February 21, 1999: Lazio-Inter 1-0

Dag Jenkins
15 hours ago
13 min read

After 25 years Lazio are solitary leaders

In an exciting game Lazio edge Inter with a Conceição goal and go top alone

The season so far

The previous season, under manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, Lazio had won silverware after 24 years, triumphing against Milan 3-2 on aggregate in the Coppa Italia. The Biancocelesti had lost the first leg in Milan 0-1 and had been 0-1 down in Rome too, but then scored three goals in ten minutes to win 3-1 and give some generations the new sweet taste of success. A Cup Winners Cup campaign awaited them.

Over the summer there had been some changes to the squad. Important players arrived: defenders Fernando Couto (Parma), Sinisa Mihajlovic (Sampdoria), midfielders Iván De La Peña (Barcelona), Dejan Stankovic (Red Star Belgrade), Sergio Conceição (Porto) plus strikers Marcelo Salas (River Plate) and Christian Vieri (Atlético Madrid).

Leaving were: keeper Fernando Orsi (retiring), defenders José Chamot (Atlético Madrid) and Alessandro Grandoni (Sampdoria), midfielders Diego Fuser (Parma) and Vladimir Jugovic (Atlético Madrid) plus striker Pierluigi Casiraghi (Chelsea) and, in October, Roberto Rambaudi (Genoa). So quite an upheaval to the squad.

The season had started triumphantly on August 29 when Lazio beat Juventus 2-1 in Turin to lift their first ever Italian Supercoppa.

In Serie A so far Lazio had played 21 games. They got off to a sluggish start and in the first ten games had won 3 (including Inter 5-3 away), drawn 4 (including first 3) and lost 3. The Biancocelesti had then drawn a thrilling derby 3-3 and since then were flying. Lazio then won the next 9 consecutive games (including Juventus 1-0 away and league leaders Fiorentina 2-0 at home). The previous week however Lazio had been held to a goalless draw in Cagliari. Lazio were now top of the table with Fiorentina on 42 points. The table read Fiorentina 42, Lazio 42, Milan 40, Parma 38 and Inter 34.

The defence of their Coppa Italia had started well too. In September they had eliminated Cosenza 4-1 on aggregate and then beat Milan 4-2 on aggregate. On December 3 Lazio had defeated Inter 2-1 at home but then were well beaten 2-5 in the return leg on January 27.

In the Cup Winners Cup Lazio were through to the quarterfinals to be played in March. The Biancocelesti had eliminated Lausanne on away goals (1-1, 2-2) and Partizan Belgrade 3-2. Next up were Greeks Panionios.

Inter had finished 2nd the previous season. They had lost out to Juventus, not helped by a controversial episode in the crucial head to head game (Inter were denied a seemingly clear penalty). The manager was Gigi Simoni and the Nerazzurri won the UEFA Cup defeating Lazio 3-0 in the final in Paris. In Serie A the games against Lazio had ended up 1-1 in Milan and 3-0 to Lazio in Rome. The top scorer was Ronaldo with 34 goals (25 in A).

This season the manager was Simoni to start but he had been replaced after eleven fixtures (W5, D2, L 4) by Romanian Mircea Lucescu. The main new signings were: goalkeeper Sébastian Frey (Cannes), defenders Mikaël Silvestre (Rennes) and Mario Šimić (Dinamo Zagabria in January), midfielders Ousmane Dabo (Rennes but he had left in autumn to Vicenza on loan) and Andrea Pirlo (Brescia) plus forwards Roberto Baggio (Bologna) and Nicola Ventola (Bari).

Leaving were: defenders Luigi Sartor (Parma) and Salvatore Fresi (Salernitana-in November on loan), forwards Nwankwo Kanu (Arsenal in the autumn) and Álvaro Recoba (Venezia-in January on loan).

Since Lucescu had taken over, the Nerazzurri had won 5 (including Venezia 6-2, Empoli and Cagliari 5-1 and Roma 4-1), drawn 2 and lost 3 (including the most recent game 1-2 at Perugia). They were currently in 5th place on 34 points.

In the Champions League the Nerazzurri were through to the quarterfinals. They had passed the preliminary round defeating Latvians Skonto 7-1 on aggregate. In the group phase they had won 4 (Sturm Graz 1-0, Spartak Moscow 2-1 and Real Madrid 3-1 at home plus Sturm Graz 2-0 away), drawn 1 (Spartak Moscow 1-1 away) and lost 1 (Real Madrid 0-2 away). They would now play Manchester United on March 3 away and March 17 at home.

