December 4 1999: Perugia Lazio 0-2

Lazio Stories
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Lazio Hold Firm in Perugia

Salas and Conceição strike as the Biancocelesti weather late pressure to claim a valuable away win.

The season so far

In the previous season Lazio had gone agonisingly close to winning the scudetto. With eight games to the end of the season they were leading with five points over Fiorentina and seven over Milan. But a single point in the next three games reduced the cushion over Milan to just one point. Lazio then won three consecutive games but so did Milan. In the penultimate match in Florence, the Biancocelesti were held to a draw and denied a clear penalty by a distracted referee. Milan won, overtook them, and maintained the lead in the last game.

In the summer transfer window, Lazio surprisingly sold their centre forward Christian Vieri to Inter in exchange for 90 billion lire (45 million euros) plus Diego Simeone. Other signings were Juan Sebastian Veron and Nestor Sensini from Parma, Simone Inzaghi from Piacenza and Kenneth Andersson from Bologna.

The 1999-00 season opened with the victory against the mighty Manchester United in Monte Carlo for the UEFA Super Cup with a Marcelo Salas goal. Another European triumph after having won the final Cup Winners Cup the previous year in Birmingham against Real Mallorca.

In the Champions League Lazio were drawn with Bayer Leverkusen, Dynamo Kiev and NK Maribor and won their group thanks to four wins against the Ukrainians and Slovenians plus two draws against the Germans. The second part of the Champions League was another group phase, this time against Chelsea, Olympique Marseille and Feyenoord. In the first game Lazio had beaten OM away from home.

Lazio, like many of the big teams, started the Coppa Italia in the fourth-round games and had to play against Ravenna, who had won their group in August. Lazio, with a few Primavera players in the starting eleven, plus more on the bench, had drawn the first leg away 1-1 (Alen Boksic the scorer for the Biancocelesti). They still had to play the return match

After six games in Serie A the Biancocelesti were first with Inter and Juventus one point behind. They had been able to widen the gap to +3 in the next game as Lazio won at home against Lecce, Inter lost the derby and Juve drew at Bari, but a surprise heavy defeat in the derby allowed Juventus to join the top. In the previous game the two top clubs faced each other at the Olimpico and it was a goalless draw so Roma, who won at Udine, had joined the Biancocelesti and Bianconeri at the top of the table.

The match: Saturday December 4, 1999, Stadio Renato Curi, Perugia

Without Beppe Pancaro, Beppe Favalli and Paolo Negro and forced to play with Fernando Couto as right back and Guerino Gottardi on the left, Lazio faced a tricky away test in Perugia but wasted no time asserting themselves. After just eleven minutes, Alen Bokšić burst into the box and went for goal rather than squaring to an unmarked Marcelo Salas. Andrea Mazzantini, however, stood firm and blocked the shot with his body. Moments later Lazio thought they had taken the lead when Dejan Stanković found the net, but the referee chalked it off for a dubious handball by Salas in the buildup.

Perugia attempted to push back, though their efforts produced little more than a tame header from Ibrahim Ba. Lazio, sharper and more clinical, finally broke through in the 37th minute: Bokšić powered down the flank and delivered a perfect cross for Salas, who tapped home from close range. Sergio Conceição nearly doubled the lead before halftime but fired over from a promising position.

The second half began with a scare for Lazio as Milan Rapajić forced a corner after a brilliant defensive intervention from Couto. Ten minutes later, the Perugia forward came even closer, smashing the crossbar in a one-on-one with Luca Marchegiani. Sensing danger, Lazio struck on the counter. Juan Sebastian Verón released Conceição, who sprinted forward and buried a right-footed shot to make it 2–0.

Perugia continued to rely on Rapajić for inspiration, and he nearly pulled one back, only for Marchegiani to tip his effort onto the bar with a superb save. Despite Perugia’s persistence, Lazio’s composure and clinical finishing proved decisive. Marchegiani produced another marvellous save in injury time on a Hidetoshi Nakata shot.

The Biancocelesti left with a deserved victory from a match that, while often tense, showcased their quality and resilience.

