Quick and easy
Lazio demolish Bari and could have scored a lot more
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The season so far
In the previous season Lazio had gone agonisingly close to winning the scudetto. With eight games to the end of the season they were leading with five points over Fiorentina and seven over Milan. But a single point in the next three games reduced the cushion over Milan to just one point. Lazio then won three consecutive games but so did Milan. In the penultimate match in Florence, the Biancocelesti were held to a draw and denied a clear penalty by a distracted referee. Milan won, overtook them, and maintained the lead in the last game. But Lazio did win the Cup Winners Cup in the final against Real Mallorca.
In the summer transfer window, Lazio surprisingly sold their centre forward Christian Vieri to Inter in exchange for 90 billion lire (45 million euros) plus Diego Simeone. Other signings were Juan Sebastian Veron and Nestor Sensini from Parma, Simone Inzaghi from Piacenza and Kenneth Andersson from Bologna. The Swede would go back to Emilia Romagna in the winter and Lazio would add Fabrizio Ravanelli.
The 1999-00 season opened with the victory against the mighty Manchester United in Monte Carlo for the UEFA Super Cup with a Marcelo Salas goal. Another European triumph after having won the final Cup Winners Cup the previous year in Birmingham against Real Mallorca.
Lazio had passed the first group round of the champions league. The 1999-00 Champions League saw the Biancocelesti participate for the very first time. In the 1974-75 season Lazio should have played the European Cup but had been disqualified following the brawl with Ipswich Town players in the UEFA Cup earlier the previous season.
Lazio were grouped with Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kiev and Maribor. Two draws against the Germans, two wins against the Ukrainians and two against the Slovenians allowed Lazio to top their group and qualify for the second group round. Here they were joined by Chelsea, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord. In the first two games they had won in France and drawn against the Londoners.
Lazio had been in the top places of Serie A right from the beginning and were even solitary leaders three weeks earlier. But two goalless draws, with a lot to say about the referees, had put them second, three points behind Juventus. Time for a win.aving to play the quarter final against Barcelona, Manchester United or Bayern.
The match: Sunday, January 30, 2000, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Just thirty seconds were needed for Lazio to score. Simone Perrotta fouled Marcelo Salas in the box and it was a penalty for the Biancocelesti. Sinisa Mihajlovic took the spot kick and made no mistake.
Bari knew that the game was going to be tough but such an uphill start was lethal for them and Lazio brutalized the Apulians. In the 17th minute a Nestor Sensini header hit the crossbar after a fantastic curling corner kick from Mihajlovic and five minutes later Franco Mancini was forced to save a Pavel Nedved missile. Another Sinisa corner created problems for Bari and this time it was Fabrizio Ravanelli who hit the woodwork. The deserved 2-0 came in the 39th minute. Dejan Stankovic to Ravanelli in the box, the forward tried to aim for the far post but Mancini parried, in came Salas for the comfortable tap in.
All was going well for Lazio but in the 42nd out of nowhere Bari reduced the deficit. Cross from the right, Gionatha Spinesi anticipated Luca Marchegiani and it was 2-1. The Lazio keeper should have done better there.
Sixty seconds later Beppe Favalli on the left crossed low into the box and Nedved volleyed the ball into the net for the definite 3-1.
In injury time Nedved managed to keep the scoreline by saving a Perrotta header on the line.
Nothing much happened in the second half. Lazio could have scored their fourth but Mihajlovic hit the crossbar directly from a corner kick and both Ravanelli and Diego Simeone wasted chances.
