Four goals, but not enough for Champions League
Lazio win at Lecce but miss out on Champions League
Also on this day: May 22, 1983, Lazio Atalanta 2-1. The first win in two months plus the news that Giorgio Chinaglia may purchase the club give new hope to fans. Player of the day: Andrea Agostinelli
The season so far
The summer transfer window had seen Lazio as one the protagonists with the signing of Brazilian star Hernanes. A midfielder who can use both feet, he was one of the most important and expensive signings of the Claudio Lotito presidency. Other signings included Javier Garrido (Manchester City), Mark Bresciano (free transfer), Alvaro Gonalez (Nacional) and the return of Libor Kozak from his loan to Brescia.
Leaving Lazio were Aleksandar Kolarov (Manchester City), Emilson Cribari (Napoli) and Stephen Makinwa (loan to Larissa). Julio Cruz, Simone Inzaghi and Sebastiano Siviglia had all retired, Ousmane Dabo, Roberto Baronio and Thomas Hitzlsperger had not had their contracts renewed.
After losing the first game to Sampdoria, Lazio went on an excellent run and in the following 8 games they won seven and drew only once against Milan. At that point Lazio were top with a 4-point lead. The very controversial loss against Roma, with at least one penalty not given to Lazio, and the bad defeat against Cesena had dampened enthusiasm. But then the Biancocelesti beat Napoli and later on also Inter. At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were third. They then dropped a place but stayed fourth for most of the second half of the season but the decisive loss at Udine (with Mauro Zarate missing a penalty with Udinese down to 10 men) meant that Lazio were out of the top four places, hence out of Champions League qualification. They were currently fifth, two points behind Udinese.
In Coppa Italia Lazio went out against Roma in the fourth round.
Today was the last game of the season, at Lecce. In order to qualify Lazio needed to win and Udinese to lose (they were playing Milan who were already champions, at home), or draw with Lazio winning 9-0 (the Biancocelesti had a goal difference of +14, the Bianconeri +22).
The match: Sunday, May 22, 2011, Stadio Via del Mare, Lecce
Lazio needed to win and started attacking immediately. In the first few minutes Stefano Mauri on the right, back to the goal and pressed by a Lecce defender, managed to pass the ball to Cristian Brocchi who crossed in the box for Tommaso Rocchi but his header was only just wide. Not to worry. In the 6th minute Cristian Ledesma opened up the Apulian defence and sent the Lazio centre forward all alone towards the goal. Rocchi waited until the last possible second and with a low left footed shot gave Lazio the lead.
Lecce reacted and on a cross from the right by Giulio Donati, Djamel Mesbah headed the ball towards the goal, a Stephan Lichtsteiner deflection almost gave the Giallorossi an equaliser. Which could also have come in the 15th minute. Ignacio Piatti all alone in the box tried a volley which beat Fernando Muslera but not André Dias who managed to head the ball away. In the 22nd minute Mauro Zarate received a splendid pass from Mauri and tried to beat Massimiliano Benassi who got a hand to the ball and deflected it onto the post. In the 30th minute, a splendid counter attack for Lazio. Rocchi and Zarate all alone in front of the goalkeeper but with 40 metres left on the pitch. Tommaso decided to ignore his teammate and go solo. He managed to dribble past Benassi but his shot was weak and the Lecce defence cleared. If he had passed to Zarate, it would have been 2-0.
Three minutes later Giuseppe Vives gave a high ball to Manuel Coppola in the box, Muslera ran forward and the Italian tried a lob which ended up in the goal. Lecce 1 Lazio 1.
The Biancocelesti immediately went forward and in the 35th minute a Zarate-Rocchi one-two at the limit of the area gave the Argentinian the possibility to beat Benassi and he did not miss. Lazio back in front.
Rocchi had another chance shortly after but his volley off a cross from the right was slightly too high. In the 41st minute Donati from the right crossed into the box, the Lazio defence did not clear properly, ball to Piatti who with a low left footer gave Lecce their second goal. End of first half.
In the meantime, not much was happening at Udine. Milan had been dangerous on an Antonio Cassano shot but Udinese had been closer to scoring with chances for Antonio Di Natale and Alexis Sanchez.