Who played for Perugia

Mazzantini, Hilario, Ripa, Calori, Milanese, Ba, Tedesco, Olive (71' Bisoli), Rapajic, Nakata, Amoruso (71' Melli)

Substitutes: Pagotto, Rivalta, Campolo, M.Esposito, Cappioli

Manager: Mazzone

Who played for Lazio

Marchegiani, Couto (56’ Lombardo), Nesta, Mihajlovic, Gottardi, Conceição (69’ Simeone), Stankovic, Sensini, Veron, Boksic (80’ Mancini), Salas

Substitutes: Ballotta, Pancaro, Marcolin

Manager: Eriksson

Referee: Messina

Goals: 37’ Salas, 62’ Conceição

What happened next

Qualification for the quarterfinal of Champions League was put in peril by only getting one point against the Dutch, after beating the French twice. In the final game against Chelsea, after having drawn at home, Lazio had to win at Stamford Bridge to clinch the qualification in first place (the top two teams went through) as a bonus, so they could avoid having to play the quarter final against Barcelona, Manchester United or Bayern. They managed to do so, coming from behind in a spectacular game. In the quarterfinals Lazio played against Valencia. Everybody thought that it would be an easy match, but Lazio collapsed in Spain. Without Luca Marchegiani and Alessandro Nesta, Lazio went 2-0 down after 4 minutes, re-opened the game thanks to an Inzaghi goal half way through the first half, but Valencia netted another two goals and with ten minutes to the end were leading 4-1. Salas scored in the dying minutes to give Lazio a chance of qualification but another defensive blunder with just a few seconds to go, gave Valencia a three-goal lead. Fans were hopeful Lazio could recover at the Olimpico, but the Biancocelesti only scored one goal with Veron and went out of the Champions League. A real pity.

In Coppa Italia Lazio won the return match against Ravenna 4-1 at home thanks to a Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick double and goals by Simone Inzaghi and Boksic. The quarter finals were much more difficult as Lazio had to face Juventus. At the end of the first half in Turin the Biancocelesti were losing 3-0 and were virtually out of the competition. But in the second half first a penalty scored by Fabrizio Ravanelli and then a goal by Roberto Mancini with ten minutes to go re-opened the contest. In the return match at the Olimpico Lazio scored in the second half with Boksic. Alessandro Del Piero equalised but Diego Simeone put Lazio ahead in the 81st minute and the Biancocelesti were able to hold onto the precious victory.

Whereas on the one side there were two big clashes in the quarter finals (Lazio vs Juve and the Milanese derby), the other two games should have been more one-sided: Cagliari-Roma and Fiorentina-Venezia. But the islanders eliminated the Giallorossi and an away goal by Venezia gave them a historic semi-final against Lazio.

In the first leg, Lazio destroyed Venezia 5-0 with doubles from Mancini and Mihajlovic (with two penalties) plus a Ravanelli goal. Silver Fox had also missed a penalty. The return was just a formality and Lazio drew 2-2 with an Inzaghi double.

Inter brushed off Cagliari and so met Lazio in the final. The first leg was in Rome on April 12. Inter scored immediately with Clarence Seedorf but Lazio managed to equalise with Pavel Nedved at the end of the first half. In the beginning of the second, Simeone put Lazio ahead so Marcelo Lippi put Ronaldo on the pitch, his first game in five months. Five minutes later the Brazilian broke his patellar tendon. The scene was dramatic and very sad. The game basically ended there.

In the campionato the trio of teams (Lazio, Roma and Juve) led the Serie A for a few matches until Lazio sprinted off in the 14th. It did not last long. A loss on a frozen Venice evening on January 5 gave Juventus the lead again. Roma had fallen behind. Lazio regained the top of the table after beating Bologna in the Centenary game, but two goalless draws in the next two games gave Juve a three-point lead. By the 26th game the deficit increased to nine points and it looked as if it was all over for the scudetto. But on March 25 Lazio won the derby and Juve lost at Milan. The Biancocelesti were at -6 but the next match was in Turin against Juventus. Thanks to a goal from Diego Simeone, the Juventus lead was reduced to three points. However, Florence looked as if it would be fatal again as Lazio drew 3-3 and Juventus won in Milan against Inter.

