August 25, 2011: Rabotnicki - Lazio 1-3, Europa League Playoff
- Dag Jenkins
- 10 hours ago
- 7 min read
Rocchi reaches 99 and and gives Lazio Europa League campaign
Rocchi's 98th and 99th goals for Lazio give Lazio 9-1 aggregate win
Season 2011-12
The season so far
Lazio had narrowly missed out on Champions League the previous season with 5th place, behind Udinese.
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 defender Javier Garrido, midfielder Pasquale Foggia and striker Stephen Makinwa were out of favour and the club were desperately trying to place them elsewhere. More players would however leave Rome over the summer.
The Serie A was supposed to start on August 28 but had been delayed until September 9 because of collective contractual television issues. Lazio had been scheduled to play Chievo at home but would now play Milan away on the 9th (and Chievo on December 21). In Coppa Italia Lazio would not play until January.
Their Europa League campaign had started on August 18 with the playoff against today's opponents Rabotnički from Skopje in Macedonia. Lazio won 6-0 so this game today should be a mere formality.
FK Rabotnički had finished 4th the previous season. The top scorer was Borche Manevski with 19 league goals. This season the manager was Goran Petreski.
The "Railers" or "Romantics" founded in 1937 had so far won 3 Macedonian First league titles (2005, 2006 and 2008) and 2 domestic cups (2008 and 2009). In the past they had won the Macedonian Republic Football League six times (1953, 1966, 1968, 1973, 1977 and 1980) and the Macedonian Republic Cup six times (1954, 1957, 1974, 1978, 1983 and 1988).
After the crushing victory at home this trip to Macedonia was as much to visit the Macedonian capital as to play football.
The match: Thursday, August 25, 2011, National Arena Filip II, Skopje
A hot evening in the Macedonian capital brought about 5,000 spectators to the 33,000 capacity national stadium.
Lazio chose to leave Miro Klose and Djibril Cissé in Rome while Stefan Radu, Abdoulay Konko, Álvaro González and Cristian Brocchi were out injured. Lazio rotated their main regulars, so Federico Marchetti, Giuseppe Biava, Hernanes and Cristian Ledesma started on the bench. Lorik Cana played in midfield.
Lazio started off looking distracted. A lot of defensive imprecision and a hesitant Albano Bizzarri meant the Macedonians bossed the first ten minutes or so.
In the 9th minute Bizzarri saved a Borce Manevski effort.
Lazio gradually emerged from their slumber and in the 16th minute Tommaso Rocchi hit the post.
In the 21st minute Bizzarri gave Lazio a scare by attempting to dribble inside his own area and was lucky to get away unpunished.
A minute later, the Venetian forward Rocchi put Lazio in front with a powerful finish from a Stefano Mauri assist, 0-1.
In the 36th minute Edy Reja had to make an unplanned substitution as André Dias suffered a knock on the head and was replaced by Biava.
In the 38th minute the hosts surprisingly equalised courtesy of a Bizzarri howler on a seemingly innocuous Dimitrija Lazarevski free kick, 1-1. A long range freekick which bounced in front of the Argentine keeper and went in.
There were no changes at halftime.
In the 48th minute Bizzarri partially redeemed himself by diving low and saving a long distance shot by Goce Todrovski.
Reja was not satisfied with Lazio's apathy and in the 56th minute put Hernanes on for Mauri.
In the 61st and 63rd the locals too resorted to their bench, bringing on Mario Nastevski and Kiril Trajkovski for Muarem Muarem and Manevski.
In the 66th minute Hernanes shaved the post with a good cross goal effort.
In the 68th minute Bizzarri was safe on a Trajkovski strike.
This was the Railers last threat as they started to tire and Lazio took control of the midfield helped by the introduction of Ledesma for Libor Kozak.
In the 73rd minute Lazio took the lead. Hernanes struck from outside the box, 1-2.
In the 77th minute Lazio made it three. Rocchi linked up with a perfect Senad Lulic cross to score his 99th goal in a Lazio shirt, 1-3.
The game was won and the only thing to happen before the end was the Romantics changing their keeper in the dying minutes of the game.
Mission accomplished for Lazio. The qualification had never been in doubt after the first leg result but winning helps to win. It was not a vintage performance by Lazio and the defence had shown a few cracks but a lack of concentration and motivation could hopefully justify some of the mistakes.
The main thing was that the Biancocelesti were officially through to the Europa League group stage which would start on September 15.
Who played for Rabotnički
Dimitrievski (89' Sislovski), Todorovski, Kumbev, Bogdanovic, Lazarevski, Muarem (61' Nastevski), Velkoski, Vujcic, Micevski, Petkovski, Manevski (63' Trajkovski)
Substitutes: Najdoski, Gligorov, Avramovski, Skenderovic
Manager: Petreski
Who played for Lazio
Bizzarri, Scaloni, Dias (36' Biava), Diakite, Zauri, Lulic, Matuzalem, Cana, Mauri (56' Hernanes), Rocchi, Kozak (70' Ledesma)
Substitutes: Marchetti, Crescenzi, Zampa, Ceccarelli
Manager: Reja
Referee: Masiah (ISR)
Goals: 23' Rocchi, 39' Lazarevski, 73' Hernanes, 76' Rocchi
What happened next
Lazio finished 4th in Serie A but missed out on Champions League again to Udinese. Lazio qualified for the Europa League after 18 wins, 8 draws and 12 defeats. The highlight was winning both derbies 2-1. The top scorer was Miro Klose with 15 goals (12 in A).
