July 25, 2001: Lazio Panathinaikos 3-0, Friendly

Dag Jenkins
Jul 25
9 min read

Eagles build up strength with clovers

A positive friendly approaching the key CL Preliminary

Also on this day: July 25, 2000: Bayer Leverkusen - Lazio 0-0. Lazio hold Germans to goalless draw in Liechtenstein despite absences and little training

The season so far

The previous season had seen title winning Sven-Goran Eriksson leaving the club and the return of Dino Zoff. Lazio had fought for the title but eventually just lost out to city rivals Roma. A 3rd place finish did however give them a Champions League participation albeit a preliminary round.

Lazio's main investments this year were defender Jaap Stam (Manchester United) and midfielder Gaizka Mendieta (Valencia). Mendieta in particular was considered a major swoop after his performances in the Champions League for Valencia. In had also come midfielders Giuliano Giannichedda and Stefano Fiore (both from Udinese), Fabio Liverani (Perugia), Brazilian César (São Caetano), Ivan de la Peña (back from loan periods after a disappointing time at Lazio two years earlier) and Serb forward Darko Kovacevic (Juventus).

Lazio had however lost scudetto legends Pavel Nedved (Juventus), the 'Matador' Marcelo Salas (Juventus) and Juan Sebastian Veron (Manchester United) plus Fabrizio Ravanelli (Derby County) and Roberto Baronio (Fiorentina).

Serie A would start on August 26 against Piacenza at home while the Biancocelesti's Champions League debut would be on August 8 away to FC København in the 3rd and final qualification round. The return game in Rome would be on August 21.

Lazio had so far played two proper pre-season friendlies, a 1-0 win against Olympiakos Nicosia and 8-0 against a mixed Alto Adige selection.

Panathinaikos had finished 2nd in the Greek league and they too had qualified for a Champions League 3rd round preliminary. The manager was first Aggelos Anastasiadis (until Feb 21) and then Stratos Apostolakis. Top scorer was Krzysztof Warzycha with 19 goals (13 in league). The squad included Paulo Sousa (former Juventus, Inter and Parma) and Goran Vlaović (former Padova).

This season the manager was Giannis Kyrastas. The "Prasinoi" (Greens) would start their domestic league on September 23 away to Panionios.

Their domestic cup debut would be on August 30 away to Apollon Kalamarias.

The most imminent and possibly most important appointment would be in the Champions League against Slavia Prague on August 8 and 22. The first leg was in the Czech Republic and the return game at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium in Athens.

The match: Wednesday, July 25, 2001, Stadio Druso, Bolzano

About 5,000 spectators turned up at the Druso ground in German speaking Bozen.

Lazio fielded a strong side and had Marcelo Salas and Claudio Lopez on the bench. Dino Zoff was still experimenting the three-man defence in a 3-5-2 formation.

The Greeks too played a competitive line-up although Goran Vlaovic was a substitute.

At the start of the game the Lazio defence were in difficulty and Pana had two good chances to take the lead. First Michalis Konstantinou fired wide in the 9th minute and then was denied by an excellent save by Angelo Peruzzi a couple of minutes later.

In the 13th minute however, it was Lazio who took the lead. Hernan Crespo twisted and turned an effort towards goal which the keeper could not keep hold of and vulture Simone Inzaghi was there to punish him. Lazio 1 Pana 0.

Lazio now looked in control although the Greeks often looked threatening on the break. It was the "Prasinoi" who had the next two opportunities when Peruzzi tipped an Angelos Basinas freekick over the bar and then Stefano Fiore cleared a Giannis Gumas header off the line.

The Greeks looked fitter but Lazio had more individual quality. In the 28th minute Crespo skilfully beat a defender and crossed well to Karel Poborsky who had an easy task to double Lazio’s lead. Lazio 2 Pana 0.

The second half saw the usual summer friendly endless substitutions by both sides and the game lost fluidity.

In the 52nd minute forward Vlaovic replaced Danish midfielder Jan Michaelsen.

The first change for Lazio was an important one as in the 56th minute Claudio Lopez came on for Inzaghino. The Argentine immediately showed himself with a powerful left foot well saved by Stefanos Kotsolis who had replaced Antonios Nikopolidis at half time.

