Lazio would've been an elite team, if they didn't sell these players
14#Lazio #SerieA
Lazio were in their best moment as a football club.
Sven-Goran Eriksson’s appointment as manager in 1997 had finally pushed a Lazio team over the edge of success.
Lazio had retained a top half position and often participated in the UEFA Cup throughout the 1990s but the experienced Swede took Lazio to two Coppa Italia wins and their first European finals in successive finals, winning the 1999 Cup Winners’ Cup final.
The pinnacle, however, was the club’s second-ever Scudetto in 2000.
That, combined with Serie A’s spending power, ensured that a carousel of wonderful players of the generation passed through the Olimpico.
From Pavel Nedved to Juan Seba Veron, Alessandro Nesta to Jaap Stam, Gaizka Mendieta to Marcelo Salas: Lazio had one of the strongest teams in European football.
Unfortunately for Lazio, Sven-Goran Eriksson was headhunted by England in the 2000-01 season and the trio of Dino Zoff, Alberto Zaccheroni and Roberto Mancini could not deliver the same level of success, or bring them to the fore in Europe.
In fact, the best finish Lazio have had in the Champions League remains Sven’s quarter final defeat to Lazio in 2000, their first-ever campaign in the competition.
In seven qualifications for the tournament, 2021’s last 16 remains their only other knockout phase appearance.
By 2004, Lazio stared bankruptcy in the face thanks to a mixture of failing to qualify for the Champions League and owner Sergio Cragnotti’s financial scandal that forced him to pass over control of the club to a pool of caretaker financial managers.
Consequently, Lazio sold hundreds of millions of Euros worth of footballers and have yet to return to the top 2 in Serie A.
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Voice: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Words: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
Edit: Jake Doyle (@jakedoyle93)
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