Hi there,

I just wanted to inform anyone that I am officially closing this blog. The reason is that, after many attempts, I finally moved to a .com domain.

You can find all previous articles and many new ones by clicking to the below link:

http://laziofanblog.com

See you there

We face Atalanta away on day 4 of Serie A season. Atalanta has a fanstastic squad capable of giving hard time to all teams in the league and they proved that by drawing Fiorentina away last Sunday, albeit having a player sent off in the second half.

On the other hand, we are going there after 4 consecutive draws (3 in Serie A and 1 in CL) and truth to be told I expect nothing more from this encounter either. As far as the team is concerned, only Firmani and Siviglia remain out for sure while Mutarelli and Behrami are having some problems with muslces I read. Mauri is feeling much better and is expected to start for sure. What we still dont`t know is who will start on the goal: Ballota or Muslera. Rossi has still not manage to set a rotation between the goalkeepers.

All in all, an interesting match this one should be with Atalanta trying to win at home and Lazio trying not to lose still. Hope for a win though.

After last night`s match against Olympiacos in Champions League, our veteran goalkeeper Marco Ballota has set a new record.

As a matter of a fact, with 43 years and 168 days, he is the oldest player to play Champions League.

Congrats Marco.

by Stefano Cieri
Gazzetta dello Sport

LAZIO
Ballotta 6,5

De Silvestri 5,5 (Scaloni s.v.).

Stendardo 6

Cribari 6

Zauri 7 (the best)

Mudingayi 5

C. Ledesma 5,5

Manfredini 6

Del Nero 6,5

Mauri 6

Mutarelli 6,5

Pandev 5,5

Rocchi 5,5

Coach Rossi 5,5 he should have inserted Mutarelli and Del Nero earlier in the match.

Just like I anticipate (but did not write on the blog entry), we only managed a draw against Olympiacos last night. Watching the highlights, one may observe that we could have easily lost the match, considering another poor display, but also win it if Pandev stroke better just before the end. All in all it is not a bad result considering the fact that this is an away match against a side that is playing CL football for 11 years in a row and considering that, save for Zauri, this was the first CL game for the rest of Lazio team.

Below is the match comment from uefa.com.

Olympiacos CFP and S.S. Lazio shared the spoils in Athens after their closely contested Group C opener at the Georgios Karaiskakis stadium ended in a 1-1 draw.

Lucianos score
It was a tale of the two Lucianos: Argentine midfielder Luciano Galletti put Olympiacos ahead ten minutes into the second half before Luciano Zauri levelled matters with an equally slick finish with 13 minutes remaining. There was an eerily silent atmosphere in the empty stadium as Olympiacos served a one-match behind-closed-doors sanction as punishment for crowd disturbances last season. But a vociferous gathering of Olympiacos fans in the parking area behind the main stand did their utmost to rally behind their team.

Ballotta record
And it was the hosts who almost went ahead after five minutes when skipper Predrag Djordjević side-footed over from close range after a great run and cross by Vasilios Torossidis. There was danger at the other when Lazio won a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area but Cristián Ledesma’s curling effort was tipped away by Antonis Nikopolidis. Lomana LuaLua’s trickery and athleticism was causing problems for Lazio and on 14 minutes a neat dribble took him past two defenders on the edge of the area, but his deflected shot fell kindly for Lazio keeper Marco Ballotta, who became the oldest player to compete in the UEFA Champions League group stage at the age of 43 years and 168 days.

Galletti chance
Neither goalkeeper was extended in a tentative opening 45 minutes. The visitors’ best chance came just after the half-hour and only a last-ditch tackle by Michał Żewłakow blocked Stefano Mauri’s goalbound shot as the Olympiacos back-line were caught napping. The hosts finished the half strongly, however, as Galletti broke clear down the right channel and drew an excellent save from Ballotta at his near post.

Galletti strikes
A strong start to the second half from Olympiacos saw defender Paraskevas Antzas’s point-blank header saved by Ballotta six minutes in, before the hosts broke the deadlock in the 55th minute. A slick passing move involving Djordjević and LuaLua sprung the Lazio offside trap and sent Galletti galloping through on goal. The Argentine forward neatly rounded Ballotta before slotting in a right-footed shot. With Lazio on the backfoot, Galletti won two corners in the space on a minute just after the hour mark, before Djordjević fired a long-range effort just over. Aside from a couple of dangerous crosses, Lazio struggled to create openings at the other end.

