Lazio will return to the Olimpico with the feeling of a club divided between the empty seats inside and the loyalty that continues to travel well beyond Rome. Around 10,000 supporters are expected for the home match, yet the organised groups who have chosen not to enter the stadium intend to make their presence felt before kick-off.
The coach and the club
Rino Gattuso’s side will receive a welcome outside the ground rather than from the Curva Nord itself. The groups have arranged to meet beneath that stand at 18:45, waiting for the Lazio team bus before it enters the Olimpico.
In their message to supporters, they confirmed that they would again remain outside but would gather to offer the squad and coach their backing and warmth. It is a gesture that underlines the distance between the fan movement and the club’s current leadership, while preserving its attachment to the team on the pitch.
The attendance figure tells part of the story. Approximately 5,500 tickets have been sold, with season-ticket holders added to that total, leaving the stadium far from full once more.
The supporters’ statement also answered, with irony, recent comments from president Claudio Lotito concerning alleged financial interests in pubs behind the protest against him. The groups mocked that suggestion by calculating that 26,000 non-season-ticket holders, arranged in groups of 80, would be enough to open 325 pubs.
A support that follows the road
The contrast is especially clear away from Rome. Lazio supporters have already travelled in large numbers to Bologna, Udine, Venice and Turin, and the next journey comes on Tuesday at Sassuolo’s Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia.
The away end for that match sold out in under an hour. Lazio fans are also obtaining places in other sections of the stadium, with the travelling support expected to reach as many as 10,000 people.
Representatives of the organised groups have asked those making the trip to bring flags and banners, and to fill their cars in Lazio colours. They described every kilometre travelled as an act of love for the club, insisting that neither distance nor opposition would discourage them.
For now, that is the paradox surrounding Lazio: a half-empty Olimpico, followed days later by another major migration of supporters across Italy. The groups say they are short of air but that their love remains alive. Before the team enters the stadium, they will make that point with one more embrace outside the Curva Nord.
