July 14, 2022: Lazio Dekani 5-0, Friendly

Simon Basten
Jul 14
4 min read

Looking spectacular so far

In their second pre-season friendly, Lazio show glimpses of excellence

Also on this day: July 14, 2007: Kapfenburg Lazio 0-2, Friendly. In Lazio’s second pre-season friendly, Rossi continues to make experiments

The season so far

The previous season Lazio had changed manager, from Simone Inzaghi to Maurizio Sarri, and had had difficulties in adapting to a new style of play, from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3. The problems were particularly in defence but in the second half of the season there was an improvement in set up and Lazio finished sixth, qualifying for the Europa League.

For the 2022-23 season Lazio had so far signed a few new players: goalkeepers Luis Maximiano (Granada), defenders Nicolò Casale (Verona), Alessio Romagnoli (free transfer) and Mario Gila (Real Castilla), midfielders Marcos Antonio (Shakhtar) and Matias Vecino (free agent) plus forward Matteo Cancellieri (Verona). Leaving Lazio so far was Jovane Cabral (end of loan) but there would certainly be more coming and goings.

The Biancocelesti were in their pre-season training period at Auronzo di Cadore. Today was their second friendly against Dekani from the Slovenian second tier.

The match: Thursday July 14, 2022, Stadio Rodolfo Zandegiacomo, Auronzo di Cadore

In the 12th minute Lazio had a chance as Manuel Lazzari was fouled in the box and the referee gave the first penalty of the day. But Ciro Immobile kicked the ball wide. The Biancocelesti struggled a bit to find the right geometries, but once they did they scored five.

In the 33rd minute, corner for Lazio taken by Luis Alberto. Felipe Anderson headed the ball towards the goal, great save from the keeper but Immobile with an acrobatic volley made it 1-0.

Five minutes later splendid Immobile-Sergej Milinkovic-Savic one-two stopped by a handball. Pedro took the spot kick and made no mistake. Towards the end of the half, Milinkovic-Savic to Lazzari in the box on the right, cross towards the far post and Pedro headed it in.

For the second half, Maurizio Sarri put in a totally new eleven and Lazio scored another two. In the 50th minute Mattia Zaccagni to Toma Basic who made no mistake. In the 80th minute Marcos Antonio to Zaccagni in the box. Foul, another penalty which the Lazio winger deposited into the back of the net.

Good indications for Sarri even though it was only the second game.

Who played for Lazio

First half: Maximiano, Lazzari, Patric, Casale, Marusic, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi, Luis Alberto, Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Pedro

Second half: Maximiano (58’ Adamonis), Hysaj, Gila, Acerbi, Radu, Kyine, Marcos Antonio, Basic, Romero, Cancellieri, Zaccagni

Substitutes: Alia, Furnlanetto, Romagnoli, Kamenovic, Ruggeri, Marinacci, Akpa Akpro, Bertini, Moro

Manager: Sarri

Who played for Dekani

Gabric, F. Cukjati (87' Zagar), Vitezica, Stojanovic (46' Vranjes), Klavora (46' Galina), Stepancic (59' Rudonja), Ljutic, J. Cukjati (85' Bembic), Bah (85' Valentic), Mestric (59' Demiri), Doudou (46' Duricin, 87' Babic)

Substitutes: Knezevic, Rudonja, Hadzic, Kavrecic, Popovic

Manager: Sculac

Referee: Maccorin

Goals: 33’ Immobile, 38’ Pedro (pen), 45’ Pedro, 53’ Basic, 80’ Zaccagni (pen)

What happened next

One more player arrived: goalkeeper Ivan Provedel (Spezia).

At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were third, in the company of Inter and Roma and one point behind Milan. Napoli had pulled away and had a 12-point lead. Lazio had beaten Inter, Roma, Atalanta and Milan. The Biancocelesti then continued with their good form, beating Roma again, Napoli away and Juventus. They finished second behind Napoli. To note is that Lazio had only come second three times before, 1936-37, 1994-95 and 1998-99, so this year’s result was a positive rarity in Lazio's history.

They arrived third in their Europa League group and were forced to play in the Conference League where they were then eliminated in the round of 16 by AZ Alkmaar. In Coppa Italia they were eliminated in the quarter finals by Juventus.

The player with most appearances was Felipe Anderson (50) but Ivan Provedel was the player with most minutes (4361). Top scorer was Ciro Immobile with 14 goals.

One of the more positive things of the season was the 21 clean sheets. The defensive issues of the previous year were gone.

Let’s talk about Luis Maximiano

Luis Maximiano was born in Braga, Portugal, on January 5, 1999. After playing in the youth teams of Celeiros, Ferreirense and Sporting Braga, in 2012 he moved to Sporting Lisbon and five years later debuted in the B Side in the Portuguese third tier where he made six appearances. A year later he was in the first team and debuted first in Europa League on November 28 against PSV Eindhoven and a few days later in Primeira Liga. He stayed until 2021 with 36 appearances.

In 2021 he signed for Granada in Spain. Despite the relegation at the end of the season he was considered one of the best goalkeepers of La Liga and even Carlo Ancelotti spoke very highly of him. In the summer of 2022 he signed for Lazio. He was supposed to be the first goalkeeper and debuted in Serie A in the Biancoceleste’s first game of the season against Bologna. But after six minutes he was sent off for saving a ball with his hands outside the penalty box. This mistake negatively affected his entire season as he was replaced in goal by Ivan Provedel and used only for the Coppa Italia and the Conference League. He made just six appearances in 2022-23.

In August 2023 he was loaned to Almeria for a year with a buyout obligation. Despite the club's relegation, Almeria activated the buyout clause and he joined the Spanish club permanently playing 34 games all season. In the 2024-25 season he made 30 appearances.

He was unlucky at Lazio. The red card in the first game and Provedel’s good performances practically wiped out any possibilities he could have had.