September 14, 2017: Vitesse Lazio 2-3, Europa League
Murgia completes a remarkable comeback as Lazio turn it around in Arnhem
Twice behind in Arnhem, Lazio rally after the break as Parolo, Immobile and Murgia complete a thrilling comeback.
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had arrived fifth and qualified for the Europa League. They had also reached the final of the Coppa Italia but lost to Juve.
The summer transfer window had seen the arrivals of Adam Marusic, Felipe Caicedo, Liverpool legend Lucas Leiva and Manchester United legend Nani. Goodbye Wesley Hoedt, Lucas Biglia and Keita Balde.
The season kicked off to a good start. Lazio managed to beat Juventus 3-2 in the Italian Super Cup with a goal in the dying seconds from youngster Alessandro Murgia. Doubles from Ciro Immobile and Paolo Dybala had made the game 2-2.
In campionato Lazio were fourth just two points off leaders Napoli, Juventus and Inter. They had won three, including Milan 4-1, and drawn the opening game with Spal.
Today was the first match of Europa League. Lazio were paired with Vitesse, today’s opponents, Zulte Waregem and Nice.
The match: Thursday, September 14, 2017, Gelredome, Arnhem
Lazio began their 2017–18 Europa League campaign with a memorable 3–2 comeback victory over Vitesse at the GelreDome in Arnhem. Twice behind, Simone Inzaghi's side recovered through goals from Marco Parolo, Ciro Immobile and Alessandro Murgia, with the latter producing the decisive moment 15 minutes from time.
With a demanding run of Serie A fixtures ahead, Inzaghi opted for significant rotation. Thomas Strakosha started in goal behind a three-man defence of Bastos, Stefan de Vrij and Luiz Felipe, while Adam Marušic and Jordan Lukaku occupied the flanks. Parolo, Davide Di Gennaro and Murgia formed the midfield, with Luis Alberto supporting Felipe Caicedo. It was also Di Gennaro's competitive debut for Lazio.
The heavily rotated Lazio controlled much of the first half without producing enough in the final third. Luis Alberto came closest when he headed just wide from Marušic's cross, while Caicedo also caused problems for the Dutch defence. Vitesse, however, were dangerous whenever they counter-attacked, with the pace of Milot Rashica proving particularly troublesome.
The hosts eventually took the lead in the 33rd minute. Rashica escaped down the right and delivered an excellent cross towards the far post, where Tim Matavž was left unmarked and calmly turned the ball into the net. Lazio had enjoyed possession but found themselves behind at the interval.
Inzaghi responded immediately at half-time, sending Immobile onto the pitch for Luiz Felipe and changing the system to a back four. The effect was dramatic. Lazio suddenly had a genuine focal point in attack and began playing with considerably greater intensity.
The equaliser arrived in the 51st minute. After a series of ricochets around the edge of the penalty area, the ball fell to Parolo, who struck a superb left-footed shot beyond goalkeeper Remko Pasveer. At 1–1, Lazio were back in the game.
Yet their defensive problems had not disappeared. Just six minutes later Vitesse regained the lead. Rashica was again involved, delivering another dangerous ball from the right after Lazio failed to deal with the situation, and Bryan Linssen arrived to fire the hosts into a 2–1 advantage.
For several minutes Lazio looked vulnerable. Vitesse had the opportunity to extend their lead, with Matavž forcing Strakosha into an important save and Bruns narrowly missing another chance. But Lazio survived—and their superior individual quality gradually began to tell.
Inzaghi introduced Sergej Milinković-Savić for Di Gennaro and later brought on Senad Lulić for Lukaku. Luis Alberto dropped deeper to help dictate the play, while the introduction of the regular first-team players gave Lazio greater authority in midfield.
The equaliser came in the 67th minute. Milinković-Savić helped initiate the move before Caicedo produced an excellent back-heel to release Immobile. The striker made no mistake, calmly sliding the ball into the corner for his first Europa League goal with Lazio.
The comeback was completed seven minutes later.
Immobile was again at the centre of the action, receiving the ball and playing a perfectly weighted pass into the path of Alessandro Murgia. The young midfielder showed remarkable composure, resisting the challenge of Van der Werff before finishing past Pasveer to make it 3–2.
It was another decisive moment in Murgia's remarkable early Lazio career. Just a month after scoring the winning goal against Juventus in the Italian Super Cup, he had once again stood out and scored an important late winner.
Vitesse refused to surrender. Rashica continued to cause problems and, in the closing stages, substitute Luc Castaignos had a golden opportunity to equalise, heading over the crossbar. Lazio survived the final pressure and secured three points from a match that had appeared to be slipping away from them twice.
For Lazio, it was an ideal start to their European campaign: a 3–2 victory, three points away from home and a comeback that demonstrated character.
