Could a team that in the past season was struggling in order to avoid relegation be disappointed for reaching a qualification to the Europa League? Lazio certainly have all rights to do so. In fact, they spent the whole season in the top four and eventually failed achieving a qualification to the Champions League because of the scored goals rule. Actually, up until the end of October, Lazio seemed to be the real leaders of the Serie A: they were dominating the league with a wide gap from the opponents. Then, from November onwards, they started slowing down, constantly. This slow-down made them fall, with the passing of time, to the fourth standing of the table. In any case, they did not seem likely to fall any further but they eventually lost the decisive clash against Udinese. During the summer coach Reja had been capable of giving his players a tactical ductility and an evident defensive solidity that were the real strengths of the team. Not so surprisingly, they had the second best defence of the Serie A, with only 39 goals conceded. Newly arrived Hernanes became soon enough the leader of the group, giving the team that quality Zarate was often unable to give. Dias too proved to be an excellent defender. Lazio's main problem actually was the lack of a top striker. Floccari was unable to repeat the wonders done in the previous season and Reja often had to rely on junior player Kozak's goals. The limits of the squad, due to injuries, suspensions and not many valid alternatives especially in defence, certainly weakened the team towards the end of the season.
