Miroslav. Fucking. Klose.

Great work so far with Lazio mate bringing them back to the top of Italian football almost! Great updates too

AAN: Klose is on fire! Hopefully he can keep it up though.
Neal: Yeah I can't help that feel even if I 'park the bus' that Mourinho will destroy me!
Pauker: Fuck YES!
K1rups: Thank you mate I really appreciate it. This season isn't going as smoothly as last year but we're still fighting for top spot!

Germany's all-time leading goalscorer, Miroslav Klose, has announced that he will retire from professional football at the end of the season. He took his tally of World Cup goals to a record 16 during last year's tournament in Brazil and bows out with 71 international strikes to his name.

When wearing the blue of Lazio, Klose has scored 68 Serie A goals in 119 appearances, including his 16 league goals so far this campaign. He signed for the Rome club on a free transfer from Bayern Munich in 2011 and has since won one Serie A title, two Coppa Italia's and one Italian Super Cup. Klose started his professional career at Kaiserslautern and then moved to Werder Bremen before his big move to Bavaria.

'With the win in Brazil, a childhood dream came true, I am proud and happy that I was able to help this great success,' Klose told the German Football Association's official website. 'I had a unique and wonderful time and many memorable moments with the national team and my club team Lazio. With so much success over the last year I feel that it is right that I bow out on such a high note.'

Klose - who was actually born in Poland - made his Germany debut in 2001 and has since played in four World Cups, scoring at all of them. His goal in the incredible 7-1 semi-final win over Brazil took him past Ronaldo's 15 in the competition to make him the most prolific striker in World Cup history.

The Lazio striker, though, prefers to put the team ahead of his own achievements: 'The team's success was and is always the top priority for me,' he added. 'I've achieved so much as a footballer but I have achieved goals I set personally too. Anyone who knows me knows I am very ambitious.'

Klose bows out of the international arena with Germany having never lost whenever he has scored. With 137 caps to his name, only Lothar Matthaus has won more, and Lazio coach Matt Cox cannot speak highly enough of him: 'Miro is an international star. He is one of the greatest strikers there have been.' he said. 'His footballing qualities; his aerial ability, his goal threat, his understanding and his tireless commitment are second to none, and yet I have barely seen a player who is so much about modesty and team spirit. He will be missed as a footballer and a person and I am happy and grateful I was able to work with him. He has helped us win so much during my time here and I will always have a job for him in the future.'

The public were passionate in their praise for the Germany star with huge fan Neal stating: 'Truly awesome to see Miroslav Klose still firing at age 36, one of my favourite strikers of all time and surely one of the world's best.' Australian fan Fzemdegs couldn't have been more right when he said: 'Klose is an absolute legend.' Whilst Pauker simply stated: 'Miroslav. Fucking. Klose.' Miroslav fucking Klose indeed.

Great update! Sad to see the man, the myth, the Klose retiring, but I bet he'll be an epic member of the backroom staff!

March Results

LAZIO 0-2 FIORENTINA (Serie A)
Parolo OG (7)
Gomez (36)

LAZIO 1-0 NAPOLI (Serie A)
Klose (22)

LAZIO 3-1 ROMA (Serie A)
Ince (8)
Candreva (12)
Iturbe (45+3)
Verratti (74)

CHIEVO 0-2 LAZIO (Serie A)
Klose (22)
Abate (28)

LAZIO 1-1 INTER MILAN (Serie A)
Parolo (10)
Alvarez (54)

We find ourselves with only a finger-hold on our Serie A title with the Scudetto slowly slipping away from us. Our month started with a lifeless performance against Fiorentina. Whenever we come up against the men from Florence our performance levels seem to fluctuate and once again that was the case as we fell to a disappointing defeat against Vincenzo Montella's men.

The following two games were significant improvements on our previous match as we easily dispatched Roma and Napoli. We have made a habit of hammering our Roman neighbours and that was the case again as we raced into a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes. Wonderkid Juan Iturbe hit back before half time but loanee Marco Verratti put breathing space between us and Ciro Ferrara's team with 15 minutes of the match remaining.

