Lazio was able to qualify one round early, which many people did not expect before - they did not even expect that Lazio could qualify for the UEFA Cup.
But now the "poor guy" Lazio, who has no money and no stars, not only qualified for the UEFA Cup, but also made it all the way and entered the knockout round of the UEFA Cup one round ahead of schedule.
This is really great news.
Lazio fans never dreamed that when their situation was so dire, the team could reach the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup.
They thought this season would be just the league and the Italian Cup, but they didn't expect to see the UEFA Cup at their doorstep.
Although Lazio also participated in the UEFA Cup last season, everyone is deeply touched by their participation in the UEFA Cup now.
Just six months ago, they almost went bankrupt.
They sold more than twenty first-team players, leaving only seven players, and then they rebuilt the team from scratch, from the ashes.
So far, they have entered the UEFA Cup knockout round one round ahead of schedule, something that even their rival Roma has never achieved.
There are now four rounds of the UEFA Cup group stage. Roma has one win, one draw and one loss, with only four points. The opponents in the same group, Strasbourg, rank first with seven points. Basel and Red Star Belgrade both have six points.
points, ranked second and third, with Tromso following Roma with three points. In such a complicated situation, it is not easy for Roma to appear.
This makes Lazio fans even more happy.
In the league, they have firmly beaten Roma. In European competitions such as the UEFA Cup, they are also better than Roma.
Lazio club is also very happy, especially Lotito.
He didn't expect Lazio to achieve such good results in the UEFA Cup. He thought it was unrealistic.
But the UEFA Cup is a place to make money.
Although compared with the Champions League, the bonuses of the UEFA Cup are simply worthless, not even a fraction. But for Lotito, who is so stingy that a head coach's annual salary is only 20,000 euros, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat.
The bonus from the UEFA Cup was originally a windfall, and he never thought that his team would be able to participate in the UEFA Cup at first.
The prize distribution rules of the UEFA Cup are as follows. Because the total budget of the entire UEFA Cup is only 45 million euros, the prize money that can be distributed is very small, pitifully small.
Lazio used to look down on such a small amount of money when they participated in the UEFA Cup, but it is different now. Under the leadership of Lotito, the stingy president, they value every euro.
Because the budget is small, there is no so-called bonus scheme for participating in the UEFA Cup. If you want to get money, you have to win or not lose.
The prize money for each win in the group stage is 40,000 euros, and the prize money for a draw is 20,000 euros.
Calculating it this way, even if you win all four group matches, it will only cost you 160,000 euros.
Even if you can break into the top eight, the bonus will only be 300,000 euros. If you win the championship, it will be 2.5 million euros.
Really not even a fraction of the Champions League.
What is the level of prize money distribution in the Champions League?
As long as you participate in the group stage, you can get 1.7 million euros, even if you don't play a game, you can get so much. No wonder so many teams are trying their best to enter the Champions League. It's all money!
Then the appearance fee for each game is thirty-four euros. Regardless of winning or losing, as long as you participate, you will get so much money.
In this way, participating in all six group matches is guaranteed to earn at least 3.7 million euros.
Then, you can get another 340,000 euros for every win, and 170,000 euros for every draw. If you win all the group matches, you can get close to 6 million euros.
What is this concept?
Lazio has a debt of 5.5 million euros to repay every year, and this group stage is enough for them to repay the debt.
If you enter the second stage, a basic bonus of two million euros will be added, and the winning bonus will be doubled.
Entering the quarter-finals will add another 2.7 million euros, entering the top four will cost 3.4 million euros, and entering the finals will cost 4.1 million euros. The champion team will receive another 2.7 million euros and winning bonuses.
Double.
This is the difference.
It’s no wonder that many teams are unwilling to play in the UEFA Cup. It’s not unreasonable for the UEFA Cup’s status to decline year by year.
For Lotito, the UEFA Cup, which has no money, is also a good place to make money.
Of course, if the team can really qualify for next season's Champions League as Chang Sheng said, then it will really make money.
Lotito now firmly believes that he made the right decision in choosing to win. Not from a competitive perspective, but from an economic perspective.
With consistent wins, the team performs better and makes more money.
This is a virtuous cycle.
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Chang Sheng is not surprised that the team can get through the UEFA Cup group stage. He knows the team's ability and it is not surprising that it can get through the group stage. Since this team can rank second in the domestic league, second only to Juventus
Tusi. Then why can't we get through the UEFA Cup group stage? You know, the UEFA Cup group stage is not a big deal. Look at these opponents, they are basically vulnerable.
The real test begins with the top 32, which is the knockout stage.
However, there is still one round of the group stage, and the knockout rounds will not be until February next year, so winning is not considered now.
What he is thinking about is the league, this is the fundamental thing.
In the fourteenth round of the league, Lazio faced Siena at home.
In this game, the winning team did not play the players who played Levski Sofia away from home in midweek. All these players were on the bench or in the stands.
Relying on a group of substitute players at home, Lazio defeated Siena 3:1.
Keep the winning streak going.
Of course, Juventus defeated Fiorentina 2:1 away from home and also maintained a winning streak after losing to AC Milan.
In the fifteenth round, Juventus defeated Cagliari 4:0 at home.
Lazio defeated Livorno 2:1 away from home.
Bon Voyage.
But soon, Lazio will face a test.
In the sixteenth round of the league, they will welcome Juventus at home!
This is a battle between two of the top teams in the standings today.
