Liverani gem sends "old lady" packing
A wonderfully skillful goal by the Roman midfielder gives Lazio a deserved victory
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season had seen title winning Sven-Goran Eriksson leaving the club and the return of Dino Zoff. Lazio had fought for the title but eventually just lost out to city rivals Roma. A 3rd place finish did however give them a Champions League participation.
Lazio's main investments this year were defender Jaap Stam (Manchester United) and midfielder Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia). Mendieta in particular was considered a major swoop after his performances in the Champions League for Valencia. In had also come midfielders Giuliano Giannichedda and Stefano Fiore (both from Udinese), Fabio Liverani (Perugia), Brazilian César (São Caetano), Ivan de la Peña (back from loan periods after a disappointing time at Lazio two years earlier) and Serb forward Darko Kovacevic (Juventus).
Lazio had however lost scudetto legends Pavel Nedved (Juventus), the 'Matador' Marcelo Salas (Juventus) and Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United) plus Fabrizio Ravanelli (Derby County) and Roberto Baronio (Fiorentina).
The season had started with three lacklustre draws which led the club to substitute manager Dino Zoff with Alberto Zaccheroni. The Biancocelesti had not really improved and had then won 1 (Atalanta 2-0 at home), drawn two (Parma at home and Venezia away, both 0-0) and lost two (Milan away and derby, both 0-2). After the derby defeat however, Lazio had won the last two consecutive matches (Brescia 5-O at home and Udinese 4-1 away). After 11 games Lazio were joint 8th with Brescia on 14 points (Chievo were shock leaders on 20).
In the Champions League Lazio had gone through the qualifying round by beating FC København 5-3 on aggregate in August. The Biancocelesti had then crashed out in the first group phase with Galatasaray (0-1, 1-0), PSV Eindhoven (0-1, 2-1) and Nantes (1-3, 0-1).
In Coppa Italia, Lazio had played the home leg against Siena winning 2-1. The return leg would be in four days’ time in Siena.
Juventus had finished 2nd the previous season under Carlo Ancelotti.
This season the manager was Marcello Lippi. The Bianconeri had invested heavily on keeper Gianluigi Buffon (Parma), defenders Lilian Thuram (Parma) and Cristian Zenoni (Milan), midfielders Pavel Nedved (Lazio) and striker Marcelo Salas (Lazio).
Leaving were keeper Edwin Van der Sar (Fulham), midfielder Zínedine Zidane (Real Madrid) and striker Filippo Inzaghi (Milan).
So, some big names both coming and going.
So far Juventus were 3rd on 17 points. They had started well with three consecutive wins but then slowed down with only 1 win, 6 draws and 1 defeat in the next 8 games. Their last game however had been the win, a home 3-1 against Parma.
In the Champions League the Bianconeri had already qualified for the second group stage. They had won 3 (Celtic 3-2, Rosenborg 1-0 and Porto 3-1, all at home), drawn 2 (Porto 0-0 and Rosenborg 1-1, both away) and lost 1 (Celtic 3-4 away). Their next opponents were Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal and Deportivo La Coruña, from November 29 onwards.
In the Coppa the Bianconeri had played the away leg of the last 16 winning 2-1 away at Sampdoria. The return game in Turin would be on December 12.
Always a big game Lazio vs Juventus. Lazio felt they were in with a chance tonight as there was the impression that Juventus were not at their best yet.
The match: Saturday, November 24, 2001, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A big crowd of 65,000 for this game on a cold Saturday night.
It was fan favourite Pavel Nedved's return to Rome and at least this first time he got a warm welcome. He went under the Curva Nord and was given a plaque, a scarf and plenty of applause. The other Scudetto hero Marcelo Salas was missing through injury.
Lazio were without defenders Jaap Stam and Beppe Pancaro plus midfielder César while Juventus had defenders Ciro Ferrara, Pablo Montero and midfielder Antonio Conte unavailable as well as the Chilean former Lazio striker.
The first half was balanced. Pavel Nedved had a low long range free kick go wide and Alessandro Del Piero was anticipated in front of goal on a Nedved cross. Lazio sat back and hoped to catch Juventus on the break. They almost did when Simone Inzaghi backheeled a Beppe Favalli cross from the left but his cheeky attempt trickled past the right post.
The game was tense with several scuffles, especially between hard men Fernando Couto and Igor Tudor. The mood was not helped by an off ball headbutt by David Trezeguet on Simone Inzaghi which went unnoticed by the referee.
