November 16, 1986: Lazio Modena 4-2

Simon Basten
4 days ago
7 min read

Lazio keep rolling with another statement win

A blistering start, a nervy finish, and Mandelli’s late header seal Lazio’s eighth unbeaten match in a row.

The season so far

There was new ownership. The Calleri brothers and Renato Bocchi had taken over from the disastrous Giorgio Chinaglia Presidency and possibly even worse Franco Chimenti brief regency, so everything was new. New manager, Eugenio Fascetti, new sporting director, Franco Regalia, new players. There were many farewells and in particular the Biancocelesti said goodbye to Vincenzo D’Amico (Ternana), Arcadio Spinozzi (Reggina) and Oliviero Garlini who was a necessary sacrifice and sold to Inter.

The most important signings were Antonio Acerbis (Pescara), Angelo Gregucci and Giancarlo Camolese (Alessandria), Gabriele Pin (Juventus) plus Giuliano Terraneo (Milan).

There was a certain degree of optimism but any hope of promotion was shattered by the summer events.

On May 2, 1986, Armando Carbone, right hand man of Italo Allodi was arrested. Allodi was a well-known figure in Italian football and worked for a number of clubs, including Juventus and Inter. In 1986 he was working for Napoli. Carbone told the magistrates that there was a match fixing association with clubs at all levels involved. Numerous clubs were investigated: Bari, Napoli and Udinese in Serie A, many more in Serie B and C. Plus Lazio.

Why were Lazio involved? Carbone was a good friend of Claudio Vinazzani, a Lazio player. Vinazzani had played for Napoli for seven years before joining Lazio in 1983. He did like to bet but never on matches he played in.

In Italy one could not legally bet on the result of a single game or on the scores of multiple games. There was just the Totocalcio, where one had to guess the result of 13 games. There was however an illegal betting system called Totonero run by illegal bookmakers similar to how legal bets were organised in the UK. Lazio had already been involved in the 1980 scandal when, despite a total lack of proof or wrongdoing by the club itself, since four players had been involved, they were relegated to Serie B.

If there was basically nothing in 1980, in this case there was even less. There was a telephone conversation between Carbone and Vinazzani where the former asked whether the Lazio player was interested in “buying” a Lazio win against Palermo. Vinazzani’s answer was vague and nothing happened. The vagueness in the response was an indication of Lazio’s guilt, according to the prosecution. For this Lazio were sentenced to relegation to Serie C on August 5.

A difficult summer for the Lazio fans, but a very difficult summer for the new owners, Calleri and Bocchi. “If Lazio go down to Serie C, what are we going to do?” they must have asked themselves. It would have been the end of Lazio; the new owners would probably have backed out. Lazio fans mobilised, there were demonstrations and protests. It was simply not possible to relegate Lazio for nothing.

The appeal started on August 21 with many Lazio fans outside the Hilton hotel in Rome waiting to see what would happen. Carboni should have testified but the court refused to have him present. The decision therefore had to be based on the material provided in the first court case. Hence, the written declaration from Carboni saying that Lazio had nothing to do with the match fixing and that he never fixed a match for the Biancocelesti could not be used.

On August 27, the Biancocelesti had to play Napoli at the Olimpico for the Coppa Italia. Minutes before the match, the Italian State Television, RAI, announced that the sentence had been confirmed. An overzealous member of the court had leaked the news. This ultimately saved Lazio. The court could not confirm the previous sentence otherwise it would have lost face. In the end Lazio stayed in Serie B but with a docking of nine points. This was a very heavy burden with only two points for a victory, but it at least meant that the new owners could continue.

Fascetti told the players: “This is the situation. You can leave, and it would be perfectly normal if you did, or stay and fight. Decide”. All the players stayed.

The start of the season was terrible. Lazio drew the first game away at Parma but then lost at home to Messina. This basically meant that the burden was as if it was -11.

After the catastrophic beginning Lazio started to win and reduce the handicap. They were currently on 2 points, three away from safety.

The match: Sunday, November 16, 1986, Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Eugenio Fascetti’s Lazio continued their charge with a commanding 4–2 victory over Modena at the Olimpico, delivering a first half full of flair, technical quality, and ruthless finishing. The Biancocelesti have now gone eight games unbeaten, their only setback a loss to Messina. Without the nine-point deduction hanging over them, they’d be sitting just a point off top spot.

Modena, the newly promoted side that had caused some pre-match nerves, simply couldn’t cope with the intensity of the hosts.

For the opening 45 minutes it was all Lazio. After several near escapes, the visitors’ defence finally crumbled in the 13th minute: Gabriele Podavini fed Luca Brunetti, whose quick cross found Giuliano Fiorini. With his back to goal, the striker spun sharply and buried a low finish to open the scoring.

Lazio doubled their advantage eleven minutes later, though with a slice of luck. Fabio Poli played in Fiorini, who slipped the ball to Paolo Mandelli in what looked like an offside position. In trying to cut it out, defender Pierantonio Torroni could only turn the ball into his own net. From there, Lazio surged forward, lifted by the crowd. On 39 minutes Antonio Acerbis bulldozed his way through a couple of Modena challenges before rifling in a thunderous strike for 3–0.

