The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The home side was losing against Torino, a side that had conceded a total of 10 goals while managing only two goals in their most recent five league matches. Supporters from the Curva Nord were wrapping up their latest protest in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.
A Season Unraveling?
Had their campaign falling apart, or did there exist a thread keeping it intact to start with? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri as head coach in the summer transfer window, before he publicly stated that the club had omitted to inform him about a registration embargo they were facing for accounting issues. Speculation that he might quit were unfounded, but he did say that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti were just as chaotic on the pitch as behind the scenes, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the rest of their opening fixtures, which included the capital clash. At any given moment, it has been hard to tell if progress is being made or collapsing.
Matteo's Unforeseen Return
One individual continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri was not even supposed to remain with Lazio this season. He was on the last one at Parma as a loanee and, early this summer, Lazio were pushing for him to stay there temporarily. The signing restriction led to a change of plans. Lazio could not afford to weaken their team with no new signings.
Cancellieri arrived in the first place when Sarri was last in charge, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 league appearances in Lazio colors in 2022-23, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who departed following that term, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri was destined for stardom only to bench him consistently."
Discovering His Best Role
It's possible the coach was continuing to attempt to determine the exact type of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward upon signing, Cancellieri instead found himself the majority of that term as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile as center forward. During 63 outings while playing for Empoli and Parma during recent campaigns, he scored seven times. Shoehorn