September 27, 1994: Lazio -Dinamo Minsk 4-1, UEFA Cup
The Sun after the Storm
Lazio fall behind early on and face elimination for over an hour but finally come through as clear winners
The season so far
The previous season Lazio had finished 4th and again qualified for the UEFA Cup. Top Serie A scorer was Beppe Signori with 23 goals (and 28 in total).
New owner Sergio Cragnotti however decided it was time for a change. Out went Dino Zoff's conservative style of play and in came "Zemanlandia" with new manager Zdenek Zeman, who had impressed at Foggia. Zoff was kept on as President.
The Bohemian brought Argentinian defender José Chamot with him and was reunited with winger Roberto Rambaudi (Atalanta). Lazio also added midfielder Giorgio Venturin (Torino) to their squad.
Leaving Lazio were defenders and fan favourite Luigi Corino (Brescia), Luca Luzardi (Napoli) plus well serving midfielder Claudio Sclosa (Cremonese-on loan).
In Serie A Lazio had played four games. On their debut the Biancocelesti had won 1-0 away at Bari, then beaten Torino 3-0 at home, lost 1-2 at Milan and drawn 2-2 at home with Parma.
In the Coppa Italia they had got through the round of 32 by defeating Modena 9-1 on aggregate.
Today was the return leg of the UEFA Cup round of 64. In the away game Lazio had drawn 0-0 away at Dinamo Minsk.
Dinamo Minsk were Belarus champions. Their manager was Ivan Shchekin. In their history "Dinamo" had won a Soviet league title (1982), 3 Belarus league titles (1992, 1993 and 1994) and 2 Belarus Cups (1992, 1994). In the 1983-84 European Cup, representing the Soviet Union, they had reached the quarterfinals.
Lazio were strong favourites this evening. In Minsk, Lazio had been clearly superior but wasteful, although the Belarusians had a few chances too.
The match: Tuesday, September 7, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
A crowd of 35,000 turned up at the Olimpico for Lazio's home European debut.
The Biancocelesti were as usual without injured Paul Gascoigne but otherwise had the whole squad available.
The visitors made two changes from the first leg. In came Sergei Shtanyuk and Aleksandar Lukhvich and out went Sergey Baranovsky and Oleg Putilo.
Lazio's start was hellish. In the 7th minute Paolo Negro was naively dispossessed on the left by Antuan Mayorov who squared to Pyotr Kachuro and it was 0-1. An incubus, now Lazio needed two unanswered goals to qualify.
What followed was an attack against defence exercise for the whole first half. The Belarusians set up fort in their own half and defended by fair or foul means.
Lazio stubbornly tried to penetrate through the middle and thus helped the visitors' destructive tactics. Lazio had two penalty appeals, the first on Roberto Rambaudi and the second on Beppe Signori but the Spanish referee was not swayed.
The fans were getting fractious and Negro and Beppe Favalli in particular were the targets of their dissatisfaction.
The crowd however got behind Lazio and just before halftime the visitors' wall cracked under pressure with friendly fire. Roberto Cravero pushed forward and sent Alen Boksic down the left wing, the Croat crossed low and Andrey Ostrovsky, worried about the incoming Rambaudi, bundled the ball into his own net, 1-1. The perfect moment to score the equaliser. If the first half had been an all out attack the second was likely to be a siege.
The Belarusians made one change during the break and it was a defensive one as they took off forward Evgeniy Kashentsev and brought on midfielder Eduard Demenkovets.
Lazio predictably attacked in numbers and the chances abounded. Negro almost redeemed himself but his header hit the post while Roberto Di Matteo and Boksic seemed to be in a competition to see who could miss more chances.
Lazio's efforts were rewarded in the 62nd minute. Aron Winter on the left passed to Favalli who surprised the keeper by shooting when a cross was expected and the ball went in under the crossbar, 2-1. A liberation for Lazio.
The visitors had been in the trenches for so long that they were now unable to change their game plan. Lazio on the other hand smelt blood and continued to attack.
The tie was definitely clinched in the 74th minute. Favalli was the protagonist again as he put a high lob over the keeper which Boksic finished off with a header 3-1.
"Dinamo" now realised things were degenerating and threw on Oleg Tchernivski in place of defender Ostrovsky.