So, Juventus attacked but without any major chances and Lazio waited for their moment. It seemed to come in the 43rd minute. On a Fabio Liverani free kick from the left, Simone Inzaghi rose high but his header hit the right post with Gianluigi Buffon beaten. Halftime Lazio 0 Juventus 0.
Not a spectacular game so far and the draw was probably a fair result.
The second half saw the same XI's take the field.
The game however changed immediately. In the 49th minute Alessio Tacchinardi made a risky back pass to Buffon who had to come off his line and head the ball away but it reached Liverani who with a brilliant snooker like lob, with the outside of his left foot, put it over the keeper and into the net. A fantastic goal, Lazio 1 Juventus 0.
Juventus' reaction was a low right foot by Nedved but Angelo Peruzzi blocked and gathered.
It was then Lazio who went close to doubling their lead. In 55th minute Karel Poborsky set up Hernan Crespo inside the area on the right but his powerful strike hit the post and went out.
Juventus' main attacks were with constant crosses. Some caused a spot of apprehension to the defence but apart from a Trezeguet scissor kick which went wide and Peruzzi having to dive low to anticipate Amoruso, Lazio were rarely threatened.
One problem for Lazio was Peruzzi fracturing his wrist on the low dive but he stoically continued for the remaining twenty-five minutes. Luckily for the "Cinghialone" (Wild boar) and Lazio, the visitors ran out of steam and apart from a few long-range efforts, well over the bar, never really caused any more problems. Final score Lazio 1 Juventus 0.
A huge satisfaction for Lazio as beating the "Old lady" always is. It was a deserved win nonetheless as Lazio had been tactically intelligent, scored an amazing goal and hit the woodwork twice.
Lazio moved up to joint 5th with Juventus, Bologna and Brescia on 17 points. Chievo were still surprise leaders on 23.
One concern on this almost perfect night was Peruzzi's injury which would keep him out for about a month.
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Negro, Nesta, F. Couto, Favalli, Poborsky, Giannichedda, Liverani (82' D.Baggio), Stankovic (90' Fiore), Crespo, S. Inzaghi (82' C. Lopez)
Substitutes: Marchegiani, Mihajlovic, Mendieta, Kovacevic
Manager: Zaccheroni
Who played for Juventus
Buffon, Thuram, Tudor, Iuliano, C. Zenoni (60' Maresca), Tacchinardi (78' Paramatti), Davids, Zambrotta, Nedved, Del Piero (68' Amoruso), Trezeguet
Substitutes: Rampulla, Birindelli, Pessotto, Zalayeta
Manager: Lippi
Referee: Collina
Goal: 49' Liverani
What happened next
Lazio followed tonight's triumph with two more wins, 2-1 away at Lecce and a 3-0 at home to Fiorentina. They moved up to joint 4th with Milan.
It was a false dawn however and, in the end, Lazio had a disappointing season finishing 6th. Lazio won 14, drew 11 and lost 9 (including both derbies).
They did end with a controversial victory over Inter on the now famous May 5th. This last game saw Inter needing a win to be sure of the scudetto. There was also the chance of Roma stealing the championship had Inter and Juve failed to win and Roma done so. There was therefore a lot of talk of Lazio throwing the game to avoid the “unmentionables” glory.
Many Lazio fans were initially blatantly supporting Inter but the risk was soon out of the question with Juve taking an early double lead away at Udinese. Inter still had their fate in their own hands but inexplicably collapsed at the Olimpico against opposition who didn't exactly play as if their life depended on it. Inter may have assumed it was a done deal but Karel Poborsky's lack of understanding of the city rivalry dynamics, and hence fierce determination, together with Inter's lacklustre performance, produced one of the few championship-deciding last match of the season shock results in recent history. Another one obviously being Juventus getting washed away in Perugia two years earlier, handing the scudetto to Lazio in an even more dramatic fashion.
Lazio at least salvaged a UEFA Cup qualification. Hernan Crespo was top scorer with 20 goals (13 in A).
In the Coppa Italia Lazio knocked out Siena but were eliminated in the quarters by Milan 3-5 on aggregate.
Not a season to remember. Fortunately, Roberto Mancini was already on his way back to Lazio.