In the Coppa Italia they were in the middle of a semi-final tie against Parma. The Gialloblu had won 2-0 in Milan and the return game in Emilia would be on March 9. To get there Inter had eliminated Cesena 1-0, Castel di Sangro 2-1 and Lazio 6-4 all on aggregate.

A stern test for Lazio's title hopes today against one of the big three of Italian football. It was also possibly Inter's last chance to get back into the title race.

The match: Sunday, February 21, 1999, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

A nice day with a pale sun brought a big crowd of 70,000 for this important game.

Lazio had to do without defender Beppe Pancaro while Inter were missing striker Ronaldo.

Lazio were well on top in the first half. After only thirty seconds Matias Almeyda tried a long range shot which whistled just over the bar. A few minutes later a Christian Vieri strike was walled by Beppe Bergomi's outstretched arm but the referee said to play on.

Lazio continued to attack and Sergio Conceição from the right put in a good low cross and Vieri beat his marker but his left foot flew well over the bar. Vieri tried again from a Pavel Nedved cross from the left but Pagliuca dived to his right and gathered low near the left post.

In the 18th minute Almeyda dispossessed Fabio Galante in midfield but clashed with Alessandro Nesta and was carried off injured. He came back on and was clearly limping but Eriksson valued him so highly he was reluctant to take him off for now.

Inter were very negative and defensive so Lazio constantly pushed forward.

In the 39th minute their pressure paid off. Nedved put in an excellent high cross from the left, Vieri headed but Gianluca Pagliuca parried, the rebound returned to Bobo who shot again from the far post and the keeper saved again but this time the ball fell to Conceição who drilled a low, close range left footed strike into the back of the net, 1-0.

In the 46th minute Inter finally had a shot at goal when Roberto Baggio latched onto a loose ball but his low shot lacked power and Luca Marchegiani was not troubled. Half time: Lazio 1 Inter 0.

A more than deserved lead for Lazio who had been by far the more positive team.

The second half initially started in the same pattern. Conceição crossed from the right and Vieri's floating header went just wide of the right post.

Inter however began to respond and Marchegiani was forced off his line and out of the area to anticipate Ivan Zamorano.

In the 50th minute Almeyda was finally forced off due to his previous injury and was replaced by Dejan Stankovic.

Inter then had a penalty appeal of their own when Zamorano went down on a Nesta tackle but the referee booked the Chilean forward for diving.

A few minutes later the duel repeated itself, but running towards the area on the left, the two jostled for about fifteen metres before Zamorano collapsed in the area. The visitors wanted Nesta off for the last man foul rule but the referee deemed it a normal shoulder to shoulder challenge.

For Inter, in the 68th minute popular former Lazio player Aron Winter came on for Javier Zanetti.

Inter were now more threatening. Diego Simeone chipped a ball into the area from the right and Youri Djorkaeff's low diving header was held on the far post by Marchegiani.

Lazio then almost doubled the score with two chances in one.

Marcelo Salas brilliantly weaved his way into the area on the left and squared to Nedved whose shot was cleared before the line by Galante, the ball then reached Conceição but his low shot was saved by Pagliuca with his feet.

The game was now exciting with chances at both ends. Benoît Cauet volleyed high from a clever Baggio cross and then Pagliuca dived low to anticipate Salas.

Vieri then produced a moment of magic even if the move came to nothing. He brilliantly pushed the ball forward with his heel and then backheeled it to the incoming Salas but the Matador's shot was blocked by a defender.

In the 81st minute Lucescu decided to go for it and took off defender Galante for talented midfielder Andrea Pirlo. Two minutes later he also replaced Djorkaeff with Nicola Ventola. At the same time Attilio Lombardo came on for Conceição.

Inter now pushed forward. Baggio curled a free kick which took a slight deflection off the wall and hit the crossbar with Marchegiani beaten. Pirlo then crossed deep into the left side of the area where Baggio hit a first time left-footed low volley but Marchegiani parried well.

Lazio had space on the break. First Nedved's low effort trickled just wide of the left post and then Salas had only the keeper to beat but managed to miss the target.