In the 78th minute Boksic was given a deserved rest and on came Gigi Casiraghi.
The flood gates were now open and in the 84th minute Lazio made it four. Signori and Rambaudi took a short corner and then the ball reached Diego Fuser who blasted in a long range shot, 4-1 and mission accomplished.
Lazio had seen a shock exit on the cards but once they got the breakthrough equaliser things had gone smoothly and the difference in quality become blatant.
Who played for Lazio
Marchegiani, Negro, Favalli, Di Matteo, Cravero, Chamot, Rambaudi, Fuser, Boksic (78' Casiraghi), Winter, Signori
Manager: Zeman
Who played for Dinamo Minsk
Varivonchik, Yaskovich, Ostrovsky (75' Tcherniavski), Shtanyuk, Khatskevich, Lukhvich, Zhuravel, Shirokyi, Mayorov, Kashintsev (46' Demenkovets), Kachuro
Manager: Shchekin
Referee: Garcia Aranda Encinar (Spain)
Goals: 9' Kachuro, 45' Ostrovsky (og), 62' Favalli, 74' Boksic, 84' Fuser
What happened next
Lazio had a positive season. They finished in 2nd place in Serie A, albeit ten points behind champions Juventus. In the next 30 games he Biancocelesti won 17 (including derby 2-0, Juventus 3-0 away, Inter 2-0 away, Napoli 5-1, Milan 4-0, Fiorentina 8-2, Foggia 7-1, Padova 5-1, Genoa 4-0 at home), drew 5 and lost 8 (including derby 0-3). So, some great and high scoring wins but not enough consistency yet to really challenge for the Scudetto.
In the UEFA Cup they had a good run reaching the quarterfinals. Lazio eliminated Trelleborg from Sweden 1-0 and Trabzonspor from Turkey 4-2 but were then narrowly knocked out by Borussia Dortmund, 1-2 on aggregate (with a last minute winner by former Lazio, Karl-Heinz Riedle).
In the Coppa Italia Lazio reached the semi-finals but were beaten by Juventus 1-3 on aggregate.
All in all, a season to remember. Entertainment was guaranteed, especially at home, and Lazio were the best attack with 69 goals (51 at home but only 18 away...). Top Lazio scorer was Beppe Signori with 21 (17 in the league).
Dinamo Minsk won their league again. They have since won 5 more league titles (1995, 1997, 2004, 2023, 2024), a Belarus Cup (2002-03) and a Super Cup (2025). Their main rivals these days are Bate Borisov but the current champions are ML Vicebsk.
The UEFA Cup was eventually won by Parma who beat Juventus 2-1 on aggregate.
Let's talk about Lazio Jersey 1994-95
Image Sources: Football Kit Archive (first, second, third, goalkeeper first), SS Lazio Museum (goalkeeper second). Third goalkeeper recreated by AI
The main sponsor was Banca di Roma while the technical one was Umbro.
The shirts were the same as the previous season's. The first shirt was light blue with a white collar and white wrists. The only small difference was the writing on the collar which was no longer "est 1900" but just "1900". The shorts were white with a dark blue stripe down the sides with a thinner light blue on in the middle. The socks were white.
The away shirt was grey and this was a novelty. It was a complex design. The shirt was a multi toned blended pattern in the middle and on the right sleeve while the sides and left sleeve were made up of jumbled geometric shapes. The collar was dark blue, light blue and grey. The shorts were dark blue with a thick grey stripe down the sides and the socks were dark blue. The shirt however was rarely used as the colour was too similar to the first shirt.
The third shirt was the "lightning" shirt. It was in three parts, navy blue cut in two by thick jagged diagonal light blue. The sleeves were light blue while the collar was dark blue, light blue and white. The back of the shirt was plain navy blue. The shorts were navy blue with a white stripe on one side and a light blue and white one on the other. This shirt was the one used regularly for away games. This was an original shirt and not seen often before or since.
The goalkeeper's shirts were influenced by the Jorge Campos effect (the Mexican keeper who designed garish and bright shirts). One version was brownish-grey with irregular sky blue vertical crisscrosses and another even more flashy was grey with the zig zag vertical lines in dark blue and yellow.
A curious fact is that this was the last season in which the shirts had to be numbered 1-11. From 1995-96 the players could choose their own from 1-99.
Sources
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