In the beginning of the second half Zarate received a long pass from Javier Garrido. He was unmarked in front of Benassi, he dribbled past the goalkeeper but his shot went wide. In the 55th minute another long ball over the Lecce defence this time from Ledesma to Rocchi who arrived into the box and tried to dribble past Benassi who fouled him (and was sent off). Penalty for Lazio, this time, unlike at Udine, Zarate did not miss, Lecce 2 Lazio 3
In the 60th minute Daniele Corvia had a chance to make it 3-3, but 120 seconds later Lazio scored their fourth. On a Zarate corner Vives instead of clearing sent the ball into the back of the net. Game over.
At Udine, Milan had turned the switch off and Udinese had numerous opportunities to score. Marco Amelia was the protagonist with a number of saves that kept the score goalless. He even saved a penalty. The game ended 0-0.
No Champions League for Lazio, beaten on the finishing line by Udinese yet again.
Who played for Lecce
Benassi, Donati, Giacomazzi, Giuliatto, Brivio, Munari, Vives, Coppola, Mesbah (50' Corvia), Piatti (51' Chevanton), Di Michele (54' Rosati)
Substitutes: Fabiano, Grossmuller, Jeda, Rispoli
Manager: De Canio
Who played for Lazio
Muslera, Lichtsteiner (84’ Scaloni), Biava, Dias, Garrido, Brocchi, Ledesma, Mauri, Hernanes (46’ Gonzalez), Zarate, Rocchi (64’ Floccari)
Manager: Reja
Referee: Rocchi
Goals: 7’ Rocchi, 33’ Coppola, 35’ Zarate, 41’ Piatti, 55’ Zarate (pen), 62’ Vives (og)
What happened next
The season had been good but there had been too many matches that should have been won that were lost or drawn (Cesena away, Lecce at home, Cagliari away are just some examples) to be able to reach the Champions League qualification.
Hernanes was the player with the most appearances (36 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia) and with the most goals (11 in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia).
Lazio 2010-11
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 55 |
Coppa Italia | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
Total | 40 | 22 | 6 | 13 | 62 |
Top Five Appearances
Player | Total Appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Hernanes | 37 | 36 | 1 |
Biava | 36 | 35 | 1 |
Muslera | 36 | 36 | 0 |
Zarate | 36 | 35 | 1 |
Ledesma | 35 | 34 | 1 |
Lichtsteiner | 35 | 34 | 1 |
Top Five Goal Scorers
Player | Total Goals | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
Hernanes | 12 | 11 | 1 |
Zarate | 9 | 9 | 0 |
Floccari | 8 | 8 | 0 |
Kozak | 7 | 6 | 1 |
Mauri | 6 | 6 | 0 |
Let's talk about Javier Garrido
Javier Garrido Behobide was born on March 15, 1985 in Irun in Spain.
He signed his first professional contract with Real Sociedad when he was still a kid and went through all of the various youth teams. He started playing professionally with Real Sociedad B in the second and third Spanish divisions and in 2004 he debuted with the first team on August 29 in the match against Levante. In three years, he played 86 games with one goal for the Basques but in 2007 the club, in a serious financial crisis, was forced to sell him to Manchester City. Under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, he made 29 appearances, but less in his second year (23) and until Roberto Mancini arrived he was not considered at all in his third. After a final season with just 12 appearances, he left and joined Lazio.
The Biancocelesti had received an incredible offer for Aleksandar Kolarov (€18 million) and hence needed a substitute as left back. Garrido was offered and Lazio accepted.
His stay at Lazio was marred by injury and he found it hard to budge Stefan Radu out of the first eleven. In two years, he made 23 appearances with one goal.
In 2013 he was loaned to Norwich City. In his one season loan he made a good impression, the Canaries managed to stay in the premier league and decided on a permanent move for the Spaniard. But in the next two years he made just 18 appearances and when his contract ended it was not renewed.
In 2015 he signed for Las Palmas in the Spanish first tier but after a year moved to AEK Larnaca in Cyprus. His last two years of active football were with Real Union in his hometown of Irun.
At International level, Garrido played for many “under” teams for Spain (17, 19, 20 and 21) winning a European Under-19 Championship in 2004 and participating in the World Under-20 Championship.
At Lazio Garrido was a bit of a disappointment. Constantly injured, when he did appear his contribution was not up to par.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
2010-11 | 12 (1) | 10 | 2 (1) |
2011-12 | 11 | 11 | - |
Total | 23 (1) | 21 | 2 (1) |
Sources
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