Two posts but fair result
A goalless draw despite Lazio hitting the woodwork twice but Reggiana deserved the point
Also on this day: September 5, 1965, Milan Lazio 0-0. Milan on top to start but Lazio better in second half. Player of the day: Nicola Ciccolo
The season so far
Lazio had arrived 5th the previous year and the objective was to improve on that position.
Dino Zoff had been confirmed as manager but some interesting additions had been made to the squad. Lazio finally invested in a goalkeeper and brought in Luca Marchegiani from Torino. In defence, a young full-back, Paolo Negro, arrived from Brescia. In midfield a relatively unknown Roberto Di Matteo came from Aarau while former Roma, Fabrizio Di Mauro arrived on loan from Fiorentina. In attack Lazio welcomed Pierluigi Casiraghi from Juventus.
Making space for the new entries Lazio also sadly said farewell to -9 and promotion hero defender Angelo Gregucci (Torino) and to popular German striker Karl-Heinz Riedle (Borussia Dortmund). Also leaving were keeper Valerio Fiori (Cagliari) and midfielder Giovanni Stroppa (Foggia).
This was the second league game of the season. On their debut Lazio had drawn 0-0 at home against Zdenek Zeman's Foggia. It was also the first Pay-tv game in the history of Italian football.
Reggiana were newly promoted having won Serie B under Giuseppe Marchioro. The Milanese manager had stayed on and a few new players were added; goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel (Parma), defender Luigi De Agostini (Inter), attacking midfielder Massimiliano Esposito (Catanzaro) and forward Michele Padovano (Genoa).
In the first match of the season "La Regia" had lost 2-1 away to Inter.
The match: Sunday, September 5, 1993, Stadio Mirabello, Reggio Emilia
This was another evening game due to the dictates of television, slowly but surely taking over football. It was played in humid conditions in front of about 15,000 spectators.
Lazio were still without Paul Gascoigne and Beppe Signori but otherwise had their best line-up as did Reggiana.
The home side obviously planned to base their game on pace, rhythm and intensity to contrast Lazio's superior quality. The Granata started vigorously but the first chance was for the Biancocelesti. A move started by Roberto Di Matteo was continued by Thomas Doll who won a challenge and put Aron Winter through on goal but the Dutchman hit the post with a powerful strike, when he maybe should have placed it.
Reggiana gained force after the scare and attacked energetically. They had various chances, first Luca Marchegiani tipped a Giuseppe Scienza effort over the bar and then Swede Johnny Ekstroem slipped when he had only the keeper to beat.
Lazio were on the backfoot but had an opportunity with Pierluigi Casiraghi who headed weakly despite having time and space to stop the ball. Then it was Reggiana again who had another chance with Ekstoem one -on -one with Marchegiani but the Swede had his shot saved and on the rebound Dario Morello was challenged by Beppe Favalli and shot wide. Lazio's defence looked far from impenetrable but halftime came without conceding. Reggiana 0 Lazio 0.
Reggiana had been on top looking sharper and more dynamic while Lazio were obviously superior but not a finished product yet and still working on proper synchronization and positioning.
There were no changes at halftime and the second half followed pretty much the same pattern as the first. If anything Lazio pulled back even more as an away point was still reasonably acceptable in those days before the three point per victory rule came in 1994-95. .
Reggiana had chances especially with an excellent Eugenio Sgarbossa volley but Marchegiani was always ready to avoid the threats. In truth the majority of the Emiliani's efforts were imprecise, so a lot of pressure without excessive danger but the Lazio goalkeeper was always on his toes anyway.
After soaking up long periods of pressure it was in fact Lazio who almost stole it towards the end. On the break Favalli crossed for Casiraghi who rose and headed towards goal but hit the crossbar. Final score Reggiana 0 Lazio 0.
In the end a fair result considering the home side's long periods of domination and Lazio twice hitting the woodwork.
So Lazio had played two games without conceding or scoring. There was the feeling however that with the return of Gascoigne and Signori the goals would come while ironically the defence looked vulnerable despite the two clean sheets so far. Not sure Lazio were particularly popular with Pay-tv owners at the moment.
Who played for Reggiana
Sardini, Torrisi, Zanutta, Accardi, Sgarbossa, De Agostini, Morello, Scienza, Ekstroem, Picasso (75' Lantignotti), Padovano (75' M.Esposito)
Substitutes: Cesaretti, Parlato, Pacione
Manager: Marchioro
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Zoff
Referee: Ceccarini
What happened next
In the autumn market session Lazio signed highly rated Croatian forward Alen Boksic from Olympique Marseille while Thomas Doll went back to Germany and joined Eintracht Frankfurt.
A week after the Reggio game Lazio won their first game beating Parma 2-1. The Biancocelesti had a good season finishing 4th and qualified for the UEFA Cup .They won 17 (including Juventus, Inter away and Roma ), drew 10 (including Roma, Milan away) and lost 7.
In the Coppa Italia they slipped up in the first round against Serie C opposition Avellino, 0-2 on aggregate. In the UEFA Cup they reached the last 16 but lost 1-2 on aggregate to Boavista. They had previously eliminated Lokomotiv Plovdiv 4-0 on aggregate.
In Serie A however a positive 4th place. Boksic had impressed while top scorer was Signori with 23 goals, all in the league. He was also Serie A top scorer.
Reggiana had a decent season and finished 14th. In November the Granata signed Portuguese star Paulo Futre from Olympique Marseille but he only played one game due to a serious injury. Reggiana had a difficult start and did not win a match until November 21 but then became more consistent. They ended the season with 10 wins (including Milan away and Inter ), 11 draws (including Roma twice and Juventus) and 13 defeats (including Lazio 2-0). Their top scorer was Padovano with 10 goals all in Serie A.
