April 25, 2004: Inter-Lazio 0-0
- Dag Jenkins
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
Lively game but goalless
Both sides could have won but Inter remain ahead in Champions League race
The season so far
The previous season had been a positive one for Lazio, despite being the first without Alessandro Nesta. The Biancocelesti, under Roberto Mancini, finished 4th and therefore qualified for the Champions League (preliminary round). They also reached two semi-finals: Coppa Italia (Roma 1-3) and UEFA Cup (eventual winners Porto 1-4 on aggregate). Top scorer was Claudio Lopez with 17 goals (15 in A).
This season more sacrifices were made due to the club's critical financial situation. Leaving were Scudetto heroes Luca Marchegiani (Chievo), defender Giuseppe Pancaro (Milan) and midfielder Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid) plus midfielders Dino Baggio, (Blackburn-on loan), Lucas Castromán (Udinese-on loan) and forward Enrico Chiesa (Siena). It seemed Dejan Stankovic would also be sold but ended up staying only to then leave in January (Inter).
Arriving were keeper Matteo Sereni (Brescia), defender Luciano Zauri (Atalanta), midfielders Demetrio Albertini (Milan) and Ousmane Dabo (Atalanta) and striker Roberto Muzzi (Udinese). Lazio also welcomed back Scudetto hero Sergio Conceição (free agent) but he left again in January (Porto).
So not a lot to get excited about but this was the transition phase between Sergio Cragnotti's golden era and Claudio Lotito's austerity era. The president at the moment was Ugo Longo.
So far it had been a mixed bag in Serie A. Lazio had played 30 games, winning 15 (including Juventus 2-0 and Inter 2-1 at home), drawing 6 (including the most recent derby 1-1) and losing 9 (including the first derby to two late goals). Lazio were therefore on 51 points and were in joint 5th position with Parma. The top four qualified for the Champions League (Inter were 4th on 52 points).
In the Champions League Lazio had got through the preliminary round in August, defeating Benfica 4-1 on aggregate. Things had then started well in the group phase, with a 2-0 away win Istanbul against Beşiktaş, but then went downhill with a 2-2 home draw against Sparta Prague, two defeats against Chelsea, a home draw to Beşiktaş and finally a 0-1 away defeat to Sparta Prague. A disappointing campaign.
In the Coppa Italia Lazio were in the final. In the first leg they had defeated Juventus 2-0 at home. The return game in Turin would not be until May 12. To get to the final the Biancocelesti had defeated Modena 3-0, Parma 3-1 and Milan 6-1 (on aggregate)!
In 2002-03 Inter had finished 2nd, seven points behind champions Juventus. The manager was Héctor Cúper and the Nerazzurri had also reached the Champions League semi-finals but lost to city rivals Milan on away goals after two draws. In Serie A they had drawn 3-3 away and 1-1 at home with Lazio. The top scorer was Christian Vieri with 27 goals (24 in A).
Inter had started this season with Cúper but after six games (W2, D3, L1 to Milan 1-3) he was sacked and replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni. The main new signings were defenders Thomas Helveg (Milan) and Jérémie Bréchet (Olympique Lyonnais), midfielders Giorgios Karagounis (Panathīnaïkos), Kily Gonzalez (Valencia), Sabri Lamouchi (Parma), Andy van der Meyde (Ajax) and Francisco Farinós (Villarreal - back from loan) plus forward Julio Cruz (Bologna). In January Inter had added Dejan Stankovic (Lazio) and forward Adriano (Parma).
Leaving Inter were: defenders Michele Serena (retiring) and Gonzalo Sorondo (Standard Liege - on loan), midfielders Stéphane Dalmat (Tottenham - on loan), Domenico Morfeo (Parma), Sergio Conceiçăo (Lazio, then Porto), Gigi Di Biagio (Brescia) and Andrés "Guly" Guglielminpietro (Bologna) plus forwards Nicola Ventola (Siena - on loan), Hernan Crespo (Chelsea) and Gabriel Batistuta (Roma - end of loan and then Al-Arabi).
Inter as mentioned were currently 4th, on 52 points so only one above Lazio. The Nerazzurri had won 15 (including Juventus 3-1 away and 3-2 at home), drawn 7 and lost 8 (including both derbies, 1-3 and 2-3 and Lazio 1-2 away). Inter however now came from five consecutive league wins.
In the Champions League Inter had been eliminated in the first group phase after 2 wins (Arsenal 3-0 away and Dynamo Kiev 2-1 at home), 2 draws (Lokomotiv Moscow 1-1 at home and Dynamo Kiev 1-1 away) and 2 defeats (Lokomotiv Moscow 0-3 away and Arsenal 1-5 at home).