The Greens tried to get back in the game but Peruzzi was brilliant again on a Gumas effort.

The substitutions came thick and fast but in the 74th minute the game came alive with a brilliant Lopez goal. The former Valencia player went past three defenders, round the keeper and slotted the ball in. Lazio 3 Pana 0.

More substitutions followed including Marcelo "Matador" Salas for Crespo and Dino Baggio for Alessandro Nesta but not much more goal action. Final score Lazio 3 Panathinaikos 0.

A positive test for Lazio against decent opposition. The defence was slightly hesitant but this could be due to being heavy legged from the training sessions while the midfield and attack looked sharp.

Next up for Lazio was a friendly against Cittadella (Serie B) in Brunico (Bolzano) on July 28, another Greek side Olympiakos in Bolzano on July 31 before the Trofeo Birra Moretti in Bari against Inter and Juventus in early August. Then there was the crucial first Champions League first leg in Copenhagen on August 8.

Who played for Lazio

Peruzzi, Negro (75' Ola), Nesta (78' D.Baggio), Mihajlovic (63' Favalli), Poborsky (75' Castroman), Stankovic (68' Giannichedda), Simeone (68' Baronio), Fiore (68' De La Peña), Pancaro, Crespo (75' Salas), S. Inzaghi (56' C. Lopez)

Manager: Zoff

Who played for Panathinaikos

Nikopolidis (46' Kotsolis), Seitaridis (83' Sapanis), Henriksen, Gumas (67' Galetto), Volkolos, Fyssas (64' Saric), Michaelsen (52' Vlaovic), Basinas, Karagounis (78' Boateng), Kolka (75' Warzycha), Konstantinou (63' Liberopoulos)

Manager: Kyrastas

Referee: Tait (Italy)

Goals: 13' S. Inzaghi, 28' Poborsky, 74' C. Lopez

What happened next

Lazio had a disappointing season and finished 6th. After only three league games (all draws) Zoff was sacked and replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni. Things did not really improve and Lazio then won 14 (including Juventus 1-0 at home), drew 8 and lost 9 (including Roma 0-2 and 1-5).

They did end with a controversial victory over Inter on the now famous May 5th and salvaged a UEFA Cup qualification. The last game of the season saw Inter needing a win to be sure of the Scudetto. There was also the chance of Roma stealing the championship if Inter and Juve failed to win and Roma did. There was therefore a lot of talk of Lazio throwing the game to avoid the “unmentionables” glory. Many Lazio fans were initially blatantly supporting Inter but the risk was soon out of the question with Juve taking an early double lead away at Udinese. Inter still had their fate in their own hands but inexplicably collapsed at the Olimpico against opposition who didn't exactly play as if their life depended on it. Inter may have assumed it was a done deal but Karel Poborsky's lack of understanding of the city rivalry dynamics, and hence fierce determination, together with Inter's lacklustre performance, produced one of the few championship deciding last matches of the season shock results in recent history. Another one obviously being Juventus getting washed away in Perugia two years earlier, handing the scudetto to Lazio in an even more dramatic fashion.

Lazio got through the Champions League preliminary round by beating FC Copenhagen 4-2 on aggregate. They were then knocked out in the group phase with Galatasaray (0-1, 1-0), Nantes (1-3, 0-1) and PSV Eindhoven (0-1, 2-1). So, 2 wins and 4 defeats, the first two defeats were with Zoff but as in the league Zaccheroni did not manage to change things.

In the Coppa Italia Lazio were eliminated in the quarters by Milan 3-5 on aggregate.

Lazio's top scorer was Hernan Crespo with 20 goals (13 in A).

Panathinaikos finished 3rd in the Alpha Ethniki (Greek League). They won 16, drew 7 and lost 3 but came behind winners Olympiakos and AEK. On December 10 Kyrastas was replaced by new manager Sergio Markarián. Top scorer was Goran Vlaović with 18 goals (13 in league).

The "Trifylli" (Clover) got through the Champions League preliminary round by defeating Slavia Prague 3-1 on aggregate. The Greeks then won their group with 4 wins (Arsenal 1-0, Mallorca 2-0 and Schalke 04 both at home and away 2-0) and 2 defeats (Arsenal 1-2 and Mallorca 0-1 both away).

