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 let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were concluding their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
The Campaign Falling Apart?
Was Lazio's season falling apart, or was there ever a binding element holding it together to start with? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, only for him to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose a ban on new signings they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio became as messy during matches as off the field, defeating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their initial five matches, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to tell if they are improving or imploding.
Matteo's Surprising Comeback
At least one man continued to smile through it. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to be at Lazio during this campaign. He completed the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were pushing for him to extend his stay for another season. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
He signed in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old product of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, all but one of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Uncovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was still trying to identify the specific characteristics of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a flank player upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile at No 9. In 63 appearances during spells with Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn
