Draw in the first Champions League match

Simon Basten
Sep 13, 2022
2 min read

Season 1999-00

Game 1, Champions League Group A

Tuesday, September 14, 1999

BayArena, Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen Lazio 1-1

Thanks to Mihajlovic, Lazio manage to draw in their first ever Champions League match

Today was Lazio's first Champions League match. They were grouped with Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kiev and NK Maribor. The game today was historic, it was the first time they played in the top European competition.

The match

The first game in Champions League was a solemn moment for all the Biancocelesti fans, but perhaps the team felt the game too much and in the first half an hour there was no sign of the potentially strong team Lazio could be. In fact, it was Bayer Leverkusen to dominate the match. Perhaps sensing that things could go wrong defensively, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson left Marcelo Salas and Pavel Nedved on the bench, preferring Roberto Mancini who would act as middle man between midfield and attack and a more defensive Attilio Lombardo. As a consequence Alen Boksic was left alone up front.

Bayer scored in their first dangerous attempt. In the 14th minute Bernd Schneider crossed from the right, Oliver Neuville tried a volley which deflected off Alessandro Nesta and went into the net wrong footing Luca Marchegiani.

Fortunately, the lead did not last long. Four minutes later Sinisa Mihajlovic had a free kick some 25 metres out on the right. Fantastic curled shot in on the front post, 1-1.

Lazio seemed content with the draw until the 33rd minute when the ball came into the Biancoceleste penalty box like in a flipper with a number of deflected shots. This forced Lazio to come out of their shell and Boksic had a couple of chances in the final minutes of the first half but both shots were off target.

In the second 45 minutes, Eriksson substituted Juan Sebastian Veron with Diego Simeone in the 51st minute and finally things got going. A minute earlier however the hosts had hit the woodwork with Neuville thanks to a back heel pass from … Mancini. Lazio had four clear chances: with Beppe Pancaro in the 57th minute who tried a shot instead of passing to Boksic, in the 61st with Simeone who was only just late to the appointment, Mancini a minute later with a header wide by a whisker, and again El Cholo in the 65th when he was clearly fouled in the box by Adam Matysek. Eriksson threw in Salas and Nedved and it looked as if Lazio could score any minute, but Bayer held their fort well.