History favours victory-seeking Lazio

S.S. Lazio will have happy memories of their previous encounter with FK Partizan as they seek to get their UEFA Cup bid back on track.

European delight
The Italian club were the last-ever winners of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1998/99 with a 2-1 win over RCD Mallorca in the final at Villa Park. On their way to that success Lazio beat Partizan in the second round by 3-2 on aggregate. The first leg at Belgrade was drawn 0-0 in a tactical battle, but the second game at the Stadio Olimpico was an enthralling encounter. Vladimir Ivic gave Partizan the lead after 18 minutes, but Marcelo Salas equalised just before the interval. After the break, Lazio moved ahead through Dejan Stankovic after 66 minutes before adding a second from Salas nine minutes later. But a late goal from Ivica Ivic after 84 minutes induced late alarms for the Italians, who managed to hang on to progress into the next round.

Unbeaten record
Lazio have also played Partizan’s great rivals, FK Crvena Zvezda, with the clubs meeting in the second round of the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, and again Lazio won through by the odd goal. Stefano Fiore scored the only goal of the first leg at 20 minutes in the first leg at the Olympic stadium, but Crvena Zvezda then levelled the tie with a Branko Boskovic goal after 69 minutes of the return leg. A goal eight minutes later saw Lazio progress and maintain their unbeaten record against the two Belgrade clubs.

Disappointing record
Partizan have yet to win in Italy in their five games against Italian clubs, and have an overall record of one win, two draws and seven defeats against Italian clubs with a goal difference of 9-22. Partizan’s first encounters with Italian clubs in UEFA club competitions were in the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. During the 1961/62 season, Juventus won both legs in a 7-1 aggregate win, and two seasons later FC Internazionale Milano also won both legs in a 4-1 aggregate success. The next meeting came 25 years later, in the 1988/89 UEFA Cup second round, where Partizan secured their first win with a 4-2 home victory over AS Roma, but a 2-0 defeat in Rome meant another exit, though only on the away goals rule.

Matthäus on the mark
Two seasons later it was the turn of Inter to inflict punishment on Partizan in the third round of the UEFA Cup. The Milan-based club secured a 3-0 home win with the first goal coming from Partizan’s future coach Lothar Matthäus after 21 minutes, and the subsequent 1-1 draw in Belgrade saw Matthäus again on the scoresheet. Overall, Partizan's record in Italy does not make good reading for the Belgrade-based club with five straight defeats and a goals difference of 3-15, but having defeated Egaleo FC 4-0 in their opening engagement, a point may suffice in Rome.