July 28, 2001: Lazio Cittadella 2-0, friendly
- Simon Basten
- 2 hours ago
- 7 min read
Lazio's "Valencian" Connection Takes Shape
Mendieta and Claudio López combine to inspire a 2-0 victory over Cittadella, as Zoff's side continue to build momentum during pre-season
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had arrived third in a partially disappointing year. Started on the waves of enthusiasm following the 2000 scudetto, that wave gradually crashed out. Sven-Goran Erikkson was to become new England manager from the summer of 2001 and this hit the team psychologically. After a bad start in January Eriksson resigned and Dino Zoff took his place. Lazio were fourth, 11 points behind leaders Roma. Under Dino things improved but Roma was too far away.
During the summer Lazio had sold Juan Sebastian Veron and Pavel Nedved seemingly to cash in some desperately needed money. They had however also bought Gaizka Mendieta, considered one of the best players in the world at the time, but at a price way above what could be considered appropriate. Also leaving was Fabrizio Ravanelli (Derby Country), and Roberto Baronio had left on loan to Fiorentina. Joining Lazio were Stefano Fiore and Giuliano Giannichedda from Udinese (purchased the previous year but left at Udine on loan) and César from São Caetano.
The Biancocelesti were in the pre season training retreat at Riscone di Brunico near Bolzano. They had already played three friendlies beating Olympiakos Nicosia, a Selection from Alto Adige and Panathinaikos. Today they were faced with Serie B team Cittadella.
The match: Saturday, July 28, 2001, Centro Sportivo Reiperting, Risicone di Brunico
Lazio's "Valencian" connection was beginning to take shape. Gaizka Mendieta ran, pressed and created, while Claudio López made his runs and scored, just as he had done two years earlier. And Dino Zoff watched on with satisfaction.
The two former Valencia players were not the only ones to shine, but they certainly deserved the headlines after Lazio's 2-0 victory over Cittadella. Making his debut in the Biancocelesti shirt, Mendieta immediately demonstrated that the club's substantial investment in him could prove to be money well spent. López, meanwhile, buoyed by the presence of his friend and former team-mate, looked dangerous once again.
It was the pair who combined to produce the opening goal after 15 minutes. For a moment, the small stadium at Riscone seemed to transform into Valencia's Mestalla. Mendieta received the ball in midfield, looked up, spotted López and, at precisely the moment the striker made his run, played him through. El Piojo raced clear of the defenders, waited for the goalkeeper to come off his line and calmly slotted the ball into the net.
But alongside them, the entire Lazio team performed well. There was still work to be done, but the impression was that Zoff's work was already beginning to bear fruit. The test against Cittadella was certainly less demanding than the previous match against Panathinaikos, but it was not one to be taken lightly. Lazio, however, were never seriously troubled and, for around 20 minutes, produced some good football, based on possession in midfield and quick passing combinations between the central midfielders and the forwards.
If Mendieta was the surprise of the day, Stefano Fiore was the confirmation. The former Udinese player once again produced a strong performance, continuing the good form he had shown in Lazio's previous friendlies. Karel Poborský and Giuseppe Pancaro also impressed with their work on the flanks. Perhaps the only thing missing was a little more precision with the final pass. But at that stage of pre-season, it would have been unfair to expect the players to have complete sharpness as well.
From a physical standpoint, however, the Biancocelesti showed that they had already reached a good level of fitness. Zoff kept his starting XI on the pitch for more than an hour. Alessandro Nesta and Hernán Crespo were left out as a precaution after suffering minor muscular fatigue. Halfway through the second half, Zoff brought on the rest of his squad, who would later play another 45 minutes in an unofficial practice match organised to give Fernando Couto some playing time.
The so-called Lazio-2 was no less impressive than the starting team, much to Zoff's satisfaction. The manager could clearly count on a strong and deep squad. It was the substitutes—perhaps better described as alternatives—who produced Lazio's second goal. Simone Inzaghi, who had now scored four goals in four half-matches, finished off a fine move initiated by Iván de la Peña and continued by Lucas Castroman, whose final touch set up Inzaghi for the winning finish.
Late on, there was even time for a somewhat sluggish Cittadella to threaten, with Davide Zanon hitting the post from a free-kick.
And so Lazio completed their fourth consecutive pre-season friendly without conceding a goal. The three-man defence continued to raise some questions, but for the time being, it was doing one thing very effectively: it wasn't conceding.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro (65' Ola), D.Baggio (65' Favalli), Mihajlović (65' Colonnese), Poborsky (65' Castroman), Mendieta (65' Baronio), Simeone (65' Giannichedda), Fiore (65' De La Peña), Pancaro (65' Gottardi), Salas (46' S.Inzaghi), C.Lopez (78' Berrettoni)
Manager: Zoff
Who played for Cittadella
Capecchi (60' Redaelli), Turato, Zanon, Cinetto, Giacomin (78' Migliorini), Martusciello (60' Rimondini), Mazzoleni (60' Ottofaro), Pizzi (65' Scarpa); Ferrarese (60' Amore), Ghirardello (65' Baicu), Sturba (65' De Gasperi)
Manager: Glerean
Referee: Bonadio
Goals: 15’ C.Lopez, 74’ S.Inzaghi
What happened next
In August Lazio had a Champions League playoff with FC Copenhagen. The first leg should have been a warning sign as Lazio, despite being dominant for most of the match, had thrown away the victory with a penalty and an Angelo Peruzzi mistake. However, the return leg had put everything in place and Lazio went through, even though they were not playing particularly well.
