October 22, 2015: Lazio Rosenborg 3-1, Europa League
A victory against the odds
Reduced to ten men after only six minutes, Lazio overcame Rosenborg 3-1 at the Olimpico to maintain their perfect home record and move clear at the top of their Europa League group.
The season so far
The previous season had seen Lazio arrive third and qualify for the Champions League playoff. It was a great year and Lazio played really well so there was hope that it could be repeated.
The summer transfer window however was not what the fans had hoped for. A few of the older players were let go, so Lazio said goodbye to Cristian Ledesma, Lorik Cana, Diego Novaretti and Michael Ciani plus the younger ones who had disappointed such as Pedro Cavanda and Brayan Perea. In came Wesley Hoedt, Riccardo Kishna, Patric and a young Serb, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
The first game of the season was in August, the Supercoppa against Juventus, played in Shanghai. No contest and Lazio were beaten 2-0 on an appalling pitch. The Biancocelesti’s form was pretty terrible but the focus was on the Champions League playoff against Bayer Leverkusen.
In front of a packed Olimpico, Lazio played really well in the first leg and won 1-0. They could/should have scored more but some players were still a bit behind physically. The problem was that Miroslav Klose got injured in the first half and at that time Lazio did not have a centre forward who could replace him.
The return match against Bayer Leverkusen was a defensive nightmare. Manager Stefano Pioli decided to “experiment” a 3-4-3 formation instead of the classic 4-4-2. As a consequence, Lazio lost 3-0 so they were relegated to Europa League.
One could see immediately that Lazio were having problems and they were not playing as well as 2014-15. Narrow wins and big defeats (4-0 against Chievo, 5-0 against Napoli), players who were not performing as well as the previous year (Felipe Anderson for example) or other fundamental pieces that Lazio lost through injury (Stefan de Vrij).
Lazio were fourth on 15 points together with Napoli and Sassuolo.
In Europa League however things were looking good. The Biancocelesti had drawn their first game with Dnipro and beaten Saint Etienne. Today was match three.
The match: Thursday, October 22, 2015, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Lazio had made a promising start against Rosenborg, but within six minutes their evening had threatened to turn into a nightmare.
Stefano Pioli's side hit the woodwork twice inside the opening five minutes, with Wesley Hoedt and Stefano Mauri both coming close. Then came a moment of madness from Mauricio.
The Brazilian defender failed to control a seemingly harmless ball, allowed Alexander Søderlund's teammate to steal it and, with the Rosenborg attacker racing clear towards goal, brought him down. The referee had little choice but to show a straight red card.
Lazio were suddenly facing 84 minutes with ten men.
Pioli immediately reacted, sacrificing Eddy Onazi for Santiago Gentiletti and reorganising his team into a more cautious 4-4-1.
Lazio dropped deeper, allowing Rosenborg to take the initiative, but the numerical disadvantage also changed the game in an unexpected way. The Norwegians were forced to attack rather than sit back, while Lazio had space in which to exploit the pace of Antonio Candreva and Felipe Anderson.
It was from precisely that approach that Lazio took the lead.
Just before the half-hour mark, Candreva found Alessandro Matri with a superb pass into space. Matri raced through and calmly beat André Hansen to put Lazio 1-0 ahead.
Rosenborg now had even more possession, but Lazio were increasingly dangerous on the counter. Etrit Berisha was forced into an important save from Søderlund before the interval, while the visitors struggled to find a way through Lazio's two compact defensive lines.
Lazio then produced one of their best moves of the evening early in the second half. Matri turned provider this time, finding Felipe Anderson, who finished to make it 2-0 in the 54th minute. Playing with ten men, Lazio were suddenly two goals ahead.
But the game was far from over.
Rosenborg reduced the deficit in the 69th minute when Søderlund rose to head the ball beyond Berisha. The goal brought back memories of Lazio's defensive problems during these opening months of the season and suddenly the visitors sensed an opportunity.
Lazio survived a spell of pressure, helped by Berisha and the woodwork, before restoring their two-goal advantage ten minutes from time.
Candreva was awarded a penalty and saw his effort saved by Hansen. The ball, however, fell straight back to him and the Lazio winger made no mistake with the rebound. The 3-1 was finally on the scoreboard.
There was still time for one final twist.
Rosenborg were awarded a penalty in stoppage time after Konko brought down Konradsen. Søderlund stepped up, but Berisha produced another excellent save to preserve Lazio's two-goal lead.
The final whistle confirmed one of Lazio's most satisfying European victories of the season. They had played almost the entire match with ten men, yet had scored three times and remained unbeaten at home.
The victory took Lazio to seven points from three Group G matches, three points clear at the top. It was also their seventh consecutive home victory in all competitions at the start of the 2015-16 season.
