October 27, 1999: Lazio -Bayer Leverkusen 1-1, Champions League
- Dag Jenkins
- Oct 27, 2025
- 8 min read
Lazio win group
Despite a home draw to Leverkusen the Biancocelesti proceed to second phase in first place
Also on this day:
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had come agonizingly close to winning the title. They were only overtaken by eventual champions Milan in the penultimate game of the season and in controversial circumstances. Lazio were held to a 1-1 draw in Florence with some extremely dubious refereeing decisions by Fiorenzo Treossi, including the denial of a clear penalty on Marcelo Salas.
Lazio had however triumphed in Europe winning the last ever Cup Winners Cup in May (2-1 against Mallorca in Birmingham) and then beaten Manchester United 1-0 (Salas) to lift the Supercup in August, in Monte Carlo.
This season there had been some important changes to the squad. Three more Argentinians were signed; defender Nestor Sensini (Parma), midfielders Diego "El Cholo" Simeone (Inter) and Juan Sebastian Veron "La Brujita" (Parma). Another midfielder Dario Marcolin was back from a loan spell (Blackburn) and striker Simone Inzaghi (Piacenza) was added. In the summer big Swedish forward Kennet Andersson had arrived from Bologna but in the autumn market session would soon be back in Emilia Romagna. To replace him Lazio would bring in experienced Fabrizio "Silver Fox" Ravanelli (Olympique Marseille)
Lazio had lost an important player in striker Christian Vieri who was sold to Inter for a then world record transfer fee of 90 billion Lire (approx 45 million Euros). Spanish midfielder Ivan de la Peña had gone to Olympique Marseille after a disappointing spell at Lazio and Roberto Baronio went to Reggina on loan.
In Serie A this season Lazio were currently top on 17 points, three ahead of second placed Juventus. The Biancocelesti had won 5, drawn 2 (including Milan 4-4 at home).
In the Champions League the Biancocelesti had played four games. On their historic debut they had drawn 1-1 away to today's opposition, thanks to a Sinisa Mihajlovic free kick. Lazio had then defeated Dynamo Kiev 2-1 at home and Maribor 4-0 both home and away. This evening was the fifth fixture. The table read: Lazio 10, Bayer Leverkusen 5, Dynamo Kiev 4, Maribor 3.
Lazio's Coppa Italia campaign would start on December 1 against Ravenna in the away leg of the last 16.
Bayer Leverkusen had finished 2nd in the Bundesliga the previous year. The manager was Christoph Daum and the top scorer was Ulf Kirsten with 24 goals (19 in league).
This season the manager was still Daum. The main new signings were: midfielders Michael Ballack (Kaiserslautern), Robson Ponte (Guarani) and Bernd Schneider (Eintracht Frankfurt) plus forwards Oliver Neuville (Hansa Rostock) and Thomas Brdarić (Fortuna Köln).
Leaving were: defender Jan Heintze (PSV), midfielders Niko Kovač (HSV Hamburg), Adam Ledwoń (Fortuna Köln) plus forwards Paulo Rink (Santos - on loan) and Erik Meijer (Liverpool)
In the Champions League the "Werkself" (factory club) had so far won 1 (Maribor 2-0 away), drawn 2 (Lazio and Dynamo Kiev, both 1-1 at home) and lost 1 (Dynamo Kiev 2-4 away).
In the Bundesliga "Die Aspirin" had so far won 5 (including Bayern Munich 2-0 at home), drawn 3 and lost 1.
They were surprisingly already out of the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) having lost 2-3 away a.e.t to Waldhof Mannheim.
So, a chance for Lazio to win the group tonight but a draw would also be sufficient. The Germans, on the other hand, needed a win not to risk being overtaken by Dynamo Kiev in second place.
The match: Wednesday, October 27, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Just over 30,000 were present on a mild October evening.
Lazio were without injured Alessandro Nesta but also Paolo Negro and Roberto Mancini. The visitors were missing Robert Kovač, Michael Ballack and Zé Roberto.
Lazio got off to a dream start and scored after fifty seconds. Sinisa Mihajlovic delivered a corner, Alen Boksic headed down and the keeper saved but on the rebound Pavel Nedved on his third attempt somehow bundled the ball over the line, 1-0.
Lazio played well and it all seemed almost too easy. Lazio were in control but tried to be too fancy and wasted several good chances.
In the 25th minute the Germans replaced Vratislav Greško with Markus Happe. Greško would be a negative protagonist some years later in 2002 playing for Inter against Lazio, contributing to the Nerazzurri losing the Scudetto.
In the 27th minute came the visitors first threat as a Jens Nowotny header whistled just over the crossbar.
After the early dominance Lazio pulled back and the Bundesliga side equalised just before halftime. In the 44th minute Happe crossed from the left, the ball was slightly deflected by Beppe Pancaro, misleading the keeper, and on the front post the first to pounce was Ulf Kristen who anticipated Mihajlovic and Luca Marchegiani to set the score line at 1-1.
Lazio had relaxed too much and let the "Werkself" back into the game.
In the second half the visitors attacked more but were rarely dangerous. The news came through that Dynamo Kiev were winning in Slovenia so at this point Die Aspirin were momentarily third in the table.
In the 59th minute Lazio made their first substitution bringing on Simone Inzaghi for an exhausted Boksic. He immediately put in a good cross for Marcelo Salas but the Chilean did not make the most of it with his header.
Inzaghi then had a chance himself but one-on-one the keeper saved and then Salas missed a sitter on the rebound.
The visitors made a change in the 67th minute, replacing Jörg Reeb with Frankie Hejduk.
