February 18, 1940: Lazio Milano 2-2
- Simon Basten
- Feb 18
- 5 min read
Piola punches Milano
Thanks to a goal scored with his fist, Piola gives Lazio a good draw
The season so far
Lazio, as usual, did not have much money for the summer transfers. All the same, three interesting players arrived from South America: Evaristo Barrera, Silvestro Pisa plus Enrique Flamini. They all arrived via boat in February 1939 together with many other “oriundi” trying to be signed by an Italian club. The three could not play in the 1938-39 season so they were signed for the next one.
The Biancocelesti also had a new manager, Kertesz Geza, who substituted Luigi Allemandi.
Lazio did pretty well in the first half of the season, beating Milan, Napoli and Juventus and drawing against the formidable Ambrosiana Inter. Always in the top places until the end of January, they fell back a bit in February. They were currently fourth.
The match: Sunday, February 18, 1940, Stadio del PNF, Rome
The strong wind certainly did not help the two teams who were forced to continually figure out how to weather the tramontana. Another important issue was the loss of Silvestro Pisa who broke his leg in the 24th minute after a clash with Giuseppe Antonini. Milano immediately took advantage and scored in the 31st minute with Umberto Menti who tried a shot which hit the crossbar, bounced down and then, helped by the wind, ended up in goal.
Lazio managed to equalise with Evaristo Barrera in the 43rd minute with a precise close range shot.
In the 51st minute another Barrera shot was saved by Luigi Diamante who however lost the ball to Luigi Vettraino for a simple tap in, but the Biancoceleste forward kicked it over the crossbar.
Milan took over the initiative and went ahead again in the 66th minute when Paolo Todeschini found Aldo Boffi who dribbled past Maximiliano Faotto and Alfredo Monza beating Giacomo Blason.
Lazio managed to equalise in the 81st minute when after a corner Silvio Piola tried a bicycle kick which beat Diamante. The ball probably hit his hand as he tried the acrobatic shot but the referee did not notice.
A good draw for Lazio despite the wind and the loss of a player.
Who played for Lazio
Manager: Kertesz
Who played for Milano
Diamante, Villa, Berra, Antonini, Bortoletti, Loetti, Loik, Todeschini, Boffi, Buscaglia P., Menti
Manager: Bánás
Referee: Soliani
Goals: 31’ Menti I, 43’ Barrera, 66’ Boffi, 81’ Piola
What happened next
Lazio played really well and arrived 4th just behind Juventus. It could have gone even better but some losses denied the team a better position. However, Ambrosiana Inter who won the scudetto and Bologna were way too strong.
Alfredo Monza and Ramella were the ones who played most games (33 in total between Serie A and Coppa Italia) and obviously Piola was the leading goal scorer (10).
Serie A finished on June 2 1940. Eight days later, on June 10, Benito Mussolini declared war on France and Great Britain.
What happened in Serie A 1939-40
Bologna had won the scudetto in the previous season with a four-point lead over Torino and five more than Ambrosiana Inter. After half the fixtures Liguria and Bologna were top with the Granata a couple of points away. Liguria had slowly lost touch with the top and the Rossoblu had raced off reaching a four-point lead with five games to go which they kept until the end.
This season for the first time numbers were put on the back of the jerseys.
September
The reigning champions Bologna started badly losing to Roma in the first match but this was only the beginning of the season.
Genova 3, Roma 3, Venezia 3, Torino 3, Ambrosiana Inter 2, Milano 2, Bologna 2, Lazio 2, Napoli 2, Triestina 2, Novara 2, Bari 2, Liguria 1, Fiorentina 1, Modena 1, Juventus 1
October
Lazio and Venezia surprisingly went top with the Biancocelesti winning at Milano but losing at home to Bari. They were followed closely by Bologna and Triestina.