Who played for Lazio
Berisha, Konko, Mauricio, Hoedt, Radu, Onazi (11' Gentiletti), Cataldi, Candreva, Mauri (74' Milinkovic Savic), Felipe Anderson (69' Lulic), Matri
Manager: Pioli
Who played for Rosenborg
An. Hansen, Svensson (76' Konradsen), Bjordal, Eyjólfsson, Dorsin (61' Mikkelsen), Jensen, Selnæs (89' Vulhjàlmsson), Midtsjo, De Lanlay, Søderlund, Skjelvic
Substitutes: Al. Hansen, Reginiussen, Pedersen, Stamnestrø
Manager: Ingebrigtsen
Referee: Gil
Goals: 28' Matri, 54' Felipe Anderson, 69' Soderlund, 79' Candreva
What happened next
The season seemed basically over when Lazio collected only two points in seven games between the end of October and mid-December. But then they won in Milan against Inter and things looked positive again.
Lazio played a horrible goalless game with Carpi at home in the first game of 2016 but then beat Fiorentina away and came back from two nil down to draw at Bologna. They then beat Sassuolo but the return to form was short-lived.
Disappointing goalless draws away from home at Udine, Genoa and Frosinone, the usual loss against Napoli and an unusual one at home against Sassuolo really meant that a European Cup qualification was too far away.
To make matters worse was the incredible elimination from the Europa League. Lazio had played really well in Europe and after the group stage had to play against Galatasaray in February, 1-1 away and a comfortable 3-1 win at home. Next up was Sparta Prague. There was optimism after drawing the away leg 1-1. And then the debacle that nobody expected. Lazio lost 3-0 at home. A Collapse.
The inconsistency and bad form of some of the players came to a culmination with the 4-1 loss in the derby two weeks later. Lazio actually did not play too badly and were unlucky, hitting the woodwork twice when they were 2-1 down.
President Claudio Lotito decided that it was time for a change and sacked Pioli. Simone Inzaghi, former player of the 2000 scudetto, had already been helped considerably by Lazio in his career as a manager. The club really believed in his abilities and had given him various youth teams in order to gain experience.
The time was ripe for the big jump and he took over.
A good start with two consecutive wins and a few tactical changes before a defeat in Turin against Juventus and one against Sampdoria where Lazio had a million chances to win.
Goodbye to Europe and goodbye to Miro Klose who made his last appearance for Lazio against Fiorentina in the last game of the season. Lazio had no intention of renewing his contract and it did not seem that he was interested in continuing.
Let’s talk about Giacomo Murelli
Giacomo Murelli was born in San Secondo Parmense, near Parma, on March 29, 1964.
A right-footed defender who could operate on either side of the defence, he came through the youth system at Parma and made his first-team debut during the 1980-81 Serie C1 season.
He spent four seasons with the club and helped Parma win promotion to Serie B in 1983-84.
After making only two appearances for Parma in Serie B, Murelli joined Avellino during the autumn of 1984. He spent five seasons with the Campanian club, four of them in Serie A, and became particularly well known for his performances against Napoli.
Murelli was regularly assigned to mark Diego Maradona, earning himself the nickname l'anti-Maradona. In the meetings between the two sides, Maradona scored only once when Murelli was playing.
Murelli subsequently played three seasons in Serie B with Cremonese before moving to Padova in 1992. He later had spells with Padova, Brescello and Crociati Parma, finishing his professional career after more than 350 appearances across Serie A, Serie B and Serie C. His professional record included 63 Serie A appearances and 150 in Serie B.
He continued playing at amateur level and began his coaching career with Suzzara. During his two seasons there, he guided the club from Promozione to Eccellenza in 2001-02 and also won the Coppa Italia Dilettanti. The following season Suzzara added the Supercoppa Dilettanti.
In 2003 Murelli joined Modena, initially as a technical assistant to Alberto Malesani. When Stefano Pioli subsequently became head coach, Murelli became his assistant. It marked the beginning of an extraordinary professional partnership that would last more than two decades.
The pair subsequently worked together at Parma, Grosseto, Piacenza, Sassuolo, Chievo, Palermo, Bologna, Lazio, Inter, Fiorentina and Milan.
Murelli joined Lazio in June 2014 as Pioli's assistant. He remained at the club throughout the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, becoming part of the coaching staff that guided Lazio to third place in Serie A in 2014-15 and qualification for the Champions League play-off round. He remained Pioli's assistant until April 2016.
After leaving Lazio, Murelli followed Pioli to Inter in November 2016 and then to Fiorentina in 2017. When Pioli resigned from Fiorentina in April 2019, Murelli briefly took charge of training before the club appointed Vincenzo Montella as his successor.
In October 2019, Murelli and Pioli reunited at Milan. Murelli remained Pioli's assistant for almost five seasons, including the club's successful 2021-22 Serie A campaign.
When Pioli left Milan in 2024, their long professional partnership finally came to an end.
Murelli subsequently accepted a new challenge in 2025, joining Cagliari as assistant coach to Fabio Pisacane. The appointment reunited him with Pisacane, whom Murelli had previously worked with at Chievo.
Murelli thus built a coaching career largely away from the spotlight, but alongside one of Italian football's most prominent coaches. His long association with Pioli took him to some of the country's biggest clubs, with Lazio representing an important chapter in a partnership that ultimately lasted more than two decades.
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