The feeling at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had let in a total of 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, but then he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a ban on new signings they were about to receive for accounting issues. Rumours that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic during matches as they were off it, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Unforeseen Presence
A single player remained positive throughout. Matteo Cancellieri had not been expected to be at Lazio during this campaign. He spent last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay for another season. The registration embargo led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, back then just 20 years old product of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, all but one of those coming off the bench. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed at the end of that season, later stated Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Finding His True Position
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the exact type of his skill set. Billed as an attacking winger on arrival, Cancellieri yet was deployed for much of that season as an unconvincing alternative to Ciro Immobile at No 9. Across 63 games during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