Finishing 3rd they had been relegated to the UEFA Cup where they had been eliminated in the quarter-finals by Olympique Marseille 0-2 on aggregate (the Nerazzurri had previously beaten Sochaux on away goals and Benfica 4-3).
In the Coppa Italia Inter had defeated Reggina 3-2 and Udinese 3-1 both on aggregate but then lost to Juventus on penalties in the semi-finals (after two 2-2 draws).
With only four games to go today was a big match for the European places, Champions League and UEFA Cup. Inter with a one-point advantage could play for two results out of three but also had to watch out for Parma who played Reggina away.
The match: Sunday, April 25, 2004, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
A crowd of almost 60,000 turned up on a sunny Liberation Day, a national holiday in Italy.
Lazio were missing midfielder Fabio Liverani while Inter were without goalkeeper Francesco Toldo who was however on the bench, defender Daniele Adani and forward Alvaro Recoba.
Inter went extremely close in the 4th minute with a formidable long range left footed strike by Dejan Stankovic that hit the left post.
Lazio survived the scare and started to attack. In the 10th minute Bernardo Corradi, teed up in front of Alberto Fontana by Jaap Stam, hit the crossbar. The move continued and Giuliano Giannichedda forced Fontana to slap the ball away from the top left corner.
In the 12th minute Corradi set up Claudio Lopez whose shot beat the keeper coming off his line but agonisingly trickled past the right post.
Inter were in difficulty in midfield and played mainly with long balls. In the 27th minute however Adriano hit a cracking long range shot which Angelo Peruzzi superbly palmed behind for a corner.
In the 32nd minute Sinisa Mihajlovic tried to score directly from a corner but Fontana was alert.
In the 38th minute Stankovic brought the ball down well in the area but his low shot was too central and Peruzzi blocked.
The first half ended goalless but Lazio would have been winning on points.
After two minutes of the second half Inter made their first change bringing on Turk Emre Belözoğlu for Spaniard Francisco Farinos.
The game was not as spectacular as in the first 45 minutes and in the 57th Obafemi Martins replaced a disappointing Christian Vieri who was even whistled by the home fans.
The next chance came in the 70th minute when an effort by Emre was tipped over the bar by Peruzzi.
Inter grew in confidence and in the 73rd minute Peruzzi was forced into another good save on a low Javier Zanetti shot and again on Adriano on the rebound.
In the 77th minute Lazio made their first substitution bringing on Simone Inzaghi for Claudio Lopez.
It was still Inter who pushed forward however and in the 78th minute Massimo Oddo produced a superb tackle to deny Martins and then walled a Kily Gonzalez shot. Brilliant defending.
In the 83rd minute Ousmane Dabo came on for former Milan player Demetrio Albertini.
A minute later Lazio had a huge chance to snatch the win. In the 84th minute Mihajlovic curled a powerful freekick round the wall but it came back off the crossbar with Fontana beaten.
In the 86th minute the Nerazzurri made their last substitution giving Giovanni Pasquale a few minutes in place of Gonzalez.
Inter then had a penalty appeal when Luciano Zauri lost his balance in the area and handballed. This however was before the days where players were supposed to defend with their arms tied behind their backs and the referee played on.
The last attempt was by former Lazio Stankovic but his powerful mid-height shot was central and Peruzzi saved comfortably. Final score: Inter 0 Lazio 0.
A goalless draw but far from boring. A half each, two woodworks for Lazio and one for Inter and a couple of excellent saves each by the keepers. With three games to go the point was probably more useful to Inter who kept their noses in front in the Champions League race.
The table now read Inter in 3rd place on 53 points, Lazio 52, Parma 52 (the Gialloblu drew 1-1 at Reggina).
Who played for Inter
Fontana, Cannavaro, Materazzi, Córdoba, Helveg, J.Zanetti, Farinós (47' Emre), Kily Gonzalez (86' Pasquale), Stankovic, Adriano, Vieri (57' Martins)
Substitutes: Toldo, Lamouchi, Cruz, Gamarra
Manager: Zaccheroni
Who played for Lazio
Peruzzi, Oddo, Stam, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Fiore, Albertini (83' Dabo), Zauri, Giannichedda, Corradi, C. Lopez (77' S.Inzaghi)
Manager: Mancini
Referee: Collina
What happened next
Lazio finished 6th and would play in the Europa League. In the last three games the Biancocelesti won 1 and drew 2. The top scorer was Stefano Fiore with 16 total goals while only in Serie A it was Bernardo Corradi with 10.