It is also a battle of focus.
If Lazio can defeat Juventus at home, they will replace Juventus at the top of the league.
On the contrary, if Juventus can defeat them, it will not only give their opponents their first defeat of the season, but also widen the gap between themselves and Lazio.
For this game, in the final round of the UEFA Cup group stage, all the winning players at home were substitute players, and everyone from the players to the coach seemed uninterested in playing.
So in the end Dinamo Bucharest defeated Lazio 2:1 away from home.
This game was Lazio's first defeat in all competitions this season.
But no one's mind was still on this failure.
All eyes are on the weekend's clash between Lazio and Juventus.
"This is really ironic... Before the start of the season, who would have thought that the match between Lazio and Juventus would become the focus of the battle? Juventus is the league champion, so what does Lazio mean? Even if they don't go bankrupt and are relegated to Serie C, it's considered legal in this country.
Thank you! But now they are fighting for the first place in the league!"
How did the media comment on the clash between the two teams?
The war of words between the two sides has begun.
Moggi, the general manager of Juventus Club, once again brought up the past and mentioned the Italian tax authorities' lenient treatment of Lazio in March this year.
"It's really a shame for this country that such blatant violations of the spirit of the law are allowed to exist! People who pay taxes honestly are harmed. If we can default on debts without paying them back, we can even take advantage of legal loopholes and get light sentences.
If so, then who would be willing to pay taxes honestly?”
He was talking about the Italian tax department's announcement that Lazio could pay off their debt over 23 years and only need to repay less than 6 million euros per year.
At the time, this incident caused quite a stir in the Italian football world. The forces supporting Lazio and those opposing Lazio were wrestling with each other. The Northern League hoped to bring Lazio to justice and must not be lenient to Lazio.
The local forces in Rome that support Lazio believe that Lotito's actions are in line with the spirit of the law and within the scope permitted by national laws.
In fact, Lotito did take advantage of the legal loopholes in this matter and acted as a hooligan, but in order to survive and within the scope allowed by the law, it is understandable that Lazio did this.
At that time, Lazio was heavily in debt and almost unsustainable.
He hopes to pay back 40 million first and the remaining 100 million over time.
He relied on the fact that Italy's "Save Football Law" was repealed in July 2004, which allowed clubs to pay back tax arrears in installments. Lazio's tax arrears were accumulated during the period when the law was in force, so he
Making such a request does not violate the law.
Among their huge liabilities, between 75 and 80 million euros were owed to the state, and Lotito took note of this money, which he hoped would not be repaid.
The Italian tax authorities obviously would not agree to Lotito's "unreasonable request", and the two sides were in a stalemate.
The tax authorities believe that now that the law has been repealed, Lazio should pay back all taxes quickly.
The tax department has a trump card: February 28th to March 31st are the deadlines for Lazio to register with the Italian Professional League and UEFA for the new season, which requires a tax payment certificate from the tax department.
The Italian professional league, which is accustomed to being accommodating, is certainly easy to talk to, but UEFA will not allow any club that owes taxes to register.
However, judging from the league results at that time, it was difficult for Lazio to enter the European competition next season, and there was no point in registering with UEFA or not.
This makes the threat from the tax department less restrictive.
Lotito, who had hardened his waist, immediately said: "We are the victims of a political offensive. La Liga is a listed club, and I want to protect the interests of all small and medium investors. Why should we tax the taxes that have been allowed and accumulated in the past?"
Repay it all at once? I need to negotiate and I will wait until July 19th!"
Of course, he didn't wait that late.
Because in March Lotito gave an ultimatum to the Italian Ministry of Finance: "If an agreement cannot be reached before March 23, I will take all the documents to the bankruptcy court and apply for the closure of the club."
This is just cheating, lying on the ground and rolling around.
Because if the Lazio club declares bankruptcy, according to Italian law, the tax department will not receive a penny.
At that time, Lotito received the support of all Lazio players and fans. The players stood up and shouted for Lotito's demands, and the fans also launched demonstrations to put pressure on the government. They even chanted: "Even if we go bankrupt, we will not go bankrupt."
I’ll give the government a penny!”
For such a rogue club, the tax department really has a headache.
Although they have faced strong criticism and boycott from one of the ruling parties, the Northern League, which believes that doing so violates relevant laws and is a government preferential treatment for clubs based in the capital Rome.
But the tax department is worried that if Lotito files for bankruptcy, he won't be able to get a penny.
After finally weighing the pros and cons, the tax department made a concession.
The Italian treasury waived the sanctions against Lazio and only received 2.5% of the profits, which amounted to 33 million euros.
In this way, Lazio's total debt has been reduced to 1.4 billion euros, which can be paid in 23 years without interest!
The only thing Lazio has to pay is to mortgage the Formello training base and future income and sponsorship fees as collateral.
Lazio escaped from death and really got a big deal!
This made the three northern powers very dissatisfied.
Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan have all criticized and ridiculed the government for being open to Lazio.
Now that Moji has brought up the old matter again, does he really want the government to take back his life?
It is obviously impossible. Once a decision is made, it cannot be changed at will. Lazio's debt repayment plan has been determined and cannot be changed.
Moggi knows this very well, so when he talks about it now, he just wants to cause trouble for Lazio.
From causing trouble to the Lazio club, to causing trouble to the Lazio team.
The ultimate goal is to influence Lazio's performance in the weekend game... (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)