Spectacular opener
A thrilling draw despite Lazio going two nil up with Klose and Cissé
The season so far
Lazio had narrowly missed out on Champions League the previous season with 5th place.
This year Edy Reja had been confirmed but there had been a few changes to the squad.
The main novelty was in goal, as Lazio had bought Federico Marchetti from Cagliari while Fernando Muslera went to Galatasaray, in Turkey. The other main new arrivals were defenders Abdoulay Konko (Genoa) and Lorik Cana (Galatasaray), midfielder Senad Lulic (Young Boys, a name to watch out for… Lulic that is), forwards Djibril Cissé (Panathinaikos) and above all Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich).
The other main player leaving was defender Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus) while others were midfielders Pasquale Foggia (Sampdoria - on loan with clause to buy), Christian Manfredini (end of Contract -Sambonifacese) plus forwards Sergio Floccari (Parma - on loan with clause to buy) and Mauro Zarate (Inter - on loan with clause to buy).
Lazio had already played two official games. The Europa League preliminary round against Rabotnički from North Macedonia. Lazio had strolled to a 9-1 aggregate win.
Today was officially the second Serie A fixture of the season despite it being the first game. The opening fixture list on August 28 had been postponed to December 21 due to a players' strike over collective contractual issues.
Milan were reigning champions. The Rossoneri had won their 18th Scudetto, under manager Max Allegri. Both games against Lazio had been draws. Top scorer was Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 21 (14 in A).
This season Allegri was still in charge. The Milanesi had made a few changes to the squad. The main new arrivals were defender Phillipe Mexès (Roma), midfielders Alberto Aquilani (Liverpool - on loan with clause to buy), Antonio Nocerino (Palermo) and forward Stephan El Shaarawy (Genoa, via Padova).
Leaving were defenders Marek Jankulovski (Banik Ostrava), Massimo Oddo (Lecce - on loan) and midfielder Andrea Pirlo (Juventus).
Milan had already lifted a trophy this season. On August 6, in Beijing, the "Diavolo" had defeated city rivals Inter 2-1 to win the Italian Supercoppa.
Milan were favourites this evening as defending champions and playing at home.
The match: Friday, September 9, 2011, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
A hot, Friday evening game brought about 50,000 to the old San Siro stadium.
Milan had Philippe Mexès, Clarence Seedorf, Stephan El Shaarawy and Robinho unavailable while Lazio were without keeper Federico Marchetti and Stefan Radu.
The game started brightly with chances for both sides. Cristian Ledesma tried his luck from the long range and Kevin Boateng sliced his effort after being set up by Antonio Cassano. In the 8th minute Alberto Aquilani combined well with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and had only Albano Bizzarri to beat but the Argentine keeper narrowed the angle well and blocked the shot with his body. A few minutes later Stefano Mauri put in a dangerous low cross but no Laziali were close enough for the potential tap-in. The game was open, fast and entertaining.
In the 12th minute Lazio took the lead. Mauri crossed in from the right, Klose brought it down beautifully, kneed it past Alessandro Nesta and fired in a low left foot past Abbiati. A wonderful goal by the German, three flying touches all in one movement and Milan 0 Lazio 1.
Milan messed up in defence as Rino Gattuso and Nesta clattered into each other on the left edge of the area and gave Djibril Cissé a free run on goal but his shot did not turn enough and Abbiati parried and then Klose was just anticipated on the rebound.
Gattuso had the worst of the clash and had to go off in the 20th minute, replaced by Marco Van Bommel.
In the 21st minute Lazio doubled their lead. Mauri again crossed in from the right and Cissé anticipated a hesitant Nesta and with an imperious header beat Christian Abbiati. He then celebrated with an equally impressive somersault. Milan 0 Lazio 2. A dream start for the Biancocelesti.
Milan however pulled one back eight minutes later. From the edge of the box Aquilani flicked the ball into the area on the right, Luciano Zauri missed it and it reached Cassano who squared a low ball for the simplest of tap-ins for Ibrahimovic. There was a strong suspicion of Cassano being offside but the flag stayed down. Milan 1 Lazio 2 and the Champions were back in it.
Milan continued to attack and Bizzarri did well to get down low and save a powerful Boateng long range shot into corner
Only four minutes after Ibra's goal, Milan equalised. From an Aquilani corner from the right Cassano was lost by Zauri and headed past a not impeccable Bizzarri. Milan 2 Lazio 2. Things were not looking good for the Romans.