In the Coppa Italia it was a different story. Lazio took their two goal lead up to Turin but under the Mole the Bianconeri scored after three minutes with David Trezeguet and doubled straight after halftime with Alessandro Del Piero. All square with 44 minutes to go, things were not looking good. Then a towering header by Corradi with twenty minutes to go and a Fiore low strike from the edge of the box with seven minutes to play definitely put the light blue and white ribbons on the cup. An immense satisfaction for Lazio who, in the middle of a financial crisis, still managed to lift silverware.
The following year however Roberto Mancini would be on the Inter bench.
Inter finished 4th and qualified for the Champions League (3rd round preliminary which they would win-Basel 5-2). In the next three games they won 2 and lost 1 and finished on 59 points, one above 5th placed Parma. The top scorer was Christian Vieri with 17 goals (13 in A).
The Scudetto was won by Milan for the 17th time. Perugia, Ancona, Empoli and Modena descended to B level. Modena, Perugia and Ancona have not been seen in Serie A since.
Let’s talk about Javier Zanetti
Today in our opponents series we will talk about a legendary Inter icon.
Javier Adelmar Zanetti was born in Buenos Aires, on August 10, 1973.
His first youth club was Independiente (1982-89). Independiente, los Diablo Rojos, were the club he supported as a child. He was then rejected as he was considered not physically strong enough for professional football.
Zanetti took a year off and concentrated on work and studies. He helped his father as a bricklayer and this helped him build up muscle. In 1990 he then joined the Talleres youth setup. Talleres are from Remedios de Escalada, in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires.
In the 1992-93 season he joined the Talleres first team squad. The Tallerenes were in the 2nd tier and Zanetti played 33 league games with 1 goal.
In 1993 he stayed near Buenos Aires and joined Banfield who were in the top flight. He was with El Taladro (Drill) for two seasons and made 66 total appearances with 4 goals. It was here he started playing in the number 4 shirt. His positive performances earned him a move to a top European league.
In 1995 he signed for Inter in the Italian Serie A. He would stay an incredible nineteen seasons as a player. He played a phenomenal 858 matches with 21 goals. He rarely missed a game. The Nerazzurri finished 7th, 3rd, 2nd, 8th, 4th, 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 6th, 9th and 5th. He therefore won 5 consecutive league titles and also won a Champions League (2010), the Coppa Italia 4 times (2005, 2006, 2010, 2011), the Italian Supercoppa 4 times (2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010), a UEFA Cup (1998, with a goal in the final vs Lazio 3-0) and a World Cup for Clubs (2010).
The 2009-10 was the magical season when Inter won the "Triplete" (Scudetto, Coppa Italia and Champions League) under José Mourinho. His other managers include; Roy Hodgson, Gigi Simoni (UEFA Cup), Mircea Lucescu, Marcello Lippi, Marco Tardelli, Héctor Cúper, Roberto Mancini (Scudetto 3, Coppa Italia 2 and Supercoppa 1), José Mourinho (Scudetto 2, Champions League 1, Coppa Italia 1 and Supercoppa 1), Rafa Benitez, Leonardo (Coppa Italia 1, Supercoppa 1 and Club World Cup 1), Gian Piero Gasperini, Claudio Ranieri, Andrea Stramaccioni and Walter Mazzarri.
At almost 41 he retired after a great club career.
He also won 145 Argentina caps and scored 5 goals (Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, England, Japan and Uruguay). He is the 3rd most capped player after Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano. He was captain of the Albiceleste 25 times. He took part in two World Cups (1998 and 2002) and 5 Copa Americas. He was unlucky as far as trophies were concerned; 2 Copa America runners-up medals (2004, 2007) and 2 Confederations Cup runners-up medals (1995, 2005).
Zanetti was a superb defender cum midfielder. He could play as right full-back or basically anywhere in midfield. At 1.78 and 75 kilos he was physically strong and known for his athleticism and resistance. These characteristics earned him the nickname "El Tractor" and he was also called "Pupi". His speed, strength and stamina made him a formidable player especially on the right wing where he was unstoppable. He was a clean and fair player, respected by teammates, opponents and even opposing fans.
At Inter he is an absolute legend, up there with Giacinto Facchetti and Sandro Mazzola. In his honour the number 4 shirt will never be worn by another Inter player. He won 16 trophies, 15 as captain. He holds several records; most total matches (858), most Serie A matches (618), most European matches (160), most consecutive matches (167), most derbies (45), most years as captain (13), most trophies (16) and more.
Since retiring he has been involved in charity work, has opened a restaurant in Milan with former teammate Esteban Cambiasso, had three autobiographies published, been in a film and involved in his documentary film, Zanetti Story.
He has also remained at Inter as in 2014 he was nominated vice-president. He has swapped his number 4 Inter shirt for an Inter blazer but will always be El Tractor for the Beneamata fans.
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