Juventus drew at home with Cagliari so Lazio were now just one point behind the Bianconeri.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro, Nesta (72’ Couto), Mihajlovic, Favalli (45’ Pancaro), Conceição (61’ Simeone), Stankovic, Sensini, Nedved, Salas, Ravanelli
Manager: Sven-Goran Eriksson
Who played for Bari
F. Mancini, De Rosa, M. Ferrari, Garzya, Innocenti (46' Del Grosso), Collauto (68' Giorgetti), D. Andersson, Marcolini, S. Perrotta (46’ Cassano), Osmanovski, Spinesi
Substitutes: Indiveri, Madsen, Bellavista, Olivares
Manager: Fascetti
Referee: Serena
Goals: 1' Mihajlovic (pen), 39' Salas, 42' Spinesi, 43' Nedved
What happened next
In the Champions League, qualification for the quarterfinal was put in peril as, after beating the French again, Lazio only got one point against the Dutch. In the final game against Chelsea, after having drawn at home, Lazio had to win at Stamford Bridge to clinch the qualification in first place (the top two teams went through) as a bonus, so they could avoid having to play the quarter final against Barcelona, Manchester United or Bayern. They managed to do so coming from behind in a spectacular game. In the quarterfinals Lazio played against Valencia.
Everybody thought that it would be an easy match, but Lazio collapsed in Spain. Without Luca Marchegiani and Alessandro Nesta, Lazio went 2-0 down after 4 minutes, re-opened the game thanks to an Inzaghi goal halfway through the first half, but Valencia netted another two goals and with ten minutes to the end were leading 4-1. Salas scored in the dying minutes to give Lazio a chance of qualification but another defensive blunder with just a few seconds to go, gave Valencia a three-goal lead. Fans were hopeful Lazio could recover at the Olimpico, but the Biancocelesti only scored one goal with Veron and went out of the Champions League. A real pity.
Lazio, like many of the big teams, started the Coppa Italia in the fourth-round games and had to play against Reggiana, who had won their group in August. Lazio, with a few Primavera players in the starting eleven, plus more on the bench, had drawn the first leg away 1-1 (Alen Boksic the scorer for the Biancocelesti) and won the return match 4-1 at home thanks to a Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick double and goals by Simone Inzaghi and Boksic.
The quarter finals were much more difficult as Lazio had to face Juventus. At the end of the first half in Turin the Biancocelesti were losing 3-0 and were virtually out of the competition. But in the second half first a penalty scored by Fabrizio Ravanelli and then a goal by Roberto Mancini with ten minutes to go re-opened the contest. In the return match at the Olimpico Lazio scored in the second half with Boksic. Alessandro Del Piero equalised but Diego Simeone put Lazio ahead in the 81st minute and the Biancocelesti were able to hold onto the precious victory.
Whereas on the one side there were two big clashes in the quarter finals (Lazio vs Juve and the Milanese derby), the other two games should have been more one-sided: Cagliari-Roma and Fiorentina-Venezia. But the islanders eliminated the Giallorossi and an away goal by Venezia gave them a historic semi-final against Lazio.
In the first leg, Lazio destroyed Venezia 5-0 with doubles from Mancini and Mihajlovic (with two penalties) plus a Ravanelli goal. Silver Fox had also missed a penalty. The return was a mere formality and Lazio drew 2-2 with an Inzaghi double.
Inter brushed off Cagliari and so met Lazio in the final. The first leg was in Rome on April 12. Inter scored immediately with Clarence Seedorf but Lazio managed to equalise with Pavel Nedved at the end of the first half. In the beginning of the second, Simeone put Lazio ahead so Marcelo Lippi put Ronaldo on the pitch, his first game in five months. Five minutes later the Brazilian broke his patellar tendon. The scene was dramatic and very sad. The game basically ended there.
In Serie A by the 26th game the deficit increased to nine points and it looked as if it was all over for the scudetto. But on March 25 Lazio won the derby and Juve lost at Milan. The Biancocelesti were at -6 but the next match was in Turin against Juventus. Thanks to a goal from Diego Simeone, the Juventus lead was reduced to three points. However, Florence looked as if it would be fatal again as Lazio drew 3-3 and Juventus won in Milan against Inter.
There were four games to go. Everybody thought it was all over but manager Sven Goran Eriksson tried to get the team to believe in the impossible. In the 32nd game of the season Lazio beat Venezia and Juventus lost at Verona. Two games to go, two points difference. Lazio beat Bologna away and Juventus were winning 1-0 against Parma. Towards the end of the match there was a corner for Parma. Mario Amoroso crossed and Fabio Cannavaro equalised but the referee inexplicably disallowed it.
