The mood at their home stadium was anything but joyful during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, an opponent that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their previous five league matches. Ultras from the Curva Nord were finishing their ongoing dissent in a long-running conflict with club owner Claudio Lotito.
A Season Falling Apart?
Had their campaign falling apart, or had there never been any cohesion maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team during the off-season, only for him publicly stated that the board had not mentioned a ban on new signings they were set to be hit with for accounting issues. Speculation that he could resign were not true, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "misled" him.
The Biancocelesti became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their initial five matches, which included the capital clash. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.
Cancellieri's Surprising Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to feature for Lazio this season. He completed last season on loan at Parma and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were attempting to stay there a while longer. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place under Sarri's first spell, back then just 20 years old graduate of Verona's academy. He accumulated 20 matches in the league for Lazio in the 2022-23 season, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, whose tenure ended after that campaign, subsequently claimed Sarri of "informing all Cancellieri had superstar potential then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to determine the nature of the player's talent. Originally described as a flank player when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings on loan at Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