There were four games to go. Everybody thought it was all over but manager Sven Goran Eriksson tried to get the team to believe in the impossible. In the 32nd game of the season Lazio beat Venezia and Juventus lost at Verona. Two games to go, two points difference. Lazio beat Bologna away and Juventus were winning 1-0 against Parma. Towards the end of the match there was a corner for Parma. Mario Amoroso crossed and Fabio Cannavaro equalised but the referee inexplicably disallowed it.

This was the talking point in Italy for the entire week. Juve had already won a controversial scudetto a couple of years back when a clear penalty on Ronaldo was not given to Inter in Turin. So there was massive media pressure on the last two games of the season: Lazio-Reggina and Perugia-Juventus.

Perugia President Luciano Gaucci, ashamed of the lack of fighting spirit his team had shown against Milan in the last game of the previous season, stated that it would not be a walkover for Juventus. Lazio fans hoped in a draw and then to go to a playoff. And this is what was happening at the end of the first half. Lazio were winning 2-0 and it was still goalless in Perugia. But a massive storm had erupted over the Umbrian capital and the pitch was waterlogged. Referee Pierluigi Collina tried a number of times to see if the ball would bounce on the waterlogged pitch, but no. There was a problem. If the game had been abandoned they would have to start from scratch the next day. With what had happened in the previous match when Cannavaro’s goal was disallowed for no reason at all, the Italian referee felt that the repetition of the game would have been unfair. So he insisted. When they were about to give up, the rain stopped. The pitch was not in ideal condition, but playable. The second half could recommence, an hour later than it should have. In the 50th minute Alessandro Calori scored for Perugia. Juve did not manage to equalise and Lazio won their second scudetto.

Still smelling of champagne and without any training whatsoever since the Sunday match, Lazio faced Inter for the second leg of the Coppa Italia final. There were chances for both sides, particularly for Inter in the dying seconds of the match, when Alvaro Recoba hit the woodwork, but the game was goalless and the Biancocelesti won the double.

An amazing season.

Let’s talk about Sérgio Conceição

Sérgio Paulo Marceneiro Conceição was born in Coimbra, Portugal, on November 15, 1974.

He started his career playing for local team Associação Académica.

His early years as a player were in the Segunda Liga with Penafiel (‘93- ‘94, with 30 matches and 2 goals), Leça (’94 - ‘95, with 24 matches and 3 goals) and Felgueiras (‘95- ‘96, with 30 matches and 4 goals).

In 1996 he made the big step up to Porto. He immediately played regularly and in two seasons played 46 league games with 9 goals, 6 in the Portuguese Cup with 1 goal, 11 in the Champions League and 4 in the Portuguese Supercup. In this period, he won two league titles, a Portuguese Cup and a Portuguese Supercup.

In the summer of 1998 he joined Lazio. He only stayed two years but they were highly successful under Sven-Goran Eriksson. In his first official game he scored the winner in the Italian Supercoppa beating Juventus 2-1. In May 1999 Lazio won the European Cup Winners Cup and the European Super Cup, in 2000 the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia for a historic double.

Conceição played 63 league games with 7 goals (Inter x2, Inter again, Vicenza, Venezia, Perugia, Bologna), 9 in Coppa Italia, 14 in Europe (5 CWC, 9 CL) with 3 goals (Lausanne, Maribor, Olimpique Marseille) and the Italian Supercoppa.

In 2000 the fans were sad to see him move to Parma in the deal that brought striker Hernan Crespo to Lazio. In Emilia he only stayed one season. The Gialloblu finished 4th (CL qualification) under Alberto Malesani (1-13), Arrigo Sacchi (14-16) and Renzo Ulivieri (17-34). The "Ducali" also reached the Coppa Italia final but lost to Fiorentina 1-2 on aggregate. He played 25 league games with 5 goals (Bologna, Lazio, Atalanta, Fiorentina, Brescia), 5 in Coppa Italia and 6 in the UEFA Cup with 2 goals (Pobeda, Munich 1860).

