2002–03 S.S. Lazio season

Lazio

2002–03 season
Manager	Roberto Mancini
Serie A	4th
Coppa Italia	Semi-finals
UEFA Cup	Semi-finals
Top goalscorer	Claudio López (15)
Home colours
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

S.S. Lazio suffered from a season of financial turmoil in 2002–03, but in spite of all troubles finished fourth in the Serie A, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in the process.

Season

The days of wealth were gone for Lazio following the collapse of owner Sergio Cragnotti's grocery empire. Cragnotti had tried to keep pace with the top teams during the initial stages of the summer, having signed wingers Christian Manfredini and Eriberto from Chievo. Due to payment difficulties the deal seemed to fall through, and Eriberto's transfer came to nothing when it was disclosed that he had played under a false passport, was four years older than advertised and called Luciano. That meant that the player was suspended, and stayed at Chievo. Manfredini was finally signed, while Juan Pablo Sorín came on loan from Brazilian side Cruzeiro, striker Enrico Chiesa came on a free transfer from bankrupt Fiorentina, while Massimo Oddo signed from relegated Hellas Verona.

In the latter part of the summer, the financial problem got more urgent, which resulted in all star players being put up for sale. Cragnotti was also forced to reliquish control of the club. Alessandro Nesta was sold to Milan, while Hernán Crespo signed for Internazionale, while Bernardo Corradi came in as a replacement as part of the deal.

The new-look Lazio surprised everyone, when it under the inspired coaching of Roberto Mancini propelled into the top position of the league during the latter part of the autumn season, and the team played with much more spirit and heat before, despite the players being forced to take pay cuts in the excess of 80%. Meanwhile the transfer saga of Gaizka Mendieta lingered on, with Lazio struggling to pay the entire transfer fee for the Spanish flop, who subsequently had been loaned out to Barcelona in order to cover his salary costs.

During the second half of the season, Lazio could not repeat its form from the first half, but held on to a fourth place while being in touch with Inter and Milan, who finished just up the ladder. The most prolific players were reinvigorated goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, experienced centre-half Jaap Stam, playmakers Stefano Fiore and Dejan Stanković, plus strikers Claudio López and Bernardo Corradi, who both scored more than ten goals.

Squad

Goalkeepers

• Luca Marchegiani
• Angelo Peruzzi
• Emanuele Concetti

Defenders

• Francesco Colonnese
• César
• Juan Pablo Sorín
• Siniša Mihajlović
• Giuseppe Pancaro
• Guerino Gottardi
• Giuseppe Favalli
• Massimo Oddo
• Paolo Negro
• Fernando Couto
• Jaap Stam

Midfielders

• Dino Baggio
• Dejan Stanković
• Stefano Fiore
• Diego Simeone
• Giuliano Giannichedda
• Nikola Lazetić
• Fabio Liverani
• Lucas Castromán
• Christian Manfredini