In the second group stage they finished 2nd after 2 wins (Sparta Prague 2-0 away and 2-1 at home), 2 draws (Porto 0-0 at home and Real Madrid 2-2 at home) and 2 defeats (Real Madrid 0-3 and Porto 1-2 away).

In the quarter finals Pana lost 2-3 to Barcelona on aggregate. The Greeks beat the Blaugrana 1-0 at home but then lost 1-3 at the Camp Nou. A good European campaign however.

In the Greek Cup they reached the last 16 but lost to Iraklis on away goals.

Six of this squad would go on to become surprise European champions in Euro 2004 in Portugal; keeper Antonis Nikopolidis, defenders Giourkas Seitaridis, Takis Fyssas and Giannis Goumas, midfielders Angelos Basinas (who scored winning goal in final) and Giorgos Karagounis (who would also play two seasons with Inter, 2003-05)

Let's talk about Claudio Lopez

Claudio López was born in Rio Tercero, Argentina, on July 17, 1974.

He started his footballing career with Estudiantes but debuted professionally with Racing Club where he played 116 games with 25 goals in four years as a left-winger. In 1996 he moved to Europe and signed for Valencia. It was a marvellous team full of interesting players. In 1999 they won the Copa del Rey and the SuperCopa and in 2000 played in the final of the Champions League losing to Real Madrid.

Lazio that year had encountered the speed of Claudio López in an infamous night in Valencia in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Without their star defender Alessandro Nesta, Claudio López went through the Lazio defence like a hot blade through butter. The Biancocelesti lost 5-2 and in the return match could not go beyond a 1-0. To think that when Valencia were drawn everybody was happy!!!

Claudio López was phenomenal in that match, scoring two goals. He immediately became a target for President Sergio Cragnotti and the club signed him in the summer of 2000 after having won the double, scudetto and Coppa Italia.

His first game for the Biancocelesti was the Supercoppa against Inter. He was devastating, delighting fans with his speed and making them dream of a bright future thanks to a good partnership with centre forward Hernán Crespo. After winning the Supercoppa however, Claudio Lopez suffered a bad injury against Brescia on November 1 and missed most of the season. He returned in 2001 scoring his first goal in Serie A on August 26 in the home game against Piacenza. When he came back, he was still a great player but not as devastating as what we had seen in the game against Inter and previously with Valencia. He did well, and sometimes one did see the old magic, but it was also another Lazio. Nevertheless under Roberto Mancini the team reached a Champions League qualification in 2002-03 and won the Coppa Italia in 2004.

But things were changing. Lazio were deeply in debt, Cragnotti was forced to resign and sell the club, then bought by Claudio Lotito. The first thing Lotito needed to do was to cut costs, so a number of players had to leave. Some, like Stefano Fiori and Bernardo Corradi, were sold to cover previous debts. Claudio López as a consequence was sold to América in Mexico. He stayed there three years winning a championship as well as the CONCACAF Champions League. In 2007 he returned to Racing Club in Argentina. His contract ended in December so in March 2008 he announced that he had signed for Kansas City Wizards in the MLS. Two years later he joined Colorado Rapids. On May 19, 2011, he announced that he was retiring, but he still wanted to work in football. As such he became sports director for his last team Colorado.

Claudio López won 54 caps for Argentina with 10 goals. He participated in the 1998 World Cup scoring a goal in the quarterfinal defeat against Holland. He also played in the 2002 World Cup where Argentina were eliminated in the group stage.

Claudio López played regularly and scored plenty of goals for Lazio. He was an incredibly fast left-winger, very talented, who knew how to play. He had one major flaw: he did everything with his left foot, the right one was used only for walking. I also think that he never really came back quite as good as before the 2000 injury. But the player who did come back was still top class.

Lazio Career

Season	Toal games (goals)	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Champions League	UEFA Cup	Super Coppa
2000-01	23 (7)	16	-	6 (5)	-	1 (2)
2001-02	38 (12)	29 (10)	1	8 (2)	-	-
2002-03	47 (17)	34 (15)	4	-	9 (2)	-
2003-04	36 (4)	27 (4)	5	4	-	-
Total	144 (40)	106 (29)	10	18 (7)	9 (2)	1 (2)