Serie A was won by Juventus for their 28th title while Lecce, Novara and Cesena were relegated.
In Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti defeated Verona 3-2 at home in the last 16 but then lost 1-3 away to Milan in the quarter finals. The eventual winners were Napoli who defeated Juventus 2-0.
In the Europa League Lazio reached the round of 32 but lost 1-4 on aggregate to Atlético Madrid. After defeating Rabotnički they played the group stage in which they won 2 (Zurich 1-0 and Sporting Lisbon 2-0 at home), drawn 3 (Vaslui 2-2 at home and 0-0 away, Zurich 1-1 away) and lost 1 (Sporting Lisbon 1-2 away) but then in the next round the Colchoneros proved too good. The cup was then actually won by Atlético Madrid who defeated Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in Bucharest.
Rabotnički finished 8th in the Macedonian First League. The top scorer was Manevski again with 17 league goals. The "Romantics" have since won another league title (2014) and two more domestic cups (2014 and 2015). They are now however in the 2nd tier as they were relegated in 2025-26.
The Skopje stadium has now been renamed the National Arena Toše Proeski. Todor "Toše" Proeski was a Macedonian singer and songwriter who died at 26, in a car crash in 2007. He was known as the "Balkan Elvis".
Let's talk about Luca Crescenzi
Luca Andrea Crescenzi was born in Rome, on April 2, 1992.
He came through the Lazio academy and from 2009-10 was in the Primavera squad (U19s). In June 2010 he signed his first five-year professional contract with Lazio. His shirt number was 40.
In the first two seasons he made it onto the bench in a few Europa League games but never made his debut under Edy Reja, continuing mainly to play for the Primavera.
In this period however he earned a cap with Italy U20s.
In 2012-13 he spent the first part of season on loan at Nocerina. The Mastiffs were Lega Pro Prima Divisione (3rd tier) and Crescenzi played 13 league games under Gaetano Auteri before leaving. The Rossoneri eventually finished 4th. One of his teammates was former Lazio, Felice Evacuo (2001-02).
In January 2013 he moved to Viareggio on loan. The Tuscans were in Lega Pro Prima Divisione and he played 5 league games and the Zebras finished 11th under Stefano Cuoghi.
In 2013-14 he again played for two different clubs on loan. First Siena in Serie B, making 6 league appearances under Mario Beretta and then Pisa in LP1, making 4 league appearances under Leonardo Menichini. The Bianconeri finished 9th while the Nerazzurri 6th.
The 2014-15 season followed the same pattern. First on loan with Reggina in LP1, making 13 league appearances under Francesco Cozza and Pierantonio Tortelli and then from February with Arezzo in LP1, making 4 league appearances under Ezio Capuano. The Amaranto from Calabria finished 18th but safe while the Tuscan Amaranto finished 9th.
In 2015 his contract with Lazio ran out and he signed for Pisa and stayed two seasons. The Pisani were in LP1 and were promoted to B through the playoffs under Gennaro Gattuso. In Serie B they finished 22nd and were relegated again under Gattuso. Crescenzi played 34 league games with 2 goals. His teammates included Lazio connection Gaby Mudingayi (2005-08).
In 2017-18 Crescenzi played for Vicenza in Serie C. He made 31 league appearances under three different managers; Alberto Colombo (1-15), Nicola Zanini (16-32), Franco Lerda (33-38) and Zanini again (playouts). The Lane finished 18th and stayed up via the playouts.
In 2018-19 he spent a season with Pro Vercelli in Serie C. He played 26 league games with 1 goal under Vito Grieco and the Lions finished 5th.
In 2019 he moved to Como and stayed three seasons. The Lariani were in C and finished 13th, 1st (promoted) and 13th in B. He played 45 league games under managers Marco Banchini and Gennaro Gattuso (promotion) and B season. Como would be promoted to A two years later and are now a major force in Italian football.
In 2022-23 Crescenzi went back to Siena in Serie C. He played 30 league games under Guido Pagliuca and Robur finished 11th.
From 2023 to January 2025 he was at Padova in Serie C and finished 2nd under Vincenzo Torrente (1-35) and Massimo Oddo (playoffs) and then 1st (promoted to B) under Matteo Andreoletti. Crescenzi played 19 league games but could not celebrate the promotion as he had moved on to his last club.
From January 2025 until the end of the season he played for Latina near Rome in Serie C. He played 5 league games first under Roberto Boscaglia and then Alessandro Bruno, with the Pontini finishing 15th. His teammates included former Lazio, Luca Crecco (2013-14) and Armando Ciciretti (youth sector 2001-04).
Crescenzi then retired at 33.
He was a left-footed central defender. He was physically strong at 1.88 and good in the air but he could also play the ball well out of defence.
He was a big Lazio fan but never broke through with the Biancocelesti. He had a decent career in 2nd and 3rd tiers. His biggest satisfactions were winning Serie C with Como and another promotion to B with Pisa.
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