Lazio however almost took back the lead when Abdoulay Konko charged into the area on the right and squared low to Hernanes but the Brazilian's low left foot went just wide. Milan re-launched with Van Bommel shot just over the bar. Half time Milan 2 Lazio 2. A great first 45 minutes of the 2011-12 season.
It would be difficult for the second half to live up to the first and in fact it did not. It was, however, still reasonably lively.
In the 47th minute Milan almost took the lead immediately. Ibrahimovic teed up Cassano in front of goal but the "Barese's" curling low shot from the left shaved the far post. A few minutes later Boateng dived acrobatically but could not make contact with a header in front of goal.
Milan attacked more but Lazio always looked as if they could punish the devil on the break.
It was Milan however who were still more dangerous. In the 63rd minute Ibra set up Cassano again who this time hit the post. A minute later Bizzarri palmed away a Boateng effort.
Lazio as mentioned preyed on the counterattack and in the 66th minute Nesta saved the day for Milan when he blocked Cissé just before he was about to fire home after going past the keeper.
The teams started to tire and both made several substitutions. In the 68th minute Lazio buttoned up a bit more by replacing forward Klose with midfielder Álvaro Gonzalez. In the 80th minute an unknown Senad Lulic came on for Mauri. He looked awful but first impressions are sometimes deceiving…
Milan tried harder to get a winner and almost managed in the 85th minute courtesy of the deadly Ibra-Cassano duo again. A great assist by "Fantantonio" set up the big Swede but Bizzarri saved the day for Lazio.
The last chance was for Alexandre Pato but his effort almost arrived at the third upper tier of the stands. Final score Milan 2 Lazio 2.
An entertaining game which considering the heat and fitness levels inevitably slowed down in the second half. Both sets of fans applauded their players off the field.
Milan and Lazio could both be reasonably satisfied albeit with some regrets. Milan had the whole second half to get a winner and went close but had looked down and out after 20 minutes. Lazio had not managed to protect the two-goal lead but an away point to reigning champions was not to be snubbed.
Who played for Milan
Abbiati, Abate, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini, Gattuso (20' Van Bommel), Aquilani (68' Nocerino), Ambrosini, Boateng (75' Pato), Cassano, Ibrahimovic
Substitutes: Amelia, Bonera, Yepes, Emanuelson
Manager: Allegri
Who played for Lazio
Bizzarri, Konko, Biava, Dias, Zauri, Ledesma, Brocchi, Mauri (80' Lulic), Hernanes (85' Matuzalém), Cissé, Klose (68' Gonzalez)
Manager: Reja
Referee: Rocchi
Goals: 12' Klose, 21' Cissé, 29' Ibrahimovic, 33' Cassano
What happened next
Lazio had a decent season and finished 4th (EL), however missing out on Champions League by two points and again to Udinese. Lazio won 18 (including Milan 2-0 and Inter 3-1), drew 8 and lost 12. They also won both derbies 2-1, completing the double over bitter rivals Roma after many years.
In Coppa Italia, Lazio beat Verona 3-2 but then were eliminated by Milan 1-3 away.
In the Europa League, Lazio came second in the group phase. The Biancocelesti won 2 (Zurich 1-0, Sporting Lisbon 2-0), drew 3 (Vaslui 2-2, 0-0 and Zurich 1-1) and lost 1 (Sporting Lisbon 1-2).
They then played Atlético Madrid, relegated from the Champions League, and were well beaten 1-4 on aggregate.
Top scorer was Klose with 15 goals (12 in A).
Milan did not repeat the triumphant previous season but finished 2nd. They reached the quarter finals of the Champions League (Barcelona 1-3 on aggregate) and the semi-finals of Coppa Italia (Juventus 2-3 on aggregate). Top scorer was Ibrahimovic with 35 goals (28 in A).
The Scudetto was won by Juventus for the 28th time while Lecce, Novara and Cesena dropped to Serie B (Novara have never been back).
