Stephan Lichtsteiner played for Lazio from 2008 to 2011.
Lichtsteiner was born at Adligenswil near Lucerne in Switzerland on January 16, 1984. He began his career in the youth teams of his hometown and then from 1996 with Lucerne. In 2001 he made his professional debut with Grasshoppers Zurich and in the following year he became a first team regular and won the league title.
In 2005 he signed for Lille and became one of the best right backs in Ligue 1. He stayed with the French club for three years before signing for Lazio in 2008.
With the Biancocelesti he established himself as a good right back, not exactly the best crosser of the ball, but a reliable player. The fans called him Forrest Gump because he never stopped running. In his first season he scored his first goal for Lazio in the derby and then was one of the decisive players in the Coppa Italia final against Sampdoria. The match had ended 1-1 and went to penalties. Despite not having taken a penalty since he was a boy, when manager Delio Rossi told him that he was going to be the sixth player to take a penalty he did not bat an eyelid and had no problem in scoring. Lazio won the Cup. In August Lazio beat Inter in Beijing for the Super Coppa final.
Lazio’s second year was a little bit problematic, but Lichtsteiner scored a couple of important goals and Lazio avoided relegation. In his third and final year in Rome Lazio qualified for Europa League.
He played a total of 117 games for Lazio, 100 in Serie A with 3 goals, 9 in Coppa Italia, 7 in Europa League and one Super Coppa final.
In 2011 Lazio sold him to Juventus for €10 million. Fans were not exactly tearful when he went to Turin and thought that Juve had spent too much for a good player but not all that exceptional. The fans were wrong.
In Juventus the timid Swiss player learnt how to cross the ball, became a true champion and one of the pillars of the team. He won seven league titles in a row, four doubles (scudetto and Coppa Italia) and three Super Coppa’s (two against Lazio). He played in the Champions League final in 2015 (lost to Barcelona in Berlin) and was on the bench when Juventus lost the 2017 final against Real Madrid in Cardiff. He played a total of 258 games for the Bianconeri with 15 goals.
In the Super Coppa final 2013 Lichesteiner’s gesture after scoring was not exactly appreciated by his former fans who have since booed him every time he came back to the Olimpico.
In 2018 he joined Arsenal as a free agent but did not play much and was pretty much ignored by Manager Unai Emery. Arsenal reached the final of the Europa League but lost to Chelsea.
In 2019 he signed for Augusta in the Bundesliga and helped the team avoid relegation. At the end of the season he quit football.
Lichtsteiner played 108 times for his country (8 goals), the fifth all time for number of caps. He played in Euro 2008, the 2010 and 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.
Once he stopped playing he became manager. In 2021 he was assistant coach for Under 16s for Kriens and the Swiss Under 18s. In 2022 he joined Basel as defensive coach for all of the youth teams.
Lazio career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2008-09 | 39 (1) | 33 (1) | 6 | - | - |
2009-10 | 43 (2) | 33 (2) | 2 | 7 | 1 |
2010-11 | 35 | 34 | 1 | - | - |
Total | 117 (3) | 100 (3) | 9 | 7 | 1 |
Sources