February 4, 2019: Frosinone Lazio 0-1

Simon Basten

Feb 46 min read

Caicedo is enough

Lazio win their 300th away match in Serie A thanks to a first half Caicedo goal

Player of the day: Milan Badelj

Also on this day:

February 4, 1996, Lazio Bari 4-3. Four penalties plus a number of other errors from the ref ruined what could have been a great match.
February 4, 1940, Lazio Fiorentina 1-1. A missed opportunity for Lazio who had created numerous chances.

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had been heavily penalised by the introduction of the VAR. The referees took it in turns to not use it when Lazio played or to use it in the wrong way. But Lazio had played well and, as usual, just missed out of Champions League qualification, arriving fifth, losing the decisive match at home against Inter.

The star signings of the summer were Francesco Acerbi, who took the place in the centre of defence left vacant by Stefan De Vrij who had gone to Inter as a free agent refusing to sign a new contract with Lazio, and Joaquin Correa, exciting Argentinian player from Sevilla, who substituted Felipe Anderson sold to West Ham United. Other signings included Riza Durmisi (Betis), Valon Berisha (Salzburg), free agents Silvio Proto and Milan Badelj plus the return of Danilo Cataldi from his loan at Benevento. Also leaving were Davide Di Gennaro (loan to Salernitana), Ivan Vargic (loan, Anorthosis), Nani (end of loan, Valencia), Filip Djordjevic (end of contract) and Luca Crecco (Pescara)

So far, the season had been a little bit disappointing. Lazio were currently seventh together with Atalanta three points below Milan, fourth. Unable to come to terms with the bigger teams, Lazio also occasionally struggled with the smaller ones. The star players such as Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic were not playing up to par. They were trying to keep the Champions League qualification dream alive, but it would certainly not be easy.

In the Europa League Lazio came second in their group behind Eintracht Frankfurt. They would now have to play Sevilla in the round of 16. In Coppa Italia they had reached the semi-final and would now play Milan.

The match: Monday, February 4, 2019, Stadio Benito Stirpe, Frosinone

Four days earlier Lazio had played the Coppa Italia quarter finals in Milan against Inter, winning on penalties. Manager Simone Inzaghi tried to send in fresh legs (Bastos, Marco Parolo, Milan Badelj and Riza Durmisi) but one could immediately see that the Biancocelesti were mentally exhausted.

In the 5th minute Luis Alberto gave a good ball to Felipe Caicedo in the box who tried a shot that Marco Sportiello parried. Lazio were in difficulty and Frosinone very solid but the chances to score were zero. In the 25th minute the referee gave a penalty to Frosinone. Raman Chisbah crossed into the penalty area, minimal contact between Bastos and Camillo Ciano and there was no doubt in Michael Fabbri's mind. But for VAR the contact was so light that they advised the ref to look again. He did and changed his mind.

In the 36th minute the Biancocelesti scored. Luis Alberto on the counter attack, ball to Caicedo in the box who controlled it and sent a missile into the net.

In the second half Lazio tried to make it two. Parolo tried a shot from the right, Sportiello saved and Caicedo was unable to make a decent contact for the tap in.

The Biancocelesti, completely exhausted, slowly disappeared from the game and Marco Baroni sent in all the forwards he had, while Inzaghi got extremely cautious substituting Luis Alberto with Senad Lulic and Caicedo with Valon Berisha.

In the 85th minute, chance of a lifetime for Andrea Pinamonti. The forward was given a great ball by Ciano and found himself in front of Thomas Strakosha, but his shot went out of the stadium. Shortly after Ciano also tried a shot but the Lazio keeper managed to save with his foot.

Thanks to the win, the Biancocelesti were now level with Roma and just one point from fourth placed Atalanta.

Who played for Frosinone

Sportiello, Salomon, Capuano, Krajnc (75' Ciofani), Zampano, Chibsah, Viviani (75' Sammarco), Valzania (81' Trotta), Beghetto, Ciano, Pinamonti

Substitutes: Iacobucci, Marcianò, Goldaniga, Molinaro, Verde, Maiello, Gori, Paganini

Manager: Baroni

Who played for Lazio

Strakosha, Bastos, Acerbi, Radu, Marusic, Parolo, Badelj (57’ Leiva), Luis Alberto (65’ Lulic), Durmisi, Caicedo (57’ Berisha), Immobile

Substitutes: Proto, Guerrieri, Kalaj, Zitelli, Patric, Romulo, Cataldi, Correa, Neto

Manager: Inzaghi

Referee: Fabbri

Goal: 36’ Caicedo

What happened next

The Biancocelesti tried to keep the Champions League qualification dream alive for as long as possible, but surprise losses against Genoa and Spal away, plus the disastrous defeat at home against an already relegated Chievo, lessened the impact of great wins in the derby and away against Inter. Lazio effectively gave up after the home defeat against Atalanta with three matches still to go.

In the Europa League they were eliminated by Sevilla in the round of 16.

But there was glory.

In Coppa Italia, a second half goal from Correa in the second away leg against Milan was the passport for the final at the Stadio Olimpico against Atalanta.

Lazio won the final with goals from Milinkovic-Savic and Correa in the second half. Hence, the Biancocelesti qualified for the 2019-20 Europa League and the Supercoppa.

Francesco Acerbi was the player with most appearances (50 in all competitions), Ciro Immobile the top scorer (19).

Let’s talk about Milan Badelj

Milan Badelj was born on February 25, 1989 in Zagreb. He started playing football at a young age with Ponikve and in 2002 moved to NK Zagreb.

Three years later he joined Dinamo Zagreb playing a year in the second team. In 2007-08 he played for Lokomotiva on loan. In the meantime, Dinamo had sold Luka Modric to Tottenham and needed a replacement.

In 2008 Badelj came back and went on to play 187 games with 37 goals in five years winning the league four times, the national cup three and one Super Cup.

In the summer of 2012, he signed for Hamburger SV where he stayed for two seasons with 69 appearances and two goals. In 2014 he started his Italian career with Fiorentina. He stayed for four years with 140 appearances and six goals. When his contract expired, he told the club that he was not going to renew. A surprise move, since nobody in Florence thought he would leave.

In 2018 he signed for Lazio as a free agent. He stayed just one season. Too much competition in midfield for him to play regularly. Also, it was difficult to bench Lucas Leiva. He played 26 games with one goal and won a Coppa Italia.

In 2019 he was back in Florence on loan but, unlike his previous stint, he did not impress and at the end of the season he went back to Lazio.

In the summer transfer window, he was sold to Genoa. He is still there today. He has made 131 appearances, without counting the current season, with six goals. After a few years where he seemed out of his depth, at Genoa he found the right environment to continue playing as well as he had in his first Fiorentina years. On December 1 2024, he became the Croat with most appearances in Serie A.

Badelj has played for Croatia at every possible national level, from Under 16s to Under 21s up to the national team. He participated in Euro 2016 and in the World Cup of 2018 (3 appearances) when Croatia played the final and lost to France. He has 55 caps and 2 goals.

Badelj was a bit of a disappointment at Lazio. Perhaps a little too slow for the dynamic midfield made up of Leiva, Luis Alberto and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.