We easily dispatched Chievo with a professional away performance and two quality goals courtesy of Klose and Abate. Unfortunately it is well documented that champions always grind out a win and that wasn't the case against Inter. Following our previous 3-0 demolition in a fiery encounter in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, we were unable to show that aggression again and instead replicated our performance against Fiorentina. We were toothless in attack as Candreva, Klose and Ince missed gilt-edged chances to put us in front. We eventually slumped to a 1-1 draw against Delio Rossi's side to end an inconsistent March period.

Unfortunately for us Arsene Wenger's men were not so unreliable as they made a clean sweep of games over the month. Juventus won every single game to give themselves an eight point cushion with seven games remaining. I am defiant and believe that we can still win the league but we will have to win every single game in the final run in. If not, then I believe the Old Lady have stolen the title back to Turin.

Player Of The Month

Parolo is normally a bit-part player for me. My most used substitute along with Senad Lulic, the former Parma man is a player I trust to bring off the bench and see out games due to his defensive mindset and ball-winning capabilities. However due to usual starter Thiago Motta suffering from a bit of fatigue Parolo has enjoyed an extended stay in the side and has shown his reliability. Despite an own goal against Fiorentina at the start of the month, the six times capped Azzurri man has recovered to display his best form and even scored our goal in the draw against Inter, leaving me with a lot to think about as Motta recuperates.

Serie A

Keep an eye out for my next update which will be the match report of the Champions League Round of 16 2nd leg vs. Chelsea, we lead the 1st leg 3-2 after a fantastic game at the Olimpico and will look to secure a place in the Quarter Finals of the competition. Next month's fixtures are as follows: Torino (A), Atalanta (H), Bologna (A) and Sampdoria (H). I also have a U21 friendly vs Wales coming up in preparation for this summer's European U21 Championship.

unfortunate result against fiorentina, but the race is still on!

CHELSEA 0-0 LAZIO (Lazio win 3-2 on aggregate.)
Nkoulou (84)

Lazio forced a 0-0 draw in London against Chelsea to eliminate Jose Mourinho's side from the competition.

Chelsea Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Courtois, Azpilicueta, Terry (C), Nkoulou, Smalling, Bender, Ramires, Hazard, Oscar, Fabregas, Costa.
Lazio Starting XI (5-2-3): Marchetti, Cole (C), Alvarez Balanta, Astori, Bellusci, Abate, Parolo, Motta, Ince, Candreva, Klose.

Matt Cox came out on top against the 2012 Champions League winners as he used Jose Mourinho's own tactics against him. Cox set out Lazio to 'park the bus' in an attempt to stop Chelsea from scoring and cutting the one goal deficit in the Champions League Last 16 2nd leg.

Cox set his side up in a very defensive minded formation with usual attacking wingbacks Ashley Cole and Ignazio Abate being primed as defensive full backs in a Biancocelesti rearguard of five defenders. Head playmaker Marco Verratti, who is on loan from PSG was dropped to the bench in place of defensive minded midfield engine Marco Parolo in an attempt to stifle any creative spark from the Chelsea midfield.

Being a goal down, Chelsea set up to attack with Spaniard Cesc Fabregas in an advanced midfield position alongside wingers Eden Hazard and Oscar. Chelsea began the game at blistering pace and were instantly on the attack as the Rome side sat back and attempted to soak up the pressure and look to use Antonio Candreva and Tom Ince on a quick breakaway, however Chelsea looked extremely determined and within five minutes had already rattled the Lazio backline.

Former Barcelona man Fabregas poked a ball outside to Eden Hazard. The Belgian ace didn't need to take a touch before swerving a pass back to the onrushing Spaniard who slapped a shot from 12 yards out straight at Lazio keeper Federico Marchetti. The Italian stopped was equal to the effort and managed to push the ball through a crowd of bodies away from goal.

Following the warning, Lazio's defence tightened up and their opponents were reduced to long range shots as they struggled to find a way through. Oscar came closest, duking Colombian centre back Eder Alvarez Balanta and bending a shot towards the far corner which Marchetti did well to beat away.