Despite the news from Slovenia the "Pillendreher" (Pilltakers) seemed reasonably pleased with a draw and took no risks.
In the 76th minute a quiet Sergio Conceição was taken off and on came Dejan Stankovic.
There was time for Salas to miss another couple of chances and have an appeal for a probable penalty waved away before the final substitutions; Zoran Mamić for goal scorer Kirsten and Diego Simeone for Juan Sebastian Veron.
The game finished 1-1 and both sides seemed satisfied. Lazio were guaranteed to come top of the group while the Westphallians left Rome unbeaten. The table now read: Lazio 11, Dynamo Kiev 7, Bayer Leverkusen 6, Maribor 3.
Lazio could go to Kiev with no pressure or worries and rest some players while Leverkusen had to beat Maribor and hope Lazio did not lose in Ukraine.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Pancaro, F.Couto, Mihajlovic, Favalli, Conceição (76' Stankovic), Veron (89' Simeone), Almeyda, Nedved, Salas, Boksic (59' S.Inzaghi)
Manager: Eriksson
Who played for Bayer Leverkusen
Matysek, Reeb (67' Hejduk), Nowotny, Živković, Schneider, Ramelow, Emerson, Gresko (25' Happe), Beinlich, Kirsten (89' Mamic), Neuville
Substitutes: Heinen, Robson, Reichenberger, Hoffmann
Manager: Daum
Referee: Dallas (Scotland)
Goals: 1' Nedved, 44' Kirsten
What happened next
Lazio then defeated Dynamo Kiev 1-0 away to finish top on 14 points, ahead of Dynamo Kiev on 7, Bayer 7 and Maribor 4. Dynamo and Bayer had the same points and goal differences but the Ukrainians had better results in the direct matches (1-1 and 4-2).
In the second group phase Lazio won 3 (Olympique Marseille 2-0 away and 5-1 at home and Chelsea 2-1 away), drew 2 (Chelsea 0-0 at home and Feyenoord 0-0 away) and lost 1 (Feyenoord 1-2 at home) finishing
In the quarterfinal they played Valencia and were defeated 3-5 on aggregate and eliminated. A decent campaign which was ruined by a bad night at the Mestalla without Alessandro Nesta.
It was, however, an epic season for Lazio. They won the domestic double: Scudetto and Coppa Italia. In the league they pulled off a dramatic comeback and overtook Juventus in the last game of the season. They famously had to wait over an hour to finally celebrate as the Bianconeri's match in Perugia was interrupted due to a waterlogged pitch and then resumed and won by the hosts with "Il gol di Calori". Lazio were champions 26 years after Maestrelli's crazy gang of 1974.
In the next 27 games Lazio won 16 (including derby 2-1 and Juventus 1-0 away), drew 7 and lost 4. The top scorer was Simone Inzaghi with 19 goals while only in Serie A it was Marcelo Salas with 12.
In Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti eliminated Ravenna 5-2, Juventus on away goals (2-3, 2-1) and Venezia 7-2 to reach the final.
In the cup final they beat Inter 2-1 on aggregate to complete a historic double.
An unforgettable season.
Bayer Leverkusen then only drew 0-0 at home to Maribor and finished 3rd and were relegated to the UEFA Cup. In the UEFA competition they were then knocked out by Udinese on away goals.
In the Bundesliga they finished 2nd again, behind Bayern Munich. The top scorer was Kirsten with 23 goals (17 in league).
The Champions League was then won by Real Madrid who defeated Valencia 3-0 in Paris.
Let's talk about Maurizio Manzini - Team Manager
Maurizio Manzini is neither a player nor a coach but he is an institution at Lazio.
He was born in Rome on November 25, 1940. His early years of employment were in the field of air transport. He worked in Milan for various airlines including BEA and Itavia.
In 1971 merely as a fan he had his first contact with the Lazio team and directors in a Lugano hotel in Switzerland where the Biancocelesti were playing an Alps Cup game.
Manzini then moved back to Rome still working in the travel business. At work he realised the Lazio president Lenzini and his family were among his clients and he then organised one of Lazio's flights to an away game.
He became friends with Lazio secretary Fernando Vona and was soon collaborating regularly in organising the team's away trips.
Manzini was by now a familiar face at Tor di Quinto, Lazio's training headquarters and he also got on well with the head coach, Tommaso Maestrelli.
Manzini understood that at administrative level the club was badly organised and he became a general problem solver despite not being under contract.
In 1988 Giorgio Calleri, one of the brothers who owned Lazio alongside Gian Marco, proposed to Manzini to become Team Manager. Manzini however turned the offer down as he thought there was more security in the airline business. He did however continue helping out at Lazio with the logistics.
A year later the offer was renewed and this time Manzini accepted. From then on, he has accompanied Lazio around Italy and the world. He is a link between the players and the club, deals with the referees, transport and accommodation plans and generally any organisational matters.
He is discreet, professional, down to earth, charismatic and speaks five languages. He has become one with Lazio.
From 2015 he has delegated a lot of his tasks to younger collaborators but he is still involved with Lazio after more than fifty years. He is an integral and important part of Lazio history.
Born into a family of Roma fans he himself became a Lazio supporter and then managed to integrate his professional career with his football passion. On hundreds of clips of Lazio goals throughout all these years he can be seen celebrating on the bench with Maestrelli, Vinicio, Lovati, Fascetti, Materazzi, Zoff, Zeman, Eriksson, Rossi, Reja, Petkovic and Pioli to name a few. Manzini has seen a lot at Lazio.
Sources
Comments