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The atmosphere at their home stadium was decidedly gloomy during the weekend fixture. The Biancocelesti found themselves behind against Torino, a team that had let in 10 goals while scoring only two in their previous five league matches. Fans from the Curva Nord were concluding their ongoing dissent in an ongoing feud with chairman Claudio Lotito.

A Season Coming Unstitched?

Was the team's progress coming unstitched, or was there ever a binding element keeping it intact to start with? They reappointed Maurizio Sarri to lead the team this summer, before he to later acknowledge that the management had failed to disclose the transfer ban they were about to receive for accounting issues. Reports that his departure was imminent were without basis, but he acknowledged that Lotito had "deceived" him.

Lazio became as messy on the pitch as off the field, overcoming Verona 4-0 and Genoa 3-0 but being defeated in the remaining first five games, featuring the derby della Capitale. Throughout this period, it has been hard to determine if progress is being made or self-destructing.

The Youngster's Surprising Comeback

A single player continued to smile amid the chaos. Matteo Cancellieri wasn't originally meant to be at Lazio this year. He spent the previous campaign on loan at Parma and, during the summer break, his owning club were advocating for him to extend his stay a while longer. The transfer ban forced a rethink. They were unable to weaken their team without replacements.

He joined initially during Sarri's previous tenure, at that time a 20-year-old alumnus of Verona's academy. He recorded 20 matches in the league for Lazio in that campaign, the vast majority of those from the bench. The ex- sporting director, Igli Tare, who left following that term, would later accuse Sarri of "telling everyone Cancellieri would be a star but then not selecting him."

Finding His Best Role

Maybe Sarri was continuing to attempt to identify the nature of Cancellieri's abilities. Originally described as a wide forward when he joined, Cancellieri nevertheless spent the majority of that term as an ineffective backup to Ciro Immobile in the striker role. In 63 appearances on loan at Empoli and Parma in the past two years, he scored seven times. Shoehorn