With 2 minutes left in the half Chelsea had a clear chance as Fabregas played a clever reverse pass into Diego Costa. With his first touch Costa slid the ball inside Davide Astori to set himself to apply a finish 6 yards out. However Marchetti had other ideas as the second choice Italy international tipped Costa's dinked shot an inch over the crossbar with the top of his shin... a huge let off for the Serie A champions.

After half time the two managers emerged from the tunnel looking cool and composed as they sent their teams out to battle for the final 45 minutes. Chelsea once again started at 100mph as John Terry rose to head a corner inches over the crossbar as a stranded Lazio defence looked on.

Lazio then began to gain a foothold in the match and started to enjoy some possession. The Rome side were yet to register a shot on goal and that was to remain as Tom Ince hesitated when given a good opportunity to test Thibaut Courtois from 25 yards out. The Englishman instead tried to take one touch to many and lost the ball to Terry who launched an attack by sending a long ball to the ever-dangerous Eden Hazard. The Chelsea number 10 lobbed a pass over the back of the Lazio back-line towards the onrushing Costa who instead of taking a touch and giving the ball to the unmarked Fabregas at the far post, attempted an audacious volley that ballooned way over the goal into the stands.

Following a host of other misses, Mourinho was on his feet pacing back and forth, barking instructions and was eventually forced into making three changes, throwing on Christian Benteke, Willian and Clement Grenier. The attacking trio failed to threaten Marchetti with time running out as an antsy Mourinho was visibly uncomfortable on the touchline.

With five minutes remaining the Blues were reduced to 10 men. Cameroon defender Nicolas Nkoulou attempted to hoof the ball long downfield, only for the pass to be charged down by Miroslav Klose. The German left the big number five on the turf and attempted to charge unchallenged towards Courtois' goal; but unfortunately the retiring striker did not have the legs to keep distance between him and the recovering Nkoulou. Just before Klose entered the box Nkoulou made a desperate attempt to bring down the German, hacking him down from behind. The referee did not hesitate to give the Cameroonian his marching orders as he produced a straight red card.

With 5 minutes remaining the Blues looked short of ideas, finally the final whistle blew as 6000 travelling Lazio fans erupted into cheers as the Serie A champions booked a place in next month's Champions League Quarter Finals.

Round of 16 Results

Real Madrid 2-1 Tottenham
Bayern Munich 2-1 Juventus
Man City 4-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Barcelona 6-1 Celtic
PSG 2-0 Schalke
Atletico Madrid 1-0 Galatasaray
Napoli 2-1 Liverpool

Matt Cox has stoked the fires early by claiming that Napoli were 'the easiest possible draw' and that the club will put in it's greatest ever European performance by reaching the Semi Finals.

Lazio have been drawn against Serie A rivals Napoli in an all Italian Champions League Quarter Final matchup. Lazio knocked out Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in the previous round and manager Matt Cox believes that a date with Rafa Benitez's side was the 'easiest possible draw' available: 'We fought hard in the last round, we put every we had into the two matches and I could not be prouder of my team. All of the teams remaining in the competition are top quality sides but I feel that Napoli were the easiest possible draw for us.'

Cox went on to tell the media that he believes his side can replicate the results they have achieved against the Naples side already this season: 'We have already played Napoli twice this season and beaten them on both occasions. We know that we can beat them home and away so we will do the same again in this scenario.'

Napoli have lost 1-0 in both games this season against Cox's team and last year's record was not much better; drawing 1-1 in Rome and losing 3-0 in Naples. In reaching the quarter final stage; Cox has equalled Lazio's best ever outing in the Champions League. In the 1999/2000 season Sven Goran Eriksson's Lazio side were eliminated 5-3 on aggregate to Valencia, and former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez believes that that will be the case again this time around: 'We have not done well against him [Cox] in the past. He sets his teams out well but the games we played this year were very narrow. I know we have what it takes to knock them out.' he said.