The start was slow. Too slow. The team was demotivated and badly prepared. Dino Zoff had decided to go for a 3-5-2 formation, but the team was just not right. After the draw against Piacenza, there was a draw against Perugia and another against Torino. Forced to play against Galatasaray away in the first Champions League match on the infamous September 11, they lost 1-0.
The situation precipitated in the second Champions League match against Nantes. The 3-1 defeat at home was the final nail in the coffin for Zoff. He was replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni, former Udinese and Milan manager. In the meantime, Lazio had signed Fabio Liverani from Perugia in the winter transfer session.
Zaccheroni’s start in the Campionato was a disaster, not so much for the result (one can lose against AC Milan) rather for the increasing amount of injuries: Giuseppe Favalli, Hernan Crespo, Nesta and Dino Baggio. After five games Lazio were still to win a match and had scored only one goal in Serie A and one in Champions League.
However, things improved, Lazio started to play better and in Serie A by December they were on a roll: five consecutive wins including beating Juventus. But it was to no avail. Struggling to find a minimum organisation, the team just did not have that continuity that was necessary to reach the top positions. Mendieta was completely at a loss and did not play a decent match the whole season.
Rock bottom was reached on March 10 when Lazio lost the derby 5-1. The line-up chosen by Zaccheroni was incomprehensible and his future at Lazio was clearly doomed. The continuous rumours that Roberto Mancini would be coming back to manage Lazio did not help the situation. The players were distracted. Karel Poborsky was just plain terrible, the shadow of the previous year’s player, Nesta went to pieces and Crespo kept on missing chances.
However, with five matches remaining, Lazio at least seemed to try to qualify for the following year’s UEFA Cup. They won the first three and there was even a glimmer of hope for a miraculous Champions League qualification. The players made sure that did not happen, perhaps put off by the fact that a champions league qualification could mean Zaccheroni staying on as Lazio manager.
This takes us to Lazio-Inter, the final match of the season. Lazio needed to win to qualify for the UEFA Cup, Inter had a one-point lead over Juventus who were to play at Udine and two over Roma who faced Torino away from home.
The Lazio supporters' only concern was that hated rivals Roma should by no means win the scudetto and therefore Forza Inter!!!! Lazio played their best match of the season and won 4-2. The tens of thousands Inter fans at the Olimpico were distraught, Lazio managed to earn a 6th place finish and qualify for the Uefa Cup.
Zaccheroni (probably one of the worst managers in Lazio history) was shown the door, and Mancini was a very welcome return.
But money was too tight to mention and more iconic players would be leaving soon.
The Lazio player with most appearances in the season’s Serie A was Fiore with 30 games and leading scorer was Crespo with 13 goals.
Lazio Jersey 2001-02
Images Sources: Football Kit Archive except main jersey (SS Lazio Museum) and white (BOLA Football Store)
The traditional Lazio shirt returned, and the black inserts that had characterised the Biancoceleste kit in previous years disappeared. The club chose a shade of sky blue that was very similar to the colour used for the 1974 shirt. The jersey was enhanced by a white underarm section, while the stitching separating the two colours and the stitching on the shoulders were blue. A thin elastic band connected the two sides of the collar.
The sponsor's wording also changed, as the word "Phones" was removed from the Siemens logo compared with the previous season.
First Jersey
During this season, shirts bearing both "Made in Hungary" and "Made in Romania" labels were used. None of the match shirts featured the "Puma official merchandise" label on the lower left-hand side of the front. The long-sleeved version was not sold in shops. All the shirts featured black player names and numbers.
Second Jersey
Yellow returned as Lazio's away colour. The shirt used the same design as the first-choice jersey, but in different colours.
Goalkeeper's Jersey
The goalkeeper kits were also very elegant. The shirt worn by Luca Marchegiani in the graphics featured a predominantly grey colour that gradually faded into black towards the lower part of the jersey. The sleeves followed a similar design to those of the outfield players' shirts, with grey dominating the upper section and black the lower section. The player names and numbers were white, made from a velvet-like material and heat-applied. Blue was used for the second keeper’s jersey.
Champions League Jersey
The shirt worn by Lazio's players in the Champions League continued the Argentina-style, or "Brasilazio", design used in the previous two European campaigns. The sky-blue vertical stripes became much thinner, transforming into narrow lines against a white background. The white V-neck collar was finished with a thin yellow trim.
Lazio wore a completely different jersey in the Champions League preliminary round against FC Copenhagen. A polo type shirt with sky blue shoulders and sleeves with the rest dark blue.
Sources
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