So, Juventus, also thanks to Lazio, won their 26th league title. The Bianconeri then won 16, drew 5 (including Lazio 1-1) and only lost 1 more game (Parma 0-1 away). Top scorer was Trezeguet with 32 goals (24 in A).
In the Champions League they failed to get through the second group stage. The "Old Lady" won 2 (Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 and Arsenal 1-0, both at home), drew 1 (Deportivo La Coruña 0-0 at home) and lost 3 (Arsenal 1-3, Deportivo La Coruña 0-2 and Bayer Leverkusen 1-3). Another disappointing European campaign for Juventus.
In Coppa Italia they reached the final but fell short of the domestic double by losing to Parma on away goals in the final (2-1 at home, 0-1 away).
With Juventus Scudetto winners, the other verdicts were Roma, Inter and Milan in Champions League, Chievo, Lazio and Parma in the UEFA Cup. Going down to the "purgatory" of Serie B were Venezia, Fiorentina, Lecce and Verona.
Let's talk about Igor Tudor
Igor Tudor was born in Split, on April 16 1978.
He started his career with local team Hajduk Split at 17 in 1995. He played 9 league games for the "Hajduci" before being sent on loan to Trogir in the second flight in January. He played 5 league games with 1 goal.
In 1996 he was back at Hajduk Split and stayed for two seasons, playing more regularly. He played another 49 league games with 5 goals and 8 games in the UEFA Cup with 1 goal.
In 1998 he signed for Juventus where he stayed seven seasons. He won the Scudetto twice (2002, 2003, under Marcello Lippi) and the Supercoppa twice (2002, 2003). He played a total of 174 games for Juventus with 21 goals.
In January 2005 he signed for Siena in Serie A. The Tuscans finished 14th and 15th. Tudor played 39 league games with 2 goals. His managers were Gigi Simoni and then Luigi De Canio. His teammates included Lazio connections Francesco Colonnese (2000-04), Enrico Chiesa (2002-03) and Paolo Negro (1993-2005).
In 2006-07 he went back to Juventus but never played due to injuries.
In 2007-08 he returned home to Hajduk Split and played another 8 league games with 1 goal. He then retired at 30.
Tudor also won 55 caps for Croatia with 3 goals and obtained a 3rd place at the France 1998 World Cup.
As a player he was a defender but later also played in midfield. He started as full-back or centre-back but then evolved into a defensive midfielder. He was tough but could also play the ball and had a good vision of the game. Due to his physicality (1.93) he was sometimes even used as centre-forward in times of need late in games. His career was affected by several injuries which earned him the nickname "gigante di cristallo" (crystal giant) which led to an early retirement.
After retiring he then started a coaching career. His first job was assistant manager at Hajduk Split in 2009-10. He then coached the U19's for two seasons.
In 2012-13 he was assistant manager to Igor Štimac with the Croatian national team.
In 2013-14 he started his club career. He was with Hajduk Split (From Apr 2013, 4th place, 2013-14, 3rd and 2014-Feb 2015, resigned), PAOK in Greece (2015-Mar 2016, sacked), Karabükspor in Turkey (2016-Feb 17, resigned), Galatasaray (From Feb 2017, 4th, then sacked in December), Udinese (From Apr 2018, 15th, Mar 2019, 12th and Aug 2019, sacked in November), Hajduk Split again (From Nov 2019-20, 5th), Verona (From Sept 2021-22, 9th), Olympique Marseille (2022-23, 3rd).
In March 2024 he was called by Lazio to replace Maurizio Sarri who had resigned. His first game was a tough one against his former team Juventus but Lazio deservedly won 1-0 with a 93rd minute Adam Marušić winner. Lazio then lost the derby 0-1 before winning 4 and drawing 3. The Biancocelesti also lost the Coppa Italia semi-final against Juve, 3-4 on aggregate.
The results on the field were not bad but Tudor did not ingratiate himself with the fans, still mourning Sarri's departure, or the local media. He came in immediately wanting to stamp down his authority, seemed to lack humility and had little empathy with the players. One example was not giving departing Luís Alberto even a minute of playing time in the last match. Luís Alberto had been at Lazio six seasons and was a fan favourite. Tudor obviously did not see eye to eye with owner Claudio Lotito about future strategies either, the fact is he resigned at the end of the season.
In his defence he was called in to get results not win hearts and Lazio finished 7th, qualifying for the Europa League.
Tudor is currently waiting for another coaching opportunity.
Sources
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