The remaining Quarter Final ties offer some fantastic match ups as the three remaining Spanish sides were kept apart from each other. Premiership leaders Man City will go up against last year's La Liga winners Atletico Madrid. The battle of the rich will be played out when Real Madrid meet PSG, but the most mouthwatering tie of the round see's newly installed manager Claudio Ranieri take his Bayern Munich to the Nou Camp to face Luis Enrique's Barcelona.

The Quarter Final ties begin on April 8th 2015 with Lazio visiting the San Paolo stadium in Naples which will be live on Sky Sports 2 from 7pm.

Champions League Quarter Final Ties

PSG vs Real Madrid
Bayern Munich vs Barcelona
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City
Napoli vs Lazio

I have full faith in Lazio to trump that Benitez bastard.

Some great results there and well done on dumping Chelski out!

I just want to thank you lads for getting me 10,000 views on my Lazio story! This is my first ever story and i've met some great people on FM Scout and you're comments and praise have been fantastic.

I've got some exciting updates and BIG news regarding my future at the club coming up so keep doing what you've been doing you beautiful son'sa bitches and enjoy my rest of the story!

April Results

TORINO 3-0 LAZIO (Serie A)
Duma (10, 20)
Livaja (64)

LAZIO 3-1 ATALANTA (Serie A)
Abate (47, 48)
Alvarez Balanta (57)
Alvarez Balanta OG (71)

BOLOGNA 3-3 LAZIO (Serie A) (JUVENTUS ARE SERIE A CHAMPIONS)
Giovinco (8)
Bianchi (14, 59, 84)
Ince (40)
Motta (53)

LAZIO 1-0 SAMPDORIA (Serie A)
Candreva (34)

Player Of The Month: Ignazio Abate

Despite an inconsistent month for the team and the heartbreak of us losing the Scudetto to Juventus, Ignazio has been a quality and reliable performer all through April. Despite the demands of plying in Europe and the league he has managed to apply himself well and even chipped in with a quick-fire double against Atalanta.

Serie A

The Manager's View: Matt Cox

So that's it... title race over. We didn't have enough in the tank to compete in Europe and maintain our performances in Serie A and I congratulate Juventus, Arsene Wenger and their fans on their league triumph. It is evident that my squad depth was not enough to compete at the highest level and should issues with my contract be sorted than that is something we must really push on with for next season. Keep an eye out for my next update which will be the match reports of the Champions League Quarter Final 1st & 2nd legs against Napoli.

Our remaining fixtures are as follows: Spezia (H), Empoli (H), Livorno (A), Coppa Italia Final vs. Juventus (H).

NAPOLI 0-1 LAZIO
Giovinco (48)

Lazio took the advantage as recalled striker Sebastian Giovinco grabbed a precious away goal in Naples.

Napoli Starting XI (4-3-3): Rafael, Maggio, Albiol, Moreno, Coentrao, Behrami, Matic, Callejon, Hamsik (C), Insigne, Higuain.
Lazio Starting XI (5-2-3): Marchetti, Cole (C), Alvarez Balanta, Astori, Bellusci, Abate, Verratti, Motta, Ince, Candreva, Giovinco.

Lazio have taken a huge step to producing their best ever Champions League performance by beating Serie A rivals Napoli in Naples. Retiring Miroslav Klose was rested for the game and the decision paid off as incoming Sebastian Giovinco netted the winning goal to give the Biancocelesti a precious away goal.

Lazio were the early favourites for the game due to the fact that Cox's team had already beaten Benitez's Napoli home and away in the league this season. Despite a slow start, the away side were the stronger team and had a number of clear openings n the first 45 minutes.

After half time it only took Lazio three minutes to get the opening goal. Azzurri winger Antonio Candreva jinked his way down the right wing before whipping in a beautiful ball right into Giovinco's path. The former Juve striker swept the ball in from 6 yards with one touch as the Roman away support went wild.

Napoli's only good chance was a shot from 18 yards from captain Marek Hamsik that Federico Marchetti did well to touch onto the crossbar. Lazio had a chance at the death to add a second but Giovinco fluffed his lines as he failed to connect with the ball with the goal at his mercy.


LAZIO 3-1 NAPOLI
Giovinco (23)
Candreva (40, pen)
Cole (56)
Insigne (63)

Lazio have qualified for the Champions League Semi Finals for the first time in their history.

