July 30, 2022: Lazio Qatar 0-0

Simon Basten
1 day ago
5 min read

Qatar Frustrate Lazio in Salzburg

Immobile's penalty strikes the post as Sarri's side are held to a goalless draw in their final pre-season test in Austria

Player of the day: Marco Bertini

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.

Lazio were in the second phase of preseason training. They had been at Auronzo di Cadore from July 6-22 and in Grassau since July 26. Three days earlier they had been demolished by Genoa 4-1.

The match: Saturday, July 30, 2022, HCS Arena-Nonntal, Saltzburg

Lazio failed to score against Qatar. However, the 0-0 draw at the SAK-Sportanlage Nonntal in Salzburg, which brought their German training camp in Grassau to a close, represented a performance that was clearly different from the lacklustre display against Genoa, which ended in a heavy 4-1 defeat that had left Maurizio Sarri deeply dissatisfied. This time, the defence held firm, although Felix Sánchez's team did not offer much going forward. Instead, Qatar built a genuine defensive wall that Lazio struggled in vain to break down. Sarri's side had several chances, particularly in the first half, with the best opportunity coming from Ciro Immobile's penalty, which struck the post.

Sarri made several changes to the team that had faced Genoa. Mario Gila came into the defence, a decision also made with the league opener in mind, when Nicolò Casale would be suspended. On the left flank, Adam Marusic replaced Elseid Hysaj. Pedro returned to the attack after recovering from a calf problem. Toma Basic was retained in the starting XI, while Luis Alberto began on the bench. Luis Maximiano started in goal, behind a defence of Manuel Lazzari, Gila, Alessio Romagnoli and Marusic. Sergej Milinković-Savić, Danilo Cataldi and Basic formed the midfield, with Felipe Anderson, Immobile and Pedro making up the front three.

The match immediately sprang to life and was played at a high tempo across the pitch. In the ninth minute, Immobile was unable to convert a penalty awarded after goalkeeper Yousof Hassan had fouled Felipe Anderson. His effort struck the post, marking the second penalty the Biancocelesti striker had missed during pre-season. Qatar's 5-3-2 formation forced Lazio to rely on constant passing in search of openings. In the 25th minute, the Qatari goalkeeper flew across his goal to keep out a well-struck free-kick from Milinković-Savić. Yousof then impressed again, coming off his line to deny Immobile before saving a deflected overhead kick from Pedro.

Lazio continued to increase the pressure, with the Qatar goalkeeper once again making an important save to keep out a dangerous effort from Pedro in the 33^rd minute. As the minutes passed, Sánchez's side became increasingly entrenched in defence, and the teams went into half-time level at 0-0.

At the start of the second half, Sarri introduced Marcos Antônio, Luis Alberto and Mattia Zaccagni for Cataldi, Basic and Pedro respectively. Milinković-Savić came close with a touch of class, while a powerful effort from Immobile was turned behind for a corner. In the 62nd minute, Sarri made three more changes, with Stefan Radu, Hysaj and Casale replacing Marusic, Lazzari and Romagnoli. Five minutes later, Matteo Cancellieri and Luka Romero came on for Immobile and Felipe Anderson, while Dimitrije Kamenović replaced Gila in the 72nd minute.

Lazio continued to push forward, but Qatar's defence remained well organised and also closed down the flanks effectively. Milinković-Savić and Maximiano were subsequently replaced by Sofian Kiyine and Marius Adamonis. Luis Alberto almost took advantage of a misplaced pass by the opposition to shoot on goal, but his effort went over the bar. Marcos Antônio also tried his luck from distance, but Qatar's goal remained firmly locked.

Following the match in Austria, Lazio returned to Rome, with training set to resume at Formello.

Who played for Lazio

Maximiano (75' Adamonis), Lazzari (62' Radu), Gila (72' Kamenovic), Romagnoli (62' Casale), Marusic (62' Hysaj), Milinkovic-Savic (75' Kiyine), Cataldi (46' Marcos Antonio), Basic (46' Luis Alberto), Felipe Anderson (67' Romero), Immobile (67' Cancellieri), Pedro (46' Zaccagni)

Substitutes: Furlanetto, Patric, Bertini, Moro

Manager: Sarri

Who played for Qatar

Yousof, Correia (63' M. Mohammed), Tarek (46' Bassam), Boualem (73' Mohamed), Homam, Abdelkarim (73' Yusuf), Moustafa (63' Ismail), Boudiaf (46' Abdelrahman), Thaimn, Ali (73' Abdelaziz), Afif

Substitutes: H. Ahmed, A. Mohammed, Musaab, Ab. Ahmed, Jassem, Al. Ahmed, Osamah, Meshaal, Salah, Assim

Manager: Sanchez

Referee: Gruber

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8lKgFyp5JU&pp=ygULbGF6aW8gcWF0YXI%3D

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 Marco Bertini

Born in Rome on August 7, 2002, Marco Bertini is a midfielder and a youth product of Lazio. He often captained the various sides and debuted in Serie A on May 23, 2001 in the final minutes of the game against Sassuolo. After having participated in the pre season training for 2021-22, he played all year for the primavera. He was part of the squad for 2022-23 and appeared 28 times on the bench. He made one appearance in the final minutes of the last match at Empoli. In 2023 he went on loan to Spal, where he made 14 league appearances and scored two goals, and in 2024 to Ascoli (20 games). In 2025 he was sold to Pianese in Serie C and in his first season he made 33 appearances with 4 goals.