Today in Serie A – March 22, 2000: When Lazio Run Riot in Champions League | OneFootball

March 22, 2000, was one of Lazio’s last great European nights. Coached by Sven Goran Eriksson, the Biancocelesti raided Stamford Bridge at beat Chelsea 1-2 in the final game of the Champions League’s second group stage. In those days, Lazio were a force to be reckoned with in Serie A – so much that the 1999/2000 season would end with the Roman Aquile lifting the Scudetto trophy for the second time in their history.

Even in Europe, Lazio were not to mess up with. In the previous season, featuring Christian Vieri upfront, they had had the honor of winning the final of edition of the Cup Winners Cup, just before this iconic tournament would be absorbed by an enlarged UEFA Cup.

This time, they featured in the new Champions League, whose format was also being expanded to include 32 teams. In the second group stage, the Biancocelesti‘s path crossed that of Chelsea. The Blues were still in their pre-Roman Abramovich days and that was the first time they were featuring in the top European competition.

Chelsea had an Italian soul, Gianluca Vialli being their coach and Gianfranco Zola spearheading their attack. In the midfield, their future gaffer Roberto Di Matteo still held his own. Old veterans like Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps of France added experience to an ambitious club that was eager to find its place among the European football aristocracy.

However, a quick look at Lazio’s lineup shows how billing the Biancocelesti as favorite to win was perfectly normal in those days. Lazio featured, among others, current Atleti’s coach El Cholo Simeone, Argentine midfield dynamos Matìas Almeyda and Juan Sebastian Veron, future Juventus legend Pavel Nedved, and current Inter boss Simone Inzaghi.

On the bench, one could spot the faces of Sergio Conceicao, who’s currently trying to get something out of Milan’s disastrous season, and Roberto Mancini – who’s rumored to be a possible candidate for the Juventus job after his experience at the helm of Saudi Arabia ended abruptly.

On that Champions League night, Uruguay international Gustavo Poyet opened the scoring for the home side just before half time. Lazio, however, managed to come from behind and took home all three points on offer as Simone Inzaghi drew level before Sinisa Mihajlovic would set the score at 2-1 with, you guessed it, a free kick. The Biancocelesti then managed to weather the final storm after their short-tempered defender Fernando Couto (surprise, surprise) was sent off.

Lazio’s run would end in the Quarter Finals as they succumbed 3-5 on aggregate to Hector Cuper’s rising star Valencia. As of today, this is still the best result ever achieved by the Biancocelesti in the top European competition.