Lazio 2011-12
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals Scored |
Serie A | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 56 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Europa League | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 |
Total | 50 | 23 | 11 | 16 | 77 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Ledesma | 47 | 37 | 2 | 8 |
Hernanes | 42 | 31 | 2 | 9 |
Gonzalez | 40 | 31 | 2 | 7 |
Marchetti | 39 | 31 | 1 | 7 |
Lulic | 38 | 27 | 2 | 9 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Klose | 15 | 12 | - | 3 |
Hernanes | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
Rocchi | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
Cisse | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Kozak | 5 | 4 | - | 1 |
Mauri | 5 | 4 | - | 1 |
Sculli | 5 | 2 | - | 3 |
Let’s talk about: Miroslav Klose
Klose is considered to be one of the best centre forwards of all time and he currently still holds the record of number of goals scored in the World Cup (16).
Born in Opole, Poland, on June 9 1978, his family moved to Germany in 1986. He began his career in Homburg but in 1999 he was noticed by Kaiserslautern and began playing for the B team. He did so well (20 goals) that he quickly moved up to the A team and started playing his first games in the Bundesliga.
In four seasons with Kaiserslautern, he scored consistently, always getting into double figures and also started playing for Germany. He kept on scoring for his next club Werder Bremen, where he stayed until 2007. He was top scorer in Bundesliga in 2005-06 and top scorer in the 2006 World Cup.
In 2007 he started playing for Bayern Munich and won the Bundesliga in his first year. He won it again in his third year in Bavaria but did not play so much due to injury and also because manager Van Gaal preferred Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller. His final year in Bayern was pretty dismal personally as he played very rarely. His contract expired and he started looking for a new team. Lazio knocked on his door and he moved to Rome.
He played five seasons for Lazio. Lots of ups and a few downs. No discussion on how good he was, but at times he gave fans the feeling that the German national team and the World Cup had priority. He consistently missed at least a couple of months a year due to injury, often in the worst possible moments. But when he was on the pitch, he did what he was famous for: scoring goals. His passion for fishing (he was often spotted in nearby Lake Bracciano) gave him the nickname “Goal Fisher”.
He played 171 games for Lazio with 63 goals (139 in Serie A with 54 goals, 11 in Coppa Italia and 3 goals, 18 games in Europa League with 6 goals, one match in Champions League and 2 in the Italian Supercoppa). He is the foreign player with most goals in Serie A for the Biancocelesti.
There are three moments to remember in Klose’s history with Lazio. His winning goal in the last minute of the 2011 derby, five goals in a single game against Bologna in May 2013, and the win over Roma in the Coppa Italia final of 2013 which was his only trophy with Lazio.
Klose is of course an icon of his national team. He played 137 times for his country and scored 71 goals. He was part of the German squad in the 2002 World Cup (5 goals, Germany were runners-up), Euro 2004, 2006 World Cup (5 goals, Germany were third), Euro 2008 (two goals, runners-up), 2010 World Cup (4 goals, 3rd place), Euro 2012 (lost in semi-final, one goal), and in the victorious 2014 World Cup in Brazil where he scored one goal.
In total he has won the Bundesliga twice with Bayern Munich, 2 German League Cups (Werder Bremen and Bayern), a German Super Cup with Bayern and a Coppa Italia. He won the World Cup in 2014. He is the World Cup’s all-time record goal scorer; Germany national team all-time record goal scorer, only player with four consecutive FIFA World Cup podium finishes: runner-up in 2002, third place in 2006, third place in 2010, winner in 2014; only men's player to appear in four consecutive FIFA World Cup semi-finals: 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014; one of three players to score at least five goals in multiple World Cups; most goals from headers in a single edition of the men's FIFA World Cup; one of eight players in Serie A history to score five goals in one match.
So, all in all not a bad career!!!
After having trained the under 17s in Bayern Munich from 2018 to 2020, he was assistant to Bayern manager Hans-Dieter Flick in 2020-21. In 2022-23 he was manager of Altach in Austria. He is now currently manager of Nürenburg in 2. Fußball-Bundesliga (German second tier).
Lazio Career
Season | Total games (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa Leage | Super Coppa |
2011-12 | 35 (15) | 27 (12) | 2 | - | 6 (3) | - |
2012-13 | 36 (16) | 29 (15) | 2 | - | 5 (1) | - |
2013-14 | 29 (8) | 25 (7) | - | - | 3 (1) | 1 |
2014-15 | 40 (16) | 34 (13) | 6 (3) | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 31 (8) | 24 (7) | 1 | 1 | 4 (1) | 1 |
Total | 171 (63) | 139 (54) | 11 (3) | 1 | 18 (6) | 2 |
Sources
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