Lazio 10, Venezia 10, Bologna 9, Triestina 9, Ambrosiana Inter 8, Genova 8, Bari 8, Torino 7, Juventus 7, Roma 7, Novara 6, Milano 5, Fiorentina 5, Liguria 5, Modena 4, Napoli 4
November
Lazio lost at Bologna but then thrashed Juventus 4-0 to maintain the lead in the company of Ambrosiana, Bologna and Genova with Venezia slipping down. Interestingly Milano, Juve and Torino were in the lower part of the table.
Ambrosiana Inter 12, Lazio 12, Bologna 12, Genova 12, Triestina 10, Venezia 10, Novara 9, Roma 9, Bari 9, Milano 8, Juventus 8, Fiorentina 7, Torino 7, Liguria 7, Modena 6, Napoli 6
December
By the end of the year Bologna had taken a solitary lead with Lazio and Ambrosiana only a couple of points behind, despite the Nerazzurri collapsing 3-0 in the Milanese derby. The Biancocelesti drew at home with Inter.
Bologna 18, Lazio 16, Ambrosiana Inter 16, Milano 15, Genova 15, Triestina 14, Juventus 14, Torino 13, Novara 13, Venezia 13, Roma 12, Bari 12, Fiorentina 11, Liguria 11, Napoli 9, Modena 6
January
Lazio lost the derby and fell back to third place as Bologna consolidated their lead followed by Genova. Below Napoli and Modena were in serious trouble.
Bologna 24, Genova 23, Lazio 21, Ambrosiana Inter 21, Juventus 19, Milano 18, Torino 17, Venezia 17, Novara 17, Roma 16, Bari 16, Triestina 15, Fiorentina 14, Liguria 14, Napoli 11, Modena 9
February
In the 18th fixture Bologna beat Modena and went +2 on Genova who were held to a draw by Milano, but in the next match the Ligurians thrashed Lazio 4-0 and the Rossoblu lost to Torino so they were now tied. In the 20th game, Bologna were back in front as they beat Fiorentina and Genova lost at Novara and were caught up by Ambrosiana. In the final game of the month Bologna won at Genova coming from behind.
Bologna 30, Ambrosiana Inter 28, Genova 26, Lazio 25, Torino 23, Juventus 23, Novara 22, Milano 20, Triestina 20, Venezia 20, Roma 19, Bari 19, Liguria 18, Fiorentina 17, Napoli 14, Modena 12
March & April
In the 23rd fixture Bologna drew at home with Lazio and Ambrosiana were just one point behind. Two games later they were tied as the Emiliani drew in Bari and the Milanese won in Florence. Bologna then dropped the lead in the next game when theylost against Juventus and Ambrosiana beat Genova. Below Modena were practically in Serie B and Napoli were also at risk with only four games left.
Ambrosiana Inter 38, Bologna 36, Juventus 31, Lazio 30, Genova 30, Torino 28, Milano 26, Triestina 25, Novara 25, Roma 24, Venezia 24, Bari 22, Liguria 21, Fiorentina 20, Napoli 19, Modena 17
May & June 4 games
Ambrosiana first beat Milano and then Lazio whilst Bologna were stopped in Naples. The Nerazzurri with two games to the end had a three-point advantage over Bologna. All they needed was a point at home against Triestina and a goalless draw then clinched the scudetto.
Below with 180 minutes still to play, Modena were already relegated, Triestina, Novara, Venezia, and Bari were on 25 points, Liguria on 24, Fiorentina and Napoli on 22. In the penultimate game Napoli lost to Juventus, Liguria at Bologna and Fiorentina beat Torino. In the last match, Liguria were beaten at home by Juventus, Fiorentina lost at Bari and Napoli beat Venezia. All three were on 24 points but it was Liguria who were relegated on goal difference.
Aldo Boffi (Milano) was top scorer with 24 goals.
Final table: Ambrosiana Inter 44, Bologna 41, Juventus 36, Lazio 35, Genova 33, Torino 33, Roma 29, Milano 28, Novara 27, Venezia 27, Bari 27, Triestina 26, Fiorentina 24, Napoli 24, Liguria 24, Modena 22
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