorentina drew 2-2.
Roma 36, Juventus 33, Lazio 30, Atalanta 26, Fiorentina 25, Milan 24, Bologna 24, Parma 23, Udinese 22, Perugia 22, Inter 21, Lecce 21, Vicenza 16, Verona 15, Brescia 14, Napoli 14, Reggina 13, Bari 12
February
Juventus lost at Bergamo and Roma went +6 again. For the scudetto it was a race between the Giallorossi, the Bianconeri and Lazio but Roma had a healthy lead. Below, despite only half of the games played, Bari already looked doomed.
In the Champions League Milan drew twice with PSG and were in trouble as their group was led by Galatasaray with 7 points, Deportivo La Coruña 6, Milan 6, PSG 2. Lazio were already out of the competition. They should have beaten Real Madrid at least once to continue but they lost in Madrid, with refereeing controversy, and drew at home.
In the UEFA fourth round, Parma were eliminated on away goals by PSV Eindhoven, Inter by Alavés (5-3 on aggregate) and Roma by Liverpool (2-1).
Parma and Fiorentina qualified for the final of the Coppa Italia by eliminating Udinese on away goals and Milan 4-2 on aggregate.
Roma 48, Juventus 42, Lazio 40, Parma 32, Atalanta 32, Udinese 28, Inter 28, Bologna 28, Milan 28, Fiorentina 27, Perugia 26, Lecce 25, Brescia 21, Napoli 20, Vicenza 20, Verona 18, Reggina 15, Bari 13
March
Roma increased their lead to +7 on Juve and +9 on Lazio thanks to the Biancocelesti who thrashed the Bianconeri 4-1 at home. The scudetto looked as if it would be staying in Rome but switching sides of the Tiber.
Milan were out of the Champions League having lost away to Galatasaray. In the last uninfluential match, they drew at home with Deportivo. Lazio, who beat Anderlecht and drew with Leeds, had already been eliminated.
Roma 55, Juventus 48, Lazio 46, Parma 39, Atalanta 36, Inter 34, Milan 33, Bologna 32, Perugia 31, Fiorentina 29, Lecce 29, Udinese 28, Verona 24, Vicenza 23, Napoli 22, Brescia 21, Reggina 19, Bari 16
April
Roma lost in Florence and Juve went back to -6 which became -4 a week later when the Giallorossi drew at home with Perugia and Juve beat Inter. But then Juve drew with Parma and Roma, by winning at Udine, re-established the 6-point lead. In the last game of the month there was the derby, the last chance Lazio had to reduce their gap. Roma went ahead 2-0 and it looked as if it was all over but goals from Pavel Nedved and Lucas Castroman allowed the Biancocelesti to equalise and stay in the race. Below Reggina moved up and were within two points of Vicenza and safety.
Roma 63, Juventus 57, Lazio 56, Parma 47, Milan 44, Atalanta 42, Inter 41, Bologna 40, Fiorentina 39, Perugia 36, Brescia 32, Udinese 32, Lecce 31, Vicenza 28, Napoli 28, Reggina 26, Verona 24, Bari 16
May
There were four games. In the beginning of May there was a change in the rules. Up until then, each team could only play three foreign players at a time. But after the Bosman Ruling, each club could play with as many foreign players as they wanted. Roma were the team that benefitted the most since they could now play with Hidetoshi Nakata, who by then had not played many games. This decision was controversial. Never before had there been a change in regulations during the season. Whenever a decision needed to be made, the Federation usually waited until the next season to apply the new rules. Not this time.
In the first game with the new rules Roma faced Juventus in Turin. They fell behind 2-0 but managed to equalise thanks to Nakata. Towards the end of the month Roma drew with Milan at home, Juventus won but Lazio drew too.. Juve now four points behind, Lazio five.
Below the situation was complicated. Bari were already relegated but with two games to the end there were potentially six teams involved in the relegation battle for three further places with Napoli, who had to face Roma, and Verona who would play Parma away, not in enviable positions.
In the first leg of the Coppa Italia final, Fiorentina won 1-0 at Parma.
Roma 71, Juventus 67, Lazio 66, Parma 56, Milan 48, Inter 45, Atalanta 44, Fiorentina 43, Bologna 42, Perugia 41, Brescia 40, Udinese 35, Vicenza 33, Lecce 33, Reggina 33, Napoli 32, Verona 31, Bari 20
June
With two games to go Rome drew again in Naples and Juventus and Lazio moved even closer. But in the final match against Parma, Roma won comfortably and the scudetto changed sides of the Tiber.
In the relegation battle with one match to go, Lecce, Reggina and Verona were on 34 points, Vicenza and Napoli on 33. The final games were Lecce-Lazio, Reggina-Milan, Verona-Perugia, Udinese-Vicenza and Fiorentina-Napoli. At the end of the first 45 minutes Lecce were losing, Reggina and Napoli drawing, Verona ahead and Vicenza ahead. The table read Verona 37, Vicenza 36, Reggina 35, Lecce 34, Napoli 34. In the end they all won so Napoli and Vicenza joined Bari in Serie B, Lecce were safe, thanks to better results vs Verona and Reggina who went on to a playoff.
In the first leg Verona won 1-0 and in the second Reggina were winning 2-0 but with five minutes left in the game the Gialloblu managed to score the fundamental away goal that allowed them to stay in Serie A.
Fiorentina won the Coppa Italia after drawing to Parma 1-1 at home. It was their sixth win in the competition.
So, for the next season Roma, Juventus, Lazio and Parma would play the Champions League, Inter, Milan and Fiorentina the UEFA Cup , Brescia the Intertoto Cup (because Atalanta decided not to participate), Reggina, Vicenza, Napoli and Bari in Serie B. Torino, Piacenza, Chievo and Venezia were promoted to Serie A.
Top scorer was Hernan Crespo with 26 goals.
Final Table: Roma 75, Juventus 73, Lazio 69, Parma 56, Inter 51, Milan 49, Atalanta 44, Brescia 44, Fiorentina 43, Bologna 43, Perugia 42, Udinese 38, Lecce 37, Verona 37, Reggina 37, Vicenza 36, Napoli 36, Bari 20
Sources
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