Lazio are back in European action on Thursday which got us thinking here at FootItalia – how many successes have I Biancocelesti had on the continent and when was their last victory?
Marco Baroni’s side take on Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-final at the Aspmyra Stadion.
It’s the first time since the 2017/18 campaign that Lazio have reached the last eight of any continental competition. Interestingly, it was also in the UEL.
On that occasion, Red Bull Salzburg got the better of the Italian side 6-5 on aggregate. That despite Lazio winning the first leg 4-2 at the Stadio Olimpico.
You have to go back 19 years for the last time Lazio got the semi-final in a European competition. They lost out to Marseille 4-1 on aggregate in the Intertoto Cup.
Many didn’t deem the Intertoto Cup as a major competition – more of a way to enter one of the more popular and bigger tournaments the following season.
Therefore, the 2002/03 UEFA Cup is the last time Lazio made it past the quarter-final stage. On that occasion, they were thrashed 4-1 by eventual winners Porto.
Lazio’s European Titles
Lazio’s European titles consist of just the two successes. Both came in 1999 as I Biancocelesti firstly won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup at the end of the season.
Interestingly, that was the last year the competition was held owing to it being abolished. Azzuri sides enjoyed much success in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
Milan have two victories to their name with Fiorentina, Juventus, Sampdoria and Parma also boasting one title each. However, Lazio will always be the ‘last champions.’
In the final, the late Sven-Goran Eriksson boasted a I Biancocelesti side that had the likes of Alessandro Nesta, Siniša Mihajlović, Pavel Nedved, Marcelo Salas and Christian Vieri in the starting XI.
The latter actually won the official Man of the Match award and scored the opening goal in the 2-1 win over Spanish side Mallorca. Nedved scored the winner in the 81st minute.
That victory at Villa Park (England) set up a UEFA Super Cup clash with Manchester United in August 1999. The UEFA Super Cup is simply a one-off game between the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) winners and Champions League victors.
Lazio started as the underdog but was able to claim a fine 1-0 win in Monaco. Chilean star Salas scored the only goal of the game after 35 minutes.
