The mood at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a team that had allowed ten goals while netting just two in their last five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their latest protest in a long-running conflict with chairman Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was the team's progress falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, but then he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a registration embargo they were facing for fiscal problems. Reports that his departure was imminent were unfounded, but he stated that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy during matches as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but falling short in the remaining initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to ascertain if they are improving or self-destructing.
Matteo's Surprising Presence
One individual kept smiling amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to remain with Lazio this year. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to remain there for another season. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 matches in the league in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those from the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended at the end of that season, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to work out the nature of his skill set. Billed as a wide forward on arrival, Cancellieri instead found himself most of that campaign as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
