Away win in Tuscany revives a glimmer of European hope
Mauri and Candreva lift Lazio to 6th place and throw Livorno into deep trouble
Also on this day: April 27, 1980, Lazio Napoli 1-1. Lazio try harder in first half but both sides ultimately settle for the necessary point. Player of the day: Riccardo Budoni
The season so far
The previous season Lazio finished 7th but had experienced the wild joy of winning the Coppa Italia beating city rivals Roma in the final.
The cup lifting manager had been confirmed but there had been some changes to the squad. The main arrivals in the summer were Albanian goalkeeper Etrit Berisha (Kalmar), young Brazilian attacking midfielder Felipe Anderson (Santos) and Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht). In the winter Lazio had also added striker Hélder Postiga (Valencia).
There were more players leaving than arriving. It was goodbye to; goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri (Genoa), defender Modibo Diakité (Sunderland), midfielders Pasquale Foggia (Dubai Club), Danilo Cataldi (Crotone-loan), strikers Libor Kozak (Aston Villa) and Mauro Zarate, this time definitely (Vélez Sarsfield - end of contract ). Sadly in January the "Prophet" Hernanes was sold (Inter) and Sergio Floccari also left (Sassuolo).
This season under Vladimir Petkovic had not started so positively and Lazio lost the Super Coppa final 4-0 against Juventus. Lazio also struggled in the league bringing the club to replace Petkovic with reliable Edy Reja after 17 games. The decision was also caused by the Bosnian polyglot having signed a contract to lead the Switzerland national team.
So far in the league Lazio were in 8th position, after 13 wins, 10 draws and 11 defeats. They were winning more matches away than at home, where the fans were extremely hostile to the club owner Claudio Lotito. They still had a small chance of playing in Europe the following season but would probably have to win the last 4 matches.
Lazio were out of both cups, Italian and Europa League. In the Coppa Italia they had defeated Parma 2-1 but then were eliminated by Napoli 1-0 away in the quarterfinals. In Europe they got through the group stage with Polish Legia Warsaw (1-0, 2-0), Turkish Trabzonspor (3-3, 0-0) and Cypriots Apollòn Limassol (0-0, 2-1). In the Round of 32 however they were knocked out in the dying minutes by Bulgarian Ludogorec (0-1, 3-3).
Livorno were desperate. The "Amaranto" were having a chaotic season, they had already changed managers three times; Davide Nicola, to Attilio Perotti, to Domenico Di Carlo and full circle back to Davide Nicola. The Tuscans were currently in 19th place (out of 20) and had only got 1 point out of the last 6 matches and lost the last three. Their last win had been on March 16 against Bologna. Things were not looking good in Leghorn and today was possibly, as they say in Italy, "l'ultima spiaggia" (their last chance) to hold on to a flicker of hope.
The match: Sunday, April 27, 2014, Stadio Armando Picchi, Livorno
Livorno with the return of original manager Nicola went for a cautious 4-5-1 formation. Lazio still without injured Miro Klose played Stefano Mauri as "falso nueve", a deep lying centre-forward.
Livorno started brightly and had five corners and two chances in the first fifteen minutes. Marco Biagianti had a header and Luca Siligardi a shot from outside the area. Lazio however were clearly superior technically and went ahead in the 15th minute. A Senad Lulic cross was met by Mauri whose volley from a seemingly impossible angle beat a not impeccable Francesco Bardi on his own post. Livorno 0 Lazio 1.
Lazio now in the driving seat relaxed and tried to slow the game down to protect their lead. They did so reasonably well until injury time when Lucas Biglia was dispossessed by Siligardi who dribbled past Lorik Cana but was stopped by a huge Michael Ciani tackle just before shooting and probably scoring. Half time, Livorno 0 Lazio 1. Lazio had done the minimum necessary but there was a massive gap in quality between the two sides.
Lazio practically closed out the game in the 51st minute. A somewhat generous penalty was awarded to the visitors for a Leanadro Rinaudo handball on a Mauri shot. Former Livorno player Antonio Candreva made no mistake putting Lazio 2-0 up. By scoring the spotkick Candreva also became the highest scoring midfielder in Lazio's history with 12 goals in a season.
The second goal completely took the already feeble wind out of Livorno's sails. Lazio dominated the remainder of the match and had several more chances to score more goals but Bardi redeemed himself saving from Keita Balde, Eddy Onazi and Candreva. Livorno showed all their inadequacies and could only muster a few corners and scrambles in front of Etrit Berisha. Final score Livorno 0 Lazio 2.
An easy win for Lazio against an opponent that looked doomed for the drop. Lazio went up to sixth place and rekindled some hopes of European football. It would be down to the next key home game against Euro rivals Verona.
Livorno looked like a Serie B side and although all their rivals lost today, there was also one game less to go and time was running out fast.
A historic note was that the two opposing groups of fans, no friends to put it mildly, today for once joined forces in hostile chants against both Spinelli and Lotito. No breakthrough but a common enemy sometimes does wonders.