Lazio Starting XI (5-2-3): Marchetti, Cole (C), Alvarez Balanta, Astori, Bellusci, Abate, Verratti, Motta, Ince, Candreva, Giovinco.
Napoli Starting XI (4-3-3): Rafael, Maggio, Albiol, Moreno, Coentrao, Behrami, Matic, Callejon, Hamsik (C), Insigne, Higuain.

Lazio will play Real Madrid in the Champions League Semi Finals after smashing Napoli 4-1 on aggregate. Sebastian Giovinco picked up where he left off by opening the scoring on 23 minutes. The 'atomic ant' hit a belting drive from 25 yards that swerved past goalkeeper Rafael.

Despite having to make up a two goal deficit, Napoli were unable to get a foothold in the game as Lazio dominated proceedings and looked for a killer goal in the tie. That came 5 minutes before half time as Raul Albiol clattered into Antonio Candreva in the box with an unnecessary challenge as the Lazio number 87 had his back to goal. Candreva picked himself up, dusted himself down and sent Rafael the wrong way to put Lazio 2-0 up on the night and 3-0 up over the two legs.

Napoli tried to come out all guns firing in the second half, but found themselves conceding a third goal as they were hit on a quick counter attack. Lazio captain Ashley Cole collected the ball from a stray pass from Insigne and ran the length of the field unopposed before playing a neat one-two with Tom Ince and tucking the ball past the flapping goalkeeper to book Lazio a meeting with Real Madrid.

Napoli did get a conciliation however as Naples born Insigne made up for his previous mistake by curling in a quality free kick from just outside the box.

Quarter Final Results

Real Madrid 3-1 PSG
Bayern Munich 2-1 Barcelona
Man City 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Napoli 1-4 Lazio

Serie A Final Table

Serie A 2014/15 Awards

Juventus striker Carlos Tevez claims the Serie A Player of the Year award following his best ever season in Italy. The Argentina forward played 34 Serie A games and contributed 17 goals and 16 assists to his team as they went on to win their 30th Scudetto.



English Lazio winger Tom Ince impressed in his second year in Italy with another consistent campaign. Last year's Serie A Foreign Player of the Year was in consistent form and an ever present threat of the 23 year old player led to Ince appearing in all 38 games in the Serie A campaign this season, with the former Liverpool man hitting 10 goals and 12 assists from the left wing. 2nd: Paul Pogba 3rd: Stephan El Shaawary.


Spanish target man Fernando Llorente enjoyed a fruitful second season in Italy with league champions Juventus. The former Bilbao hit-man appeared in every game bar-one this season and scored 26 goals to make him runner up in the race for the Golden Boot.


The Arsenal legend produced a masterclass to take Juventus back to the Serie A summit in his first year in charge, ousting Matt Cox's Lazio team by 6 points and in turn also taking the Serie A Manager of the Year award from the Englishman. Not only did Wenger win his first Scudetto but he has also guided the Bianconeri to the Coppa Italia final which will be contested next week against Serie A runners up Lazio. 2nd: Matt Cox 3rd: Zdenek Zeman

Other Award Winners

Serie A Golden Boot Winner: 1st - Mario Balotelli (28), 2nd - Fernando Llorente (26), Mario Gomez (23)
Serie A Top Assists of the Year: 1st - Antonio Candreva (17), 2nd - Carlos Tevez, 3rd - Eric
Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year: 1st - Itumeleng Khune, 2nd - Federico Marchetti, 3rd - Andrea Consigli
Serie A Defender of the Year: 1st - Giorgio Chiellini, 2nd - Leonardo Bonucci, 3rd - Adil Rami
Serie A Team of the Year: Khune (JUV), Abate (LAZ), Chiellini, Bonucci, Evra, Vidal, Pogba (JUV), Eric (SAM), Llorente, Tevez (JUV), Balotelli (ACM).
Subs: Marchetti, Astori, (LAZ), Vidic (INT), Motta (LAZ), Torje (UDI) Gomez (FIO), Pratto (INT)