This was the talking point in Italy for the entire week. Juve had already won a controversial scudetto a couple of years back when a clear penalty on Ronaldo was not given to Inter in Turin. So, there was massive media pressure on the last two games of the season: Lazio-Reggina and Perugia-Juventus.
Perugia President Luciano Gaucci, ashamed of the lack of fighting spirit his team had shown against Milan in the last game of the previous season, stated that it would not be a walkover for Juventus. Lazio fans hoped for a draw and then to go to a playoff. And this is what was happening at the end of the first half. Lazio were winning 2-0 and it was still goalless in Perugia. But a massive storm had blown up over the Umbrian capital and the pitch was waterlogged. Referee Pierluigi Collina tried a number of times to see if the ball would bounce on the flooded pitch, but no. There was a problem however. If the game had been abandoned, they would have to start from scratch the next day. With what had happened in the previous match when Cannavaro’s goal was disallowed for no reason at all, the Italian referee felt that the repetition of the game would have been unfair. So, he insisted. Just when they were about to give up, the rain stopped. The pitch was not in ideal condition, but playable. The second half could recommence, an hour later than scheduled. In the 50th minute Alessandro Calori scored for Perugia. Juve did not manage to equalise and Lazio won their second scudetto.
Still smelling of champagne and without any training whatsoever since the Sunday match, Lazio faced Inter for the second leg of the Coppa Italia final. There were chances for both sides, particularly for Inter in the dying seconds of the match when Alvaro Recoba hit the woodwork, but the game was goalless and the Biancocelesti won the double.
What happened in Serie A 1999-00
An amazing turn around in the last game allowed Lazio to win their second scudetto.
The previous season had seen Milan win the scudetto in the last match of the season. The Rossoneri were at one stage seven points behind leaders Lazio but they capitalised on the Biancocelesti two consecutive defeats against Roma and Juve and overtook the Romans in the last but one game. Lazio had room for recrimination. In the penultimate match in Florence, the Biancocelesti were held to a draw and denied a clear penalty by a distracted referee.
In the summer transfer window there were some big signings: Christian Vieri (Inter from Lazio), Andrij Shevchenko (Milan from Dynamo Kyiv), Vincenzo Montella (Roma from Sampdoria) and Juan Sebastian Veron (Lazio from Parma).
Inter changed managers. Marcello Lippi was the new head coach. In had also come Angelo Peruzzi, Laurent Blanc and Gigi Di Biagio plus Clarence Seedorf from Real Madrid in the winter session. Roma also changed managers and Zdenek Zeman was substituted by Fabio Capello. Edwin Van der Sar substituted Peruzzi at Juventus in goal.
Inter were the favourites with the attacking duo Vieri-Ronaldo. A bit behind were Lazio, Juve and Milan. Roma could be an interesting outsider. Parma and Fiorentina could also do well.
The seven sisters of Serie A.
Their managers were legendary: Lippi (Inter), Capello (Roma), Sven-Goran Eriksson (Lazio), Carlo Ancelotti (Juventus), Alberto Zaccheroni (Milan), Giovanni Trapattoni (Fiorentina), Alberto Malesani (Parma). Serie A promised to be exciting.
July-September
The season started early for Perugia and Juventus, involved in the Intertoto Cup. Perugia beat Pobeda in July but then were knocked out by Trabzonspor. Juventus in the third round in July eliminated Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, Rostselmash in the semis and Rennes in the final in August. They would play in the UEFA Cup.
In the Super Coppa final in August, Parma surprisingly won it for the first time beating Milan.
In the preliminary rounds of the Champions League in August Fiorentina beat Widzew Lodz 5-1 on aggregate but Parma were eliminated by Rangers.
Serie A started with one game in August and three in September. Roma and Inter drew, the latter then destroyed Parma 5-1 at home. Lazio also beat the Emiliani. Early stages and a long way to go to May.
In September there were three games of the first group phase of the CL. Lazio topped their group thanks to two wins and a draw, Fiorentina were a bit behind with just two points, and Milan were joint leaders with Hertha BSC in their group. For the first time without the Cup Winners Cup, the winners of the national cups played in the UEFA Cup. In the first round Udinese, Roma, Parma, Juventus and Bologna all went through.
