Futile Lazio throw European football community in uproar

Following my prediction that professionalism would prevail and that fans would have no say whatsoever in the outcome of the game at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday night, the complete opposite was quite apparent. Lazio started the game well and kept Inter at bay, mostly down to the almost superhuman efforts of Fernando Muslera in goal.

Edy Reja fielded Lazio’s usual 3-5-2 formation with the wing backs dropping into a 5 man back line when they didn’t have the ball. The 3 man back line was caught out time and time again by balls over the top to Eto’o on the right. The goal came just before half time from the unlikely goal machine, Walter Samuel.

It is always a blow to concede just before half time but when your home fans celebrate the goal as much the away fans it must be a very strange environment to find yourself in. The Lazio ultras in the Curva Nord compounded their wild celebrations with a blatant attack of sarcasm toward Roma and their fans by unveiling a banner that read ‘Oh noooooo’. In the Italian press this morning the Roman fans have hit back by calling Lazio the third Milanese club and vowing to show no mercy when they meet Inter on Wednesday in the final of the Coppa Italia.

It must have been difficult for the players to react in such an environment where there are no fans in the stadium cheering you on. In this age of mercenary style transfers there are no truly iconic fan-players left in this Lazio side, they can be excused from throwing the game through anti-Roma sentiment.  They cannot be excused however for not playing to their full potential.

Titles will be decided by external forces, but not empowered fans

This coming Sunday we could see both the Serie A and the English Premier League all but decided. In England Liverpool host Chelsea in the early Sunday kick off, Chelsea need to win to stay ahead of Manchester Utd who go to Sunderland in the later kick off. Conversely in Italy, Roma play first, on Saturday evening they travel to mid table Parma. Then Lazio host Inter in the customary Sunday evening kick off.

If Liverpool beat or draw with Chelsea and Manchester United defeat Sunderland, the reds will be in pole position to finish the season on top. Taking their total league victories to 19 making them the most successful team in the country. Liverpool need to win to have any hope of finishing in the final Champions League qualifying position but if Spurs win on Saturday the gap will be 5 points with 2 games left to play and basically insurmountable.

Similarly in Italy if Roma win and Inter lose it is very likely that the run ins will be a formality and Roma will take the scudetto. If this is the case it will break Inter’s monopoly on the title which stretches back to the 2005-06 title they were awarded following the Calciopoli corruption case. Lazio also need points, they need just one more win to guarantee safety and another season in Serie A. However if results go their way earlier on in the day then they will not need anything from the game. Atalanta play Bologna and need to win to have any realistic chance of surviving, whereas Siena host Palermo and also need to win to survive.

Having fierce rivals influence each others’ seasons indirectly certainly gets the fans talking. Liverpool fans have been debating how enthusiastically they will be cheering their team on, given the apparent “magnitude” of the result. Likewise Lazio Ultras forums have been calling for the team to throw the game, to ensure that their fierce rivals don’t notch up yet another title.

Ultimately it is the attitude of the players that will decide which way the title fortunes will swing, they are more likely to be moved by the psychological effects of on-pitch causes than a bit of fan banter. However I wouldn’t want to be on the end of an attack from the Irriducibili, the Lazio ultras.