In the 91st minute Eriksson took extra precautions and took off Roberto Mancini for defender Fernando Couto. After three minutes of added time it was all over.

A huge roar greeted the final whistle. The second half had been spectacular but hardfought with Inter giving as good as they got. All in all however a deserved victory for the Biancocelesti who had played two good halves while Inter had literally only played one.

Lazio were now solitary Serie A leaders on 45 points. Fiorentina had been held to a 0-0 home draw by Roma so the table now read: Lazio 45, Fiorentina 43, Milan 43, Parma 41.

It was not since early in the 1974-75 season that Lazio had been alone at the top of Serie A. To find the Biancocelesti in this position so deep in the season one had to go back to the glorious 1973-74 season

Inter were now 6th on 34 points, overtaken by Udinese and definitely out of the title race.

Who played for Lazio

Marchegiani, Negro, Nesta, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Conceição (83' Lombardo), Mancini (91' F. Couto), Almeyda (50' Stankovic), Nedved, Vieri, Salas

Substitutes: Ballotta, De La Peña, Gottardi, Okon

Manager: Eriksson

Who played for Inter

Pagliuca, Colonnese, Simic, Bergomi, Galante (81' Pirlo), Zanetti (68' Winter), Simeone, Cauet, Djorkaeff (83' Ventola), Baggio, Zamorano

Substitutes: Frey, West, Zé Elias, Milanese

Manager: Lucescu

Referee: Cesari

Goal: 39' Conceição

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpsoPwqraPI

What happened next

Lazio went very close to winning the Scudetto. They were top of the table until the penultimate game when they drew in Florence, being denied a blatant penalty and were undeservedly overtaken by Milan. In the last match Lazio beat Parma 2-1 at the Olimpico but Milan cruised to a 2-0 away win against a passive Perugia and won the title.

Lazio finished 2nd in Serie A but triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup. The Biancocelesti then knocked out Panionios and Lokomotiv Moscow to reach the final. On May 19 they beat Mallorca 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham with goals by Vieri and Nedved.

Top scorer was Marcelo Salas with 24 goals (15 in league) but Vieri had a good season too, when he finally returned in January, with 12 league goals.

So two trophies but bitter disappointment at going so close to the Scudetto.

Inter finished 8th. They went to a playoff for a UEFA Cup slot with Bologna and lost 2-4 on aggregate. Four games after today, 2 draws (Juventus 0-0 at home and the derby 2-2) and 2 defeats (Bari 0-1, Sampdoria 0-4 away), Lucescu was replaced by assistant coach, former goalkeeper Luciano Castellini. The ex-Torino and Napoli keeper lasted four games (W1, D1, L2) and then Roy Hodgson took over for the last four league games and playoffs, 2 wins (including Roma 5-4 away) and 4 defeats (including playoffs). A chaotic and poor Serie A campaign for the "Biscione".

In the Champions League they were then knocked out by Manchester United 1-3 on aggregate while they also lost the Coppa Italia return leg to Parma 1-2.

With Milan champions for the 16th time, at the other end Salernitana, Sampdoria, Vicenza and Empoli said goodbye for now. The Coppa Italia was won by Parma (Fiorentina on away goals) while in the Champions League it was Manchester United who triumphed with two dramatic late goals against Bayern Munich (90+1, 90+3!!).

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 was immediate a regular 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 Super Cup. In this period, he won two league titles, a Portuguese Cup and a Portuguese Super Cup.

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 Gialloblù 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 2-4 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. In 2005 "Les Rouches" (The Reds in Liège accent) 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 at 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 then won 3 league titles, 3 Super Cups and 4 Portuguese Cups. He established himself as one of Europe's 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 took over at A.C Milan, replacing Paulo Fonseca. Milan immediately won silverware by triumphing in the Italian Supercoppa beating city rivals Inter 3-2 after being 0-2 down. He was then seen dancing in the changing rooms and smoking a cigar. Things did not continue in such a party mode and Milan finished 8th in Serie A (out of Europe). The Rossoneri did reach the Coppa Italia final but lost 0-1 to Bologna. Conceição was then not confirmed for the 2025-26 season.

He is currently in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ittihad.

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 and one now plays in Italy for Juventus.

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 successful 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	103 (11)	70 (7)	11	16 (2)	5 (1)	1 (1)