Inter 10, Lazio 10, Milan 8, Fiorentina 8, Roma 8, Reggina 8, Juventus 7, Udinese 5, Lecce 5, Bari 5, Perugia 4, Torino 4, Verona 3, Venezia 2, Piacenza 2, Parma 2, Bologna 2, Cagliari 1
October
Four games in October. Roma won in Florence but lost at home to Juventus, Lazio drew with Milan (spectacular 4-4) and Inter while the Rossoneri won the derby. There was already a gap between Lazio and Juventus and the other sisters. At the other end Venezia and Cagliari were already in trouble.
In the Champions League Lazio had already qualified top in their group and went to the second group stage. Fiorentina were second after beating Arsenal at Wembley but still needed a point against Barcelona in the last match, Milan needed to beat Galatasaray in Istanbul and hope Chelsea beat Hertha to continue. In the UEFA Cup’s first leg of the second round victories for Udinese, Roma, Parma and Juventus. Bologna needed to win against Anderlecht in the second leg to go through.
Lazio 18, Juventus 17, Milan 14, Inter 14, Roma 13, Perugia 13, Parma 12, Udinese 12, Torino 10, Bologna 10, Reggina 9, Fiorentina 9, Lecce 8, Verona 8, Bari 7, Piacenza 6, Venezia 5, Cagliari 4
November
Roma caught up with Lazio and Juventus. They beat Lazio in the derby whereas Juventus drew theirs and with Lazio but beat Milan, who in turn won against Parma. The Milanese were closer to the top.
Milan lost to Galatasaray in CL and were out of Europe, Fiorentina got that point they needed and went through as did Lazio. The first game of the second group stage saw Fiorentina beat Manchester United and Lazio win in Marseille.
In the UEFA Cup Udinese, Roma, Parma, Juventus and Bologna all went through to the third round. In the first leg of the latter, Parma, Juve and Roma won, Bologna drew at home and would have a difficult match against Galatasaray, Udinese lost at home to Bayer Leverkusen and had a foot out the door.
Roma 22, Lazio 22, Juventus 22, Inter 20, Milan 20, Parma 18, Perugia 16, Udinese 15, Bologna 14, Bari 14, Fiorentina 14, Torino 14, Lecce 14, Piacenza 10, Reggina 10, Verona 8, Venezia 6, Cagliari 5
December
Three games to end the year. Lazio beat Fiorentina, Juventus beat Inter but drew in Florence, Parma beat Roma at home. The Biancocelesti closed the year top. Behind Venezia and Cagliari in deep trouble.
In Champions League Lazio drew with Chelsea and were joint first in their group, Fiorentina were leading theirs. In the UEFA Cup Juventus, Roma, Parma and surprisingly Udinese qualified for the next round, Bologna were eliminated.
First games for the big teams in Coppa Italia and no real surprises with the exception of Venezia eliminating Udinese.
Lazio 31, Juventus 29, Parma 27, Roma 25, Milan 24, Inter 23, Bari 20, Perugia 20, Udinese 19, Fiorentina 18, Lecce 18, Bologna 17, Verona 15, Torino 14, Reggina 12, Piacenza 11, Venezia 9, Cagliari 7
January
Five games to start the year. Lazio lost first place by dropping points with the smaller teams, Fiorentina beat Inter, Parma-Juve and Milan-Roma ended in draws, Inter beat Roma. Further back Venezia improved and Cagliari also looked as if things were starting to work. Piacenza last.
In the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia Inter eliminated Milan, Lazio beat Juventus and very surprisingly Cagliari defeated Roma and Venezia brushed off Fiorentina. Semi-finals in February: Lazio-Venezia and Cagliari-Inter
Juventus 40, Lazio 39, Inter 35, Roma 35, Milan 35, Parma 32, Udinese 28, Lecce 27, Bari 26, Bologna 26, Fiorentina 25, Perugia 23, Torino 21, Reggina 17, Venezia 16, Verona 16, Cagliari 12, Piacenza 11
February
Four games. Parma lost to Fiorentina but drew with Inter and Lazio who lost to Milan. Juventus beat Roma and now had a four-point lead. The Giallorossi crushed Fiorentina who were now far behind the leaders. Milan, Inter and Roma were creeping up behind Lazio.