Who played for Livorno
Bardi, Valentini (79' Bruzzi), Rinaudo, Emerson, Castellini (63' Piccini), Biagianti, Duncan, Greco (58' Belfodil), Siligardi, Mesbah, Paulinho
Substitutes: Anania, Aldegani, Gemiti, Coda, Bartolini, Mosquera, Benassi, Tiritiello, Borja Hernandez
Manager: Nicola
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Pereirinha, Ciani, Cana, Lulic, Onazi (71' A. Gonzalez), Ledesma, Biglia, Mauri, Candreva (81' Felipe Anderson), Keita (88' Perea)
Manager: Reja
Referee: De Marco
Goals: 15' Mauri, 51' Candreva (pen)
What happened next
The following week Lazio failed to defeat Verona, a spectacular game ending up 3-3. The next game, a 4-1 defeat away to Inter, crushed any remaining European ambitions. In the last match Lazio beat Bologna 1-0 and so finished 9th. An up and down season with 15 wins, 11 draws and 12 defeats and exactly the same number of goals scored and conceded, 54. Top scorer was Candreva with 12 league goals.
Livorno lost their next three matches too, against Udinese, Fiorentina and Parma and ended up bottom of the table. Their top scorer was Paulinho with 15 league goals. Accompanying Livorno down were Catania and Bologna.
The Scudetto was won by Juventus for their 30th title and consequent third star on their shirts. In Italy for every ten league titles a team gets a star. Still some way to go for Lazio…
Lazio 2013-14
Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Goals scored |
Serie A | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 54 |
Coppa Italia | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 |
Europa League | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 11 |
Super Coppa | 1 | - | - | 1 | - |
Total | 49 | 19 | 15 | 15 | 67 |
Top five appearances
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League | Super Coppa |
Candreva | 44 | 37 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Onazi | 40 | 29 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
Lulic | 37 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Keita Balde | 35 | 25 | 2 | 8 | - |
Ledesma | 34 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Top five goal scorers
Player | Total | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
Candreva | 12 | 12 | - | - |
Klose | 8 | 7 | - | 1 |
Lulic | 7 | 7 | - | - |
Keita Balde | 6 | 5 | - | 1 |
Perea | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Let's talk about Michaël Ciani
Michaël Ciani was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, France, on April 6, 1984.
He started his football with ES Colombienne and then after four years returned to Paris and joined Racing Club. He made his debut for RC France, the French third division, in the 2001-02 season. This would remain his only appearance.
In 2003 he moved to Belgium and joined Charleroi, in the Pro League. He played 18 games for the "Les Zebres" (The Zebras) and scored 1 goal.
In 2004 he joined Auxerre in Ligue I in France but never played for "AJA". In his year there Auxerre won the Coupe de France.
In 2005 he was loaned to Sedan in Ligue 2. He played 37 games with 3 goals and "Les Sangliers" (The Wild Boars) were promoted to Ligue 1.
The following year he went to Lorient, on loan, in Ligue 1. He stayed three years playing 105 games with 5 goals. After a positive first season "Les Tangos et Noirs" (The dark orange and black) bought him from Auxerre.
In 2009 he joined Bordeaux. He stayed three full seasons with the "Girondins" playing 116 games with 10 goals (including 3 in Champions League).
In August 2012 Ciani moved to Italy and joined Lazio. In Rome he worked under manager Vladimir Petkovic and in his first season played 34 games (18 Serie A, 5 Coppa Italia and 11 Europa League) and scored 1 goal. It was not any old season and Ciani played a fundamental role in its successful outcome. In the Coppa Italia Round of 16 Lazio were trailing Siena 1-0 at home until Ciani equalised in the 95th minute. The Biancocelesti then went on to win on penalties. Lazio would eventually lift the Italian Cup on May 26 after defeating bitter city rivals Roma in a historic derby final. Ciani played the last three minutes of that unforgettable match.
The following year, first under Petkovic and then Edy Reja, he made 26 appearances (18 Serie A, 2 Coppa Italia and 6 Europa League) with 1 goal (away in a 1-1 draw against Milan).
In 2014-15 he played less, under new manager Stefano Pioli, 12 league games also due to the arrivals of Stefan de Vrij, Santiago Gentiletti and Mauricio. Lazio however had an excellent season finishing third and qualifying for the Champions League preliminary round. This was Ciani's last season with the Biancocelesti.
In July 2015 he signed for Sporting Lisbon but after only 29 days he asked to leave claiming he and his family had not settled in well in the Portuguese capital. He never played for the ' Leões' (The Lions).
In August 2015 he signed for Espanyol in the Liga but only played 5 games in total.
So in August 2016 he returned to Lorient in Ligue 1. He played 29 games in total (27 in the league) and scored 3 goals. Unfortunately "Les Merlus" were relegated to Ligue 2.
He then went for a United States experience and joined LA Galaxy for a year, playing 28 games with 2 goals.
In 2019, at 34 Ciani retired from football.
At International level level he won 5 caps for France U-21's, winning the prestigious Toulon tournament in 2004 and 1 full France cap, in a friendly versus Spain in 2010.
Ciani was a strong and powerful central defender. At 1.92 metres tall for 88 kilos he was tough to beat physically. He was not particularly technical but made up for it with his sheer size.
At Lazio he had a positive three years. He is obviously best remembered for his first season. Without his goal against Siena there would have been no 26th May 2013 and if only for that Lazio fans will be eternally grateful to Michaël Ciani.
Lazio Career
Season | Total Appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Europa League |
2012-13 | 34 (1) | 18 | 5 (1) | 11 |
2013-14 | 26 (1) | 18 (1) | 2 | 6 |
2014-15 | 12 | 12 | - | - |
Total | 72 (2) | 48 (1) | 7 (1) | 17 |
Sources