Just five days after beating Werder Bremen in the UEFA Champions League, Lazio Rome, and with them the whole of Italian football, are at the centre of one of the darkest days in the countries footballing history.
Just five days after beating Werder Bremen in the UEFA Champions League, Lazio Rome, and with them the whole of Italian football, are at the centre of one of the darkest days in the countries footballing history.
Just five days after beating Werder Bremen in the UEFA Champions League, Lazio Rome, and with them the whole of Italian football, are at the centre of one of the darkest days in the countries footballing history. At a motorway service station in Toskana, Lazio fans, who were on their way to see their team take on Inter Milan, clashed with Juventus Turin supporters who were on their way to see their side play in Parma. With police arriving on the scene to attempt to calm the tensions, an officer let off a shot which tragically killed one of the Lazio fans. The news of the incident was quickly spread around the country and soon there were clashes between police and ‘Fans’. The Lazio clash in Milan was abandoned as was the game between AS Roma and US Cagliari. In the tie between Atalanta and AC Milan, the referee was forced to abandon the game when crowd trouble erupted. There has as yet been no decision made as to the next league games in the Serie A.
All went smoothly in Greece and Spain. Werder’s next opponents in the Champions League, Real Madrid won a spectacular battle against RCD Mallorca 4:3 (2:2). Man of the match was Robinho who scored for the ‘Whites’ twice to make it 1:0 and 2:1. The 1,72m winger scored the first with his head from a Marcelo cross (17’), his second was a striker from 15 meters out after a pass from Sneijder. Mallorca proved determined and twice equalised through Fernando Varela, firstly capitalising on a defensive mistake (14’) and then hammering home from 25 meters out (37’). The visitors took the lead after the break through Güiza (58’) but the home side hit back with their million strong attack Raúl (63’) and then Ruud van Nistlerooy (73’). Real moved four points clear thanks to FC Barcelona’s defeat in Getafe.
Olympiakos Piräus suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of newly promoted Asteras Tripolis. The Greek giants were the better side over the ninety minutes but failed to make use of their chances. The decisive goal was scored in the 34th minute when Predrag Djordjevic headed a clearance from Nikopolidis back into his own penalty area where Asteras striker Lucio Filomeno was on hand to make it 1:0. The visitors missed just too many chances, including a penalty which saw them slip back into fourth place behind Panathinaikos, AEK Athens and Aris Saloniki.
Johnnie Muldoon