In 2001 he moved to Inter and was reunited with Christian Vieri. Here he was coached by Héctor Cúper. In his first year Inter threw away the Scudetto on the last game of the season, losing 4-2 to Lazio on the infamous 5th of May. They reached the UEFA Cup semi-final but lost 2-3 on aggregate to Feyenoord. Conceição played 23 league 6 with 1 goal (Udinese), 1 in Coppa Italia and 8 in the UEFA Cup.

In his second season with the Nerazzurri he played slightly less in the league, 19 games, 1 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Bari) but was protagonist in the Champions League with 13 games. Inter finished 2nd in Serie A and reached the semi-finals of Champions League but were beaten by city rivals Milan on away goals.

In 2002-2003 he came back to Lazio. Here he found his former team mate Roberto Mancini as manager. Conceição struggled with fitness but played 7 league games, 2 in Coppa Italia and 7 in the Champions League. In January however he returned to Porto.

He played another 12 games for "os Dragões" and won another league title.

In 2004 he moved to Belgium and played three seasons for Standard Liège. He totalled 91 games with 22 goals. In his first year he was voted Player of the Year in Belgium. "Les Rouches" (The Reds in Liège accent). In 2005 Standard finished 2nd in the league while in 2007 they lost the final of the Belgian Cup to Club Brugge 0-1. In 2006 he was banned for 4.5 months for spitting on an opposing player and assaulting the referee.

In 2007 he moved to Kuwait to Qadsia SC but did not settle and in January joined PAOK FC in Greece, where Portuguese Fernando Santos was coach. He stayed two seasons and in the second suffered from knee problems. He made 47 appearances and scored 6 goals. In January 2010 he retired.

He won 56 caps for Portugal with 12 goals. He played in Euro 2000 scoring a hat-trick against Germany and reaching the semi-finals. He also played in the 2002 World Cup.

After a couple of years, he went into coaching. He started off in Portugal, in 2012 he was at Olhanense (11th), 2013 Académica Coimbra, 2014 Braga (4th) and 2015 Vitória Guimarães. In 2016 he moved to Nantes in France and finished 7th in Ligue 1.

In 2017 he was ready to return to Porto and since then he has won 3 league titles, 3 Supercups and 4 Portuguese Cups. He has established himself as one of European top coaches.

In 2024 he renewed his contract with Porto until 2028 but in the summer he quit due to differences of opinions with the new President Andres Villas-Boas.

In December 2024 he became the new coach of AC Milan, coming in for Paulo Fonseca. In January Milan won the Supercoppa beating Juventus in the semis and Inter in the final. Milan finished 8th, so out of Europe, and lost the Coppa Italia final against Bologna. He was sacked at the end of the season. In October 2025 he became head coach of Al-Ittihād in the Saudi Pro League, taking the place of Laurent Blanc.

Conceição was an attacking midfielder. He was physically strong at 1.78 metres and 74 kilos. He usually played on the right wing and had strength, dribbling skills, good shooting abilities and an excellent cross. He was a hard worker and could defend and cover as well as pushing forward.

He has had a 2,500-seater stadium named after him in his home town of Coimbra, famous for its university and library. On a family note he has five children, two of whom played under him at Porto.

At Lazio he was a great success and a fan favourite. He had his own chant "O meu amigo Conceição" based on the Charlie Brown tune. In his two years he won five trophies and was part of the most winning period in Lazio's history. He was popular because he was a fighter but also technically gifted. Some of his crosses in his first year for Salas and Vieri are text book stuff. He was also always willing to contribute on local Lazio radio and TV programmes so generally integrating well into the "piazza" as they say here (basically the local environment). As part of the 2000 Scudetto winning team Sergio Conceição will always be welcome in Rome. Obrigado Sérgio! Many dream of him one day returning as manager.

Lazio Career

Season	Total games (goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Champions League	Cup Winners Cup	Super Coppa
1998-99	44 (7)	33 (5)	5	-	5 (1)	1 (1)
1999-00	43 (4)	30 (2)	4	9 (2)		-
2003-Jan 2004	16	7	2	7		-
Total	113 (11)	70 (7)	11	16 (2)	5 (1)	1 (1)