by Simone Cioni
Twenty appearances in Serie A and 10 in Europe, but without goals or assists and for just 602 minutes overall. This is Matteo Cancellieri’s ‘story’ with Lazio, the club from which he is on loan in Empoli and which next Sunday he will meet for the second time as an opponent. In the first leg, the winger born in 2002 started the match and then left shortly after the hour for Tommaso Baldanzi, who moved to the other side of the Tiber in January. In the last three matches against Napoli, Atalanta and Frosinone he has always started from the bench, collecting 55 minutes without shining. Something he didn’t even do in Lecce last April 13th in his last start, despite a promising start in which he provided the assist for the goal that was later canceled out against Cerri, seven days after the excellent impact he had during the match against Torino, when I scored the momentary 2-1 with a left-footed shot (Empoli then won 3-2 in added time). So far with Nicola he has only started on three occasions, instead scoring twice when he was brought on from the bench.
However, on Sunday at 12.30 at the Olimpico he could have a chance again from the first minute, given that Cambiaghi, seen in the last few games, probably needs to take a breather. Moreover, his characteristics (great leg, physicality, good shot, deep attack and unscrupulousness in one-on-one situations) could be very useful against a team, Lazio, which unlike Frosinone will certainly try to play the game, risking perhaps to leave some more space for the blue counterattacks. The Biancocelesti are in fact still fighting for a place in the next European cups.
The match against Lazio will be a special match for Cancellieri, not only because he is in fact a player of Lotito’s club, but also because he grew up in Roma’s youth sector, where he played for ten years until the Primavera team without however ever making his debut with the First team. Furthermore, he reunites with Igor Tudor, who he met in the 2021-’22 season at Verona, when the current Lazio coach took over the sacked Di Francesco after three days. Croatian coach who, however, does not use him much in his 3-4-2-1 (the same formation adopted several times by Nicola in Empoli), never making him the starter and giving him just 96 minutes in the entire championship, in which the only he scored a goal at the Castellani-Computer Gross Arena in Empoli in the 1-1 draw on 20 March 2022. A season which for the now 22-year-old Italian turned out to be all in all positive as he also made his debut in the senior national team.
In short, for Cancellieri, a real Roman, it could be an opportunity not only to demonstrate all his value, which has only been shown in flashes so far, but also to perhaps take a few ‘pebbles’ off his boots. Certainly, on his part, as on all his teammates, a performance beyond the limits will be needed to try to take away at least one point from the trip to Rome, which is crucial for Empoli’s race to salvation, in a final rush that is complicated on paper. but in which Captain Luperto and his companions are masters of their own destiny. After Udinese equalized in the 93rd minute against Napoli, in fact, six teams remain at the bottom with just 5 points: Verona 34, Cagliari 33, Frosinone and Empoli 32, Udinese 30 and Sassuolo 29.