Attackers

• Claudio López
• Bernardo Corradi
• Simone Inzaghi
• Enrico Chiesa

Serie A

Matches

1	Lazio	2–3	Chievo
	Simeone  5' Corradi  64'		D'Anna  14' Bierhoff  49' Della Morte  70'

2	Torino	0–1	Lazio
			Simeone  86'

3	Lazio	1–1	Milan
	C. López  51'		Maldini  7'

4	Atalanta	0–1	Lazio
			César  24'

5	Lazio	3–0	Perugia
	S. Inzaghi  11' Chiesa  84, 90 + 1'

6	Lazio	2–2	Roma
	Fiore  51' Stanković  75'		Delvecchio  56' Batistuta  66'

7	Empoli	1–2	Lazio
	Atzori  45 + 1'		Corradi  45' Stanković  81'

8	Reggina	0–3	Lazio
			Fiore  16' Stanković  33' Corradi  53'

9	Lazio	0–0	Parma

10	Como	1–3	Lazio
	Corrent  37'		Simeone  18' C. López  56, 63'

11	Lazio	4–0	Modena
	Corradi  25, 89' C. López  31' César  71'

12	Piacenza	2–3	Lazio
	Maresca  17' Caccia  26'		Simeone  42' C. López  45 + 1' Corradi  90 + 1'

13	Lazio	3–3	Inter
	C. López  10' (pen.), 36', 53'		Couto  37' (o.g.) Emre  66, 75'

14	Juventus	1–2	Lazio
	Nedvěd  34'		Fiore  35, 51'

15	Lazio	1–1	Bologna
	C. López  45 + 1'		Zaccardo  65'

16	Brescia	0–0	Lazio

17	Lazio	2–1	Udinese
	C. López  27' Fiore  45 + 1'		Muzzi  40'

18	Lazio	0–1	Reggina
			Bonazzoli  46'

19	Chievo	1–1	Lazio
	Corini  45' (pen.)		Simeone  89'

20	Lazio	1–1	Torino
	Simeone  35'		Ferrante  71'

21	Milan	2–2	Lazio
	F. Inzaghi  62' Rivaldo  70'		Stanković  21' C. López  30' (pen.)

22	Lazio	0–0	Atalanta

23	Perugia	2–2	Lazio
	Zé Maria  13' Grosso  43'		Corradi  16' Negro  85'

24	Roma	1–1	Lazio
	Cassano  89'		Stanković  9'

25	Lazio	4–1	Empoli
	C. López  8' Corradi  41' Simeone  71' Castromán  85'		Buscè  5'

26	Parma	2–1	Lazio
	Cardone  4' Adriano  90 + 2'		Stanković  50'

27	Lazio	3–0	Como
	Fiore  6' Corradi  17' C. López  66' (pen.)

28	Modena	0–0	Lazio

29	Lazio	2–1	Piacenza
	S. Inzaghi  60' Corradi  74'		De Cesare  45'

30	Inter	1–1	Lazio
	Crespo  43'		S. Inzaghi  77'

31	Lazio	0–0	Juventus

32	Bologna	0–2	Lazio
			S. Inzaghi  45' (pen.) Favalli  59'

33	Lazio	3–1	Brescia
	Mihajlović  39' (pen.) César  45' C. López  81'		R. Baggio  20'

34	Udinese	2–1	Lazio
	Pizarro  67' (pen.) Jankulovski  83'		C. López  87' (pen.)

Top Scorers

• Claudio López 15 (4)
• Bernardo Corradi 10
• Diego Simeone 6
• Stefano Fiore 6
• Dejan Stanković 5

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	15	15	4	57	32	+25	60	7	8	2	31	16	+15	8	7	2	26	16	+10

UEFA Cup

1st Round

• Lazio-Xanthi 4-0
• 1-0 Christian Manfredini (45)
• 2-0 Claudio López (52)
• 3-0 Simone Inzaghi (67)
• 4-0 César (70)

• Xanthi-Lazio 0-0

2nd Round

• Lazio-Crvena Zvezda 1-0
• 1-0 Stefano Fiore (7)

• Crvena Zvezda-Lazio 1-1
• 1-0 Branko Bošković (70)
• 1-1 Enrico Chiesa (77)

3rd Round

• Sturm Graz-Lazio 1-3
• 1-0 Charles Amoah (45)
• 1-1 Enrico Chiesa (46)
• 1-2 Simone Inzaghi (57)
• 1-3 Simone Inzaghi (88)

• Lazio-Sturm Graz 0-1
• 0-1 Imre Szabics (87)

4th Round

• Lazio-Wisla Kraków 3-3
• 1-0 Nikola Lazetić (22)
• 1-1 Kalu Uche (39)
• 2-1 Mariusz Jup (44 og)
• 2-2 Maciej Żurawski (49 pen)
• 2-3 Maciej Żurawski (63 pen)
• 3-3 Enrico Chiesa (70)

• Wisla Kraków-Lazio 1-2
• 1-0 Marcin Kuźba (4)
• 1-1 Fernando Couto (21)
• 1-2 Enrico Chiesa (55)

Quarter Final

• Lazio-Beşiktaş 1-0
• 1-0 Simone Inzaghi (55)

• Beşiktaş-Lazio 1-2
• 0-1 Stefano Fiore (5)
• 0-2 Lucas Castromán (9)
• 1-2 Sergen Yalçın (83)

Semi Final

• Porto-Lazio 4-1
• 0-1 Claudio López (6)
• 1-1 Maniche (10)
• 2-1 Derlei (27)
• 3-1 Derlei (50)
• 4-1 Hélder Postiga (56)

• Lazio-Porto 0-0

Sources

RSSSF - Italy 2002/03

S.S. Lazio seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

2002–03 in Serie A Atalanta Bologna Brescia Chievo Como Empoli Internazionale Juventus Lazio Milan Modena Parma Perugia Piacenza Reggina Roma Torino Udinese