Who played for Vitesse
Pasveer, Dabo (82' Kolkett), Van der Werff, Kashia, Miazga, Buttner, Bruns (88' Mount), Linssen, Foor, Rashica, Matavz (79' Castaignos)
Substitutes: Houwen, Van Bergen, Lelieveld, Faye
Manager: Fraser
Who played for Lazio
Strakosha, Bastos, de Vrij, Luiz Felipe (46' Immobile), Marusic, Parolo, Di Gennaro (61' Milinkovic-Savic), Murgia, Lukaku (67' Lulic), Luis Alberto, Caicedo
Manager: S. Inzaghi
Referee: Liany
Goals: 33' Matavz, 51' Parolo, 57' Linssen, 67' Immobile, 74' Murgia
What happened next
At the end of the first half of the season Lazio were 4th. They stayed fourth for a while and even reached 3rd at the end of February, but it lasted just one game as they lost at home against Juventus in injury time. In mid-March they slipped to fifth but again moved up to third in early April and stayed there until three games to the end of the season. The first four qualified for the Champions League. They were tied with Roma and had a four-point lead over Inter.
But with Immobile injured they drew the first game at home and Inter reduced the deficit to two points. In the penultimate game Lazio had to win against struggling Crotone but only managed to draw. So did Inter, and the final game at the Olimpico against the Nerazzurri was decisive.
With 12 minutes to go Lazio were winning 2-1, but Inter managed to score two goals in 4 minutes and Lazio had to settle for Europa League. A big blow.
In Coppa Italia the Biancocelesti were eliminated by Milan in the semi-finals on penalties and in Europa League they reached the quarter finals but were eliminated by Red Bull Salzburg 6-5 on aggregate.
Let's talk about Marco Parolo
Marco Parolo played for Lazio from 2014 to 2021.
Marco Parolo was born in Gallarate (Milan), on 25 January, 1985.
He started his professional career at Como in C1 in 2004. At the end of the season Como were relegated and folded so Parolo moved on to Chievo Verona from where he was immediately loaned to Pistoiese (C1) for two seasons. In 2007 he returned to Chievo only to be loaned to Foligno (C1) for €500. In 2008 he again returned to Chievo this time for €50,000 but then sold to city rivals Verona, only to return to Chievo for virtually nothing at the end of the season.
Parolo's coming and going, to and from Chievo, finally came to an end in 2009 when he was loaned out to Cesena in Serie B. It was in Romagna he got his breakthrough winning promotion and at the end of the season was actually bought by the club. Parolo made his Serie A debut against Roma on 28 August 2010. Parolo performed well for Cesena and even got a call up by the National "Azzurri".
In 2012 he was loaned to Parma in Serie A. He played two solid seasons in Emilia and attracted Lazio's interest. In 2014 he was bought by Lazio for €4.5 million.
Parolo had an excellent career in Rome. He was a first team choice for seven seasons. He rarely missed a game due to suspension or injury and despite playing in a holding role in midfield often got himself in goal scoring positions. In one away game at Pescara in 2017 he actually scored 4 times!
Parolo played a total of 265 games for Lazio (211 in Serie A, 21 in Coppa Italia, 7 in Champions League, 24 in Europa League and two Super Coppa finals) with 39 goals (27 in Serie A, 3 in Coppa Italia, 2 in Champions League and 7 in Europa League).
At International level he won 36 caps over a 7-year period.
Parolo retired from Lazio, and football in 2021, at the age of 36.
Parolo was a physical, reliable, hard-working, box to box midfielder. He was not a particularly quick player but had good timing, positioning and at 1.83 metres was useful in the air. He had defensive qualities as well as powerful, accurate shooting abilities. His number 16 shirt could be seen in all areas of the field. He was versatile and could be deployed in various positions including right-sided winger or wing back or even as central defender on some occasions.
At Lazio Parolo won the Coppa Italia in 2019 (Atalanta) and 2 Italian Supercups in 2017 and 2019 (both against Juventus). He will be remembered positively in the capital; he was a regular for seven years and stood out for his work rate enriched by several important goals. He was respected on and off the pitch as an exemplary professional and was almost old style; no tattoos, trendy haircuts or expensive jewellery. To be a footballer he was considered to be of above average culture and was always intelligent and articulate in interviews. He used these skills in punditry working for DAZN TV on Serie A matches.
Since 2025-26 he is manager of the Milan under-16 team.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Champions League | Europa League | Super Coppa |
2014-15 | 40 (11) | 34 (10) | 6 (1) | - | - | - |
2015-16 | 40 (6) | 31 (3) | - | 2 | 7 (3) | - |
2016-17 | 38 (5) | 34 (5) | 4 | - | - | - |
2017-18 | 43 (6) | 31 (4) | 3 | - | 8 (2) | 1 |
2018-19 | 42 (6) | 34 (4) | 4 | - | 4 (2) | - |
2019-20 | 37 (2) | 29 (1) | 2 (1) | - | 5 | 1 |
2020-21 | 25 (3) | 18 | 2 (1) | 5 (2) | - | - |
Total | 265 (39) | 211 (27) | 21 (3) | 7 (2) | 24 (7) | 2 |
Sources
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