Parma and Udinese played the first leg of the 4th round of the UEFA Cup, the former winning and the latter losing.
In the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia Lazio had no problems with Venezia (7-2 on aggregate), Inter suffered a bit against Cagliari but reached the final. The first leg, Lazio-Inter, would be played in April and the second after the end of the campionato.
Juventus 50, Lazio 46, Milan 45, Inter 43, Roma 42, Parma 34, Udinese 33, Fiorentina 30, Bologna 28, Bari 28, Lecce 28, Perugia 26, Reggina 25, Torino 24, Verona 22, Venezia 19, Cagliari 17, Piacenza 16
March
Four games for the beginning of Spring. Juventus went to +9 on Lazio and it looked as if it was all over for the scudetto but then they lost in Milan and Lazio won the derby. Still +6 but the next game would be Juventus-Lazio. Inter won the derby, Juventus won theirs and earlier in the month Lazio and Inter drew. Piacenza and Cagliari were practically in Serie B.
Fiorentina missed out on the quarterfinals of the Champions League. In their final match they needed to beat Bordeaux by a lot of goals but they drew. As far as Lazio were concerned, with one game to go they were second behind Chelsea and a point ahead of Feyenoord. A win in London secured top spot and the quarterfinals. They would play Valencia.
In the UEFA Cup all the Italian teams were out. Parma, Juventus, Roma and Udinese were eliminated by Werder Bremen, Celta VIgo, Leeds United and Slavia Prague respectively.
Juventus 59, Lazio 53, Milan 49, Inter 48, Parma 46, Roma 45, Udinese 40, Fiorentina 39, Bologna 34, Perugia 33, Reggina 32, Lecce 32, Verona 30, Bari 28, Torino 27, Venezia 24, Cagliari 20, Piacenza 17
April
The five games that meant everything. Lazio won in Turin and closed the gap to -3 but a draw in Florence took them back to -5. In the last game of the month, Juventus lost to Verona and now the Biancocelesti were just two points behind with two games to go. In the Champions League qualification battle Milan had a two point advantage over Inter and Parma, Roma needed a miracle. Venezia, Cagliari and Piacenza were in Serie B, Bari and Torino were fighting to avoid the last place with the former having an advantage of two points.
In the Champions League quarter finals, Lazio were eliminated by Valencia. A collapse in Spain was not remedied at home.
In the first leg of the Coppa Italia final Lazio beat Inter 2-1 coming from behind. Horrendous injury for Ronaldo.
Juventus 68, Lazio 66, Milan 57, Inter 55, Parma 55, Roma 52, Udinese 47, Fiorentina 45, Verona 41, Bologna 39, Reggina 39, Perugia 39, Lecce 37, Bari 35, Torino 33, Venezia 26, Cagliari 21, Piacenza 20
May
The last two games of the season. In the penultimate match Juve beat Parma but the Gialloblu were denied a goal for a non existent foul. Big scandal and uproar in Italy. In the last game 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 flooded 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 won their second scudetto.
Milan and Inter, following a playoff against Parma, would join the top two in next year’s Champions League, Roma and Fiorentina join the Emiliani in the UEFA Cup.
Torino, Venezia, Cagliari and Piacenza were relegated. Vicenza, Atalanta, Brescia and Napoli were promoted to Serie A.
Top scorer was Andrij Shevchenko with 24 goals ahead of Gabriel Batistuta and Hernan Crespo.
The second leg of the Coppa Italia final ended 0-0 so Lazio won the double (scudetto and Coppa Italia).
Final table: Lazio 72, Juventus 71, Milan 61, Inter 58, Parma 58, Roma 54, Fiorentina 51, Udinese 50, Verona 43, Perugia 42, Bologna 40, Reggina 40, Lecce 40, Bari 39, Torino 36, Venezia 26, Cagliari 22, Piacenza 20
Sources
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