FC Viktoria Plzeň will face Italian team S.S. Lazio in the Europa League semi-finals. The first match is scheduled for 6 March (21:00) at the Doosan Arena. The return leg will be played a week later in Rome on 13 March (18:45).
Società Sportiva Lazio is an Italian football club based in Rome in the Lazio region. The club was founded on 9 January 1900 by fifteen young athletes as Società Podistica Lazio in the Prati district. In honour of Greece, the cradle of the Olympic Games, the colours chosen were white and light blue. The eagle was chosen as the club´s symbol, which in ancient symbolism represents the ancient god Zeus and also the emblem of the Roman legions.
Lazio plays its home games at the Stadio Olimpico, which it shares with its rival AS Roma. The stadium has a capacity of over 70,000 spectators and was built in 1953. It is a multi-purpose sports venue used not only for football matches, but also for athletic competitions and music concerts.
Since its foundation, Lazio has won a total of 17 trophies. It has won Italy´s top competition twice, in 1974 and at the turn of 1999 and 2000. In some periods it has also played in the second Italian league, which it won once, in the 1968/1969 season. It spent a total of 12 seasons in the second league, but has been a regular participant in Serie A since 1989.
Lazio has achieved great success, especially in domestic cups, where it has won most of its trophies in the 21st century. It has won the Italian Cup seven times and the Italian Super Cup five times. It also has two trophies from international competitions in its museum. The first is the Cup Winners´ Cup, of which Lazio was the last holder before the competition was abolished. The second trophy is the European Super Cup, which Lazio won in the final against Manchester United. The victory was decided by a single goal scored by Chilean striker Marcelo Salas.
Czech midfielder Pavel Nedved, who spent five seasons in the blue and white jersey, left a significant Czech mark on Lazio. He scored 33 goals in 138 matches and was one of the key players of the team. He was instrumental in winning European trophies and the Serie A title. He left Rome in 2001, when he moved to Turin, where he began to defend the colours of the Old Lady.
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Lazio are doing great in this year´s Europa League. In the group stage, they finished first with 19 points from eight matches. With two exceptions, they have won every time. For the first time, Lazio lost a full point against Ludogorets when the match went without a single goal scored. The only defeat came in the last game of this phase, when Portuguese side Braga lost 0-1.