The heavy lead, though, dulled Lazio’s edge. After the break Modena found a way back, first when Angelo Gregucci, attempting to clear an Andrea Bergamo cross, headed into his own net in spectacular fashion. When Mauro Rabitti nodded in Damiano Longhi’s delivery to make it 3–2 with ten minutes left, the Olimpico felt a flicker of tension.

But Lazio re-asserted themselves quickly. In the 80th minute a corner from Poli picked out young Mandelli, who rose sharply to head home the fourth and secure the points.

Fascetti’s men march on, still playing with the rhythm of a side that would be fighting for the top — if not for that nine-point handicap.

Who played for Lazio

Terraneo, Podavini, Brunetti, Acerbis, Gregucci (87’ Filisetti), Marino, Poli, Caso, Fiorini (82’ Piscedda), Pin, Mandelli

Substitutes: Ielpo, A.Schillaci, Camolese

Manager: Fascetti

Who played for Modena

Ballotta, Conca, Torroni (31' Rubino), Piacentini, I.Ballardini, Boscolo, Longhi, Mochi, Frutti, Bergamo, Rabitti

Substitutes: Meani, Andreoli, Re, Masolini

Manager: Mascalaito

Referee: Pairetto

Goals: 4’ Fiorini, 25’ Torroni (og), 40’ Acerbis, 71’ Gregucci (og), 81’ Rabitti, 86’ Mandelli

What happened next

The relegation zone was left in the 15th match with an away win at Cagliari. Lazio played very well and showed to be far better than the other Serie B teams. At the end of the first half of the season they were 16th, three points above the relegation zone.

Towards May however they started to tire. Being under constant pressure was taking its toll. Four losses, two draws and just one win meant that with one match to go Cagliari were already in Serie C, Lazio and Taranto were on 31 points, Campobasso, Sambenedettese, Vicenza and Catania on 32. Last games of the season Bari-Sambenedettese, Messina-Campobasso, Taranto-Genoa, Cesena-Catania, Lazio-Vicenza. Even a win may not have been enough.

With seven minutes to go, it was still 0-0. Gabriele Podavini got the ball and shot. It was more out of desperation than an actual goal scoring attempt. He miskicked it but the ball reached Giuliano Fiorini who turned on himself and scored.

Final verdict: Lazio, Campobasso and Taranto needed a playoff to determine who would join Cagliari, Catania and Vicenza in Serie C. In Naples on June 27 Lazio played their first game against Taranto and lost due to a goal in blatant offside. Then Taranto and Campobasso drew 1-1 on July 1. This meant that Lazio had to beat Campobasso to stay in Serie B. They did thanks to a Fabio Poli goal. The Biancocelesti were safe.

Let’s talk about Paolo Mandelli

Paolo Mandelli was born in Milan on December 4, 1967.

He started playing football in the Inter youth sector and debuted in the Serie A on March 16, 1986, in Napoli-Inter. After a couple of games in Coppa Italia in 1986 he was loaned to Lazio. The Biancocelesti had promotion ambitions but were unjustly given a 9-point docking for the alleged involvement in the 1986 match fixing scandal of one of their players, Claudio Vinazzani. Despite the handicap, Mandelli stayed on.

It was a dramatic season as Lazio managed to avoid relegation with a Giuliano Fiorini goal with seven minutes left in the last game of the season. This win took the Biancocelesti to a playoff and a Fabio Poli goal secured another year in Serie B.

Paolo Mandelli had a very positive year with Lazio with 39 total appearances and six goals. But he went back to Inter at the end of the season. The Nerazzurri then sold him to Sambenedettese. Between 1987 and 1990 he changed teams three times: after San Benedetto del Tronto he went to Messina and Reggiana. In 1990 he signed for Monza where he stayed for 2 years before moving to Foggia. He was chosen personally by Zdenek Zeman for his famous 4-3-3 formation At Foggia he stayed four years with 92 league appearances and 7 goals.

In 1996 he moved to Modena and stayed five seasons with 139 appearances and 13 goals. His last two years of active football were with Sassuolo.

Mandelli also has two caps with the Serie B Under 21.

Once he stopped playing, Mandelli became a manager. He managed the Sassuolo Primavera team from 2003 to 2017 winning a Viareggio tournament in 2017. During his stint at Sassuolo he also managed the first team a few times: in 2011, substituting Angelo Gregucci for the last three games and in 2014 when he coached the team after Eusebio Di Francesco was fired and the club were deciding who to substitute him with. In 2017 he left the Primavera and took over the Under 16s.

Between 2018 and 2021 he was manager of the Chievo Verona Primavera team and in the 2021-22 season the Spal under 18s. He is currently head coach of the Modena Primavera team.

Paolo Mandelli stayed just a year in Rome but he left a lasting mark. Partnering with Giuliano Fiorini in attack he gave a good contribution to the Lazio cause and will always be remembered to for being part of the heroic -9 squad.