Lazio Looking Strong, But Juventus Coming On
Posted: Thursday November 04, 1999 11:15 AM
ROME (AP) -- Lazio is looking a lot like AC Milan did en route to last season's Serie A title. The Roman club doesn't slip up at home, is getting contributions from up and down the roster, and keeps salvaging key standings points even when it plays poorly.
And, like Milan, which didn't clinch its championship until the very last day of the season, Lazio appears headed for a difficult battle down to the wire.
A year ago, Lazio fell just one point short of grabbing its first league crown since 1974. Now it has to contend with a challenge from Juventus, the most successful team in Serie A history.
Lazio (5-3-0, 18 points) goes into its Week 9 game against visiting Verona on Sunday holding a one-point lead over Juventus (5-2-1), which faces cross-city rival Torino on Sunday night.
Internazionale of Milan and AC Milan share third place, with 14 points apiece, one more than AS Roma and Perugia each have.
Sunday's other games are Bologna vs. Inter, AC Milan vs. Venezia, Reggina vs. Roma, Lecce vs. Udinese, and Piacenza vs. Parma.
On Saturday, Perugia hosts Bari in the afternoon, while Fiorentina plays at last-place Cagliari at night.
Coming off a disappointing seventh-place finish, Juventus made few personnel changes, but has managed to stay in the title hunt so far thanks to an enviable efficiency.
None of the other top eight teams in the standings has scored fewer than Juve's 10 goals. But the 25-time champions have parlayed that meager output into 17 points, a ratio of 1.7 standings point per goal. Only Bologna - which has managed an incredible 10 points from two wins and four draws despite scoring a grand total of four goals all season - has done better.
Lazio, by contrast, has earned less than a point per goal. It has scored at an impressive rate (league-high 19 goals), while playing only decent defense (Lazio has allowed nine goals, Juventus only five).
But Lazio is unbeaten in the 14 games it's played this season between Serie A and the Champions League, compiling nine wins and five draws. It has been particularly impressive at its Olympic Stadium, outscoring opponents 20-9 in all games.
The team's depth is outstanding, particularly at midfield, where at least one starter for a strong national team must sit out each week.
"You always try to give everything you have on the field to make things tough on the coach when he has to pick the starters," said Argentina's Diego Simeone, who often has been the odd man out.
Lazio's last two outings are perfect illustrations of how the campaign is shaping up.
Last weekend, Lazio seemed destined for its first loss. It trailed 1-0 at Inter, which should have doubled the lead when Chilean striker Ivan Zamorano had a wide-open header with 17 minutes left. But the ball struck the post, and Lazio defender Giuseppe Pancaro -- perhaps the least likely player to score a vital goal -- put his header chance in with a minute to go to tie the score and keep his club atop the standings.
On Tuesday, Lazio played its final Champions League first-round group game at Dynamo Kiev. There was nothing at stake for the Italian team, which had already wrapped up first place in Group A, while the Ukrainians were hoping for a win to bolster their qualification chances.
Lazio coach Sven Goran Eriksson rested a slew of starters, even let a member of the team's junior squad make his debut in an official match, and still came away with a 1-0 victory thanks to an own-goal.
That's the mark of a team destined to succeed.