The Scudetto was won by Fabio Capello's Milan for their 14th title. The unlucky ones going down were Lecce, Atalanta, Udinese and Piacenza.
Lazio 1993-94
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 55 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | - | 1 | 1 | - |
UEFA Cup | 4 | 3 | - | 1 | 5 |
Total | 40 | 20 | 11 | 9 | 60 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
Marchegiani | 40 | 34 | 2 | 4 |
Winter | 40 | 34 | 2 | 4 |
Di Matteo | 35 | 29 | 2 | 4 |
Bacci | 33 | 29 | - | 4 |
Cravero | 32 | 29 | 1 | 2 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | UEFA Cup |
Signori | 23 | 23 | - |
Cravero | 7 | 5 | 2 |
Winter | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Casiraghi | 5 | 4 | 1 |
Di Matteo | 4 | 4 | - |
Boksic | 4 | 4 | - |
Let's talk about Luca Luzardi
Luca Luzardi was born in Manerbio (Brescia), on February 18, 1970.
His youth career was spent first at Voluntas Brescia and then Brescia. He made his debut for the "Rondinelle" (Little Swallows) in 1987 in Serie B. The manager was Bruno Giorgi and Brescia finished 8th. Luzardi played 10 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia.
The following season he was loaned to Prato in C1. The "Lanieri" finished 3rd under Giovanni Meregalli and Luzardi played 33 league games with 2 goals.
In 1989 he was back home at Brescia in Serie B. He stayed three years with 10th place, 9th and then finally 1st and promotion under Adelio Moro and Mircea Lucescu (T.D). Luzardi played 94 league games with 3 goals and 5 games in Coppa Italia. The following year he would make his Serie A debut but it would not be with the "Leonessa".
In the summer of 1992 he joined Lazio. He arrived alongside Paul Gascoigne, Aron Winter, Roberto Cravero and Beppe Signori amongst others. The manager was Italian legend Dino Zoff and Luzardi played regularly making 25 league appearances and 3 in Coppa Italia. He also scored his first Serie A goal, the winner in a 3-2 away win at Pescara (the game Gazza scored his epic slalom solo goal). Lazio finished 5th and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
In 1993-94 he played less, making 14 league appearances, 2 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the UEFA Cup with 1 goal (Lokomotiv Plovdiv). Lazio had a good Serie A campaign finishing 4th but disappointed in Coppa Italia (Avellino in 2nd round) and in the UEFA Cup (Boavista in last 32).
In the summer of 1994 Lazio appointed Zdenek Zeman as new manager and also signed defenders José Antonio Chamot which added to the emergence of homegrown talent Alessandro Nesta meant it was time for Luzardi to move on.
In 1994 he joined Napoli. The manager was Vincenzo Guerini but he was replaced after 6 games by former Napoli legend, Brazilian Cané (56 league goals in the 60's and 70's) although Vujadin Boskov was the real boss with the title of Technical Director. The Partenopei finished 7th but Luzardi never really broke into the team making 5 league appearances, 2 in Coppa Italia and 4 in the UEFA Cup.
So in 1995 he returned to Brescia again. The "Rondinelle" were in Serie B and the manager was first Mircea Lucescu (1-24) and then future Lazio Edy Reja (25-38). Luzardi played 30 league games but the Biancazzurri had a disappointing season finishing 16th. He played alongside Lazio connections such as Daniele Adani, Roberto Baronio, the Filippini twins, Maurizio Neri and Giampaolo Saurini.
The following year went better and Brescia won the league and promotion under Edy Reja. Luzardi however played less with only 7 league appearances. In the squad was also future Milan and Juventus legend Andrea Pirlo. Luzardi however would not see Serie A again.
In 1997 he joined Ascoli in C1. He stayed three seasons with the "Picchio" (The Woodpecker) with 10th, 8th and 3rd places. He played 50 league games for the Bianconeri.
In 2000 he moved to Reggiana in C1. He played 19 games and "La Regia" finished 16th and then stayed up after the play-outs.
Luzardi then spent a year each at Viareggio (C2, 22 games), Lodigiani (C2, 25 games and 1 goal) and finally Monterotondo near Rome (D, 25 games).
He retired at 34 .
At international level he played 14 games for Italy U21's with1 goal and won a European Championship in 1992. He also played 3 games with 1 goal for the Italian Olympic team in Barcelona 1992.
Since retiring he has gone into coaching. For three years he was former Lazio Angelo Gregucci's assistant at Vicenza, Atalanta and Sassuolo. These were not particularly successful and he then started coaching youth teams in Rome at lower levels. In 2018 however he was called back by Lazio to coach the Under 15's and from 2019 he is assistant coach with the Under 17's.
Luzardi was a central defender. At 1.84 metres and 77 kilos he was a classic strong centre-back. He was a solid man-to-man marker, strong tackler and good in the air. He played 44 games in Serie A and won two promotions with his hometown club Brescia. One regret could be never having played for them in the top flight.
At Lazio he had two decent years. He played a total of 46 games and made his debut in European competitions. He played alongside some Lazio greats and scored the winner on the day of possibly Gascoigne 's best ever goal away at Pescara. Luzardi's goal was more predictably a header that hit the bar and bounced near the line, over or not we will never know, but I was there at the other end with an athletics track in between and it definitely looked in to me...
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
1992-93 | 28 (1) | 25 (1) | 3 | - |
1993-94 | 20 (1) | 14 | 2 | 4 (1) |
Total | 48 (2) | 39 (1) | 5 | 4 (1) |
Sources
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