The feeling at the Stadio Olimpico was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a side that had conceded 10 goals while scoring only two in their most recent five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were finishing their most recent demonstration in an ongoing feud with president Claudio Lotito.
A Season Coming Unstitched?
Was Lazio's season unraveling, or had there never been a thread maintaining its structure in the first place? The club brought back Maurizio Sarri to lead the team in the summer transfer window, before he admitted that the board had not mentioned a registration embargo they were about to receive for financial irregularities. Reports that he could resign were unfounded, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.
The Biancocelesti appeared equally disorganized on the pitch as they were off it, beating Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but losing the rest of their first five games, including the Rome derby. From one game to the next, observers have struggled to tell if progress is being made or imploding.
Matteo's Unexpected Return
A single player kept smiling through it. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to remain with Lazio this season. He spent the previous campaign with Parma on loan and, at the start of the off-season, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The signing restriction necessitated a reconsideration. The club couldn't risk to reduce their roster with no new signings.
He signed originally under Sarri's first spell, then a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He made 20 Serie A appearances in Lazio colors in that campaign, almost all of those as a substitute. The club's longtime sporting director, Igli Tare, who left after that campaign, later stated Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star then never playing him."
Discovering His Best Role
Maybe Sarri was still trying to identify the exact type of the player's talent. Labeled as a flank player on arrival, Cancellieri nevertheless spent much of that season as a struggling deputy to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. Across 63 games while playing for Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he netted seven goals. Shoehorn
