What happened to Lazio and what is next? - The return of Maurizio Sarri 🤔 🚬
Maurizio Sarri is back at Lazio after 15 months out of football. But why is he back, what happened to the Biancocelesti and what is next for them? Dive in to this FORZA CALCIO feature...
Lazio started off the season in a bit of chaos. Maurizio Sarri had just left in March 2024 after disagreements with the ownership, leaving Lazio entering a bit of turmoil. Igor Tudor was appointed to steady the ship, see out the season and potentially build into the next. But that didn’t happen. Just two months later, Tudor resigned. Back to square one. Where is this project going and who is the right person to lead it?
Post-Tudor, Marco Baroni takes over after spending just one season at Hellas Verona. Expectations weren’t huge at Lazio going into 24/25. I refuse to believe anyone thought they could challenge for the Scudetto. But then again, I thought Milan would finish 2nd in my pre-season predictions. However, Lazio are a team you can expect to qualify for Europe via the league. They finished 7th in 23/24, qualifying for the Europa League due to Serie A’s coefficient ranking, giving the league a fifth place in the Champions League. The season beforehand, they were 2nd under Sarri.
The fall off at Lazio towards the end of last season was terrible. Starting the season fantastically, cementing themselves through their early performances as one of the favourites for the Europa League and an almost shoo-in for European qualification. Momentum stalled, exiting the Europa League to Bodo Glimt, champions of the Norwegian league, whose stadium holds under 9000 fans. Before they crashed out of the Europa League, their form wasn’t exactly sparkling, though. A 5-0 loss to Bologna was embarassing, and draws with the likes of Venezia, Torino and Udinese don’t exactly shine, either. Scraping past Viktoria Plzen as well didn’t fill many with hope. And after that dismal exit from the Europa League at the hands of Bodo Glimt, they didn’t exactly bounce back with the loss to Lecce on the final day of the season being the icing on the very mediocre, tasteless cake, confirming that they wouldn’t be playing European football next season.
Fast forward to the post-season. Marco Baroni has been sacked amidst the incredible managerial situation we’re currently wrapped up in, where the majority of the top half of the table have switched managers. Baroni exits, moving straight from Lazio into a new job up north at Torino. His replacement? Well, welcome back, Maurizio Sarri.
Just a year after he resigned, the former Napoli and Chelsea manager is back in the job. Why? It should be noted that Lazio didn’t sack him. He left on his own accord, claiming that he had taken the crop of players he had at his disposal as far as he could and that they had stopped playing for him. He was also heavily critical of the transfer policy during his time at the club.
So, has this changed? For Maurizio Sarri to return to the club he walked out on, a change in direction must have been put in place. Claudio Lotito said, "Maurizio Sarri has returned home.”
"His return is a choice of heart, conviction and vision. With him we want to resume a path that was interrupted too soon, aware that together, we can bring back enthusiasm, identity and ambition.”
And this sounds very promising that the Lazio president is more open to supporting Sarri and his vision for the club. I guess that the fact they missed out on European football under Baroni has woken Lotito up, especially with the massive financial hit it’ll take on the club (and his pockets).
What’s next for Lazio, though? Well, they find themselves in a position of transition. Sarri is back, yes, but it’s a different landscape. Will the club back him in the market? To get back to European football, they’ll have to. There’s no doubt Maurizio Sarri is an incredible coach who has his teams playing wonderful football, but as ever, transfers need to happen alongside that tactical approach to position the club to compete. The former banker has one game a week to deal with, which is hugely favourable as well.
I don’t know if Lazio will bounce back straight away. Heck, I wouldn’t even be 100% that Maurizio Sarri will see the start of the season. What I can say is, though, that I’ve waited over a year to have Sarri back in football, and the world is a better place with him on the touchline. Preferably, he’d still be allowed to smoke as well. Baby steps.