The atmosphere at their home stadium was far from happy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, an opponent that had let in 10 goals while netting just two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in a continuous dispute with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign unraveling, or was there ever any cohesion holding it together in the first place? Lazio reinstated Maurizio Sarri as manager this summer, but then he admitted that the management had omitted to inform him about the transfer ban they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Rumours that his departure was imminent were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
Lazio appeared equally disorganized during matches as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. At any given moment, it's been difficult to determine if they are improving or collapsing.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
One individual continued to smile throughout. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He was on last season at Parma as a loanee and, at the start of the off-season, his parent club were advocating for him to remain there temporarily. The signing restriction forced a rethink. Lazio could not afford to thin their squad lacking backup options.
He joined originally under Sarri's first spell, at that time a 20-year-old graduate of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league with the club in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those coming off the bench. Their former sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star only to bench him consistently."
Finding His Natural Fit
Perhaps the manager was persistently working to work out the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as an attacking winger upon signing, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. During 63 outings during spells with Empoli and Parma over the last two seasons, his tally was seven goals. Shoehorn