Zauri leveller
Delio Rossi sent on Simone Del Nero with 20 minutes remaining in an attempt to give his side more attacking impetus and the striker unsettled Olympiacos with his direct running. But it was a lapse in concentration that cost the hosts dear on 77 minutes. There looked little danger when Pandev prodded a ball down the left, but Christos Patsatzoglou failed to reach it and the ball fell to Zauri, who beat Nikopolidis with a low shot. Pandev was denied brilliantly by Nikopolidis with four minutes left as Lazio ended the match strongly.

           vs.        

Tuesday, September 18; 20;45 CET 

Ok, here we go. What we, Lazio fans have waited for a couple of years will go on stage this night in Athens as we play Olympiacos in a stadium without crowd.

What we all hope is that the players play much better than in this poor start of the Serie A campaign and at least grab a draw at always difficult trips in Greece.

As far as the team is concerned, Delio Rossi will be without Valon Behrami (suspended) and Firmani and Siviglia (injured). Also, Massimo Mutarelli`s presence is under a big question mark as it appears he sustained an injury in the last moment of the Empoli clash on Saturday. However, Stefano Mauri is expected to return after being out since August 14. There is another dilemma for the coach regarding the right back position. To play an experienced Scaloni or young and impressive De Silvestri.

Don`t know what to say really. Based on the highlights I saw and what papers report, it was quite a poor match without a single player being worth mentioning. Except for maybe Muslera who made a decent debute on Saturday night. Others were poor or average at best. Especially midfielders were awful I read. No creativity at all.

Lazio: Muslera; Behrami, Stendardo, Cribari, Zauri; Mudingayi, Ledesma, Mutarelli; Del Nero (Meghni 46); Pandev (Makinwa 70), Rocchi (Tare 78)

Empoli: Balli; Raggi, Vanigli, Marzoratti; Buscè, Giacomazzi, Marchisio, Moro, Tosto; Vannucchi (Giovinco 78); Saudati (Volpato 75)

So, we are on 3 points currently with still failing to clinch a win, regardless of the fact that we played 2 matches at home. This is unacceptable to say the least considering we played Torino and Emoli and not a team with great players.

Massimo Mutarelli spoke in a press conference about the news season as well as upcoming matches. Here is a full article from Goal.com

“We want to do well in all competitions, we want to leave nothing undone,” he declared. “We have done well so far, even though we could have picked up something more from the results level.

“For example against Torino if we had won, we wouldn’t have stolen anything. This Lazio side knows its own qualities. There are interesting young players who are integrating themselves well.”

The Lazio midfielder then continued talking about the Champions League.

“We would have the motivations even if we had to play the team under our house. In the Champions League, the motivations come on their own.”

Finally one thought about this Serie A season.

“This will be a different championship from last year, apart from Fiorentina and Juventus, there are also Palermo and Torino among the big teams.”

It appears as Sporting Director Walter Sabatini who presented his resignation just after the transfer deadline had passed has returned to the club at the same position which is extremely good news for us. Not that Lotito could not find his replacement fast, but Sabatini is close to Delio Rossi and players and he has been requested to stay by all of them. I repeat this is very positive for the club and I expect few signing in January to be honest.

In other news, Pandev, Behrami, Makinwa and De Silvestri continue to be away with their respective national teams and will be back most probably on Thursday.

There are good news regarding the injured players: Mauri and Stendardo returned to train with the first team and are expected to be available against Empoli on Saturday. Mourad Meghni is regained his physical fitness as well as is expected to be fully fit to face Empoli. Only Sebastiano Siviglia is still recuperating from his lenghty injury but he is expected to be back very soon.

Today (Tuesday) the team will have a double training session while the regular mid-week friendly will be played tomorrow at 18;00 with a local amateur team to be decided.

Since there is a break as a result of international teams player for Euro 2008, there is little to report these days. However, I will try to bring some news that were in the focus the previous days.

Walter Sabatini resigned from his post as Sporting Director. The reason was his failure to strengthen the  team for the new season. Lotito did not accept his resignation and there was a conversation between them on Tuesday. No final decision has been made yet, even though it appears more likely that Sabatini will not come back.

Talking of players, Lazio has apparently singed striker Vignarolli, who has played in Serie B last season. He was free and with no team and after training some days at Formello, apparently he did enough to convince Delio Rossi to offer him a contract until season`s end with an option for another year.

Elsewhere, there are reports that Claudio Lotito will do everything in January to sign a duo from Boca Juanior: defender Matias Silvestre and midfielder Sebastian Battaglia.