Lazio’s final training session before the Coppa Italia semifinal return leg against Atalanta drew about 700 tifosi to Formello on Tuesday, far fewer than the 1,000 initially expected. The fans who showed up greeted the squad with applause, chants and banners, and followed the first part of the session closely before the team left for Bergamo.
The turnout came during a protest by Lazio supporters against the club, and organized groups chose not to be present in the stands at Formello. Even so, the fans who did attend made their support clear, urging Matteo Zaccagni and his teammates on before the trip north.
The scene was a sharp contrast with the last time the gates at Formello were opened to Lazio fans, during the derby against Roma, when 7,000 laziali attended and Marco Baroni was still on the bench. This time the atmosphere was quieter, shaped less by celebration than by the distance many supporters wanted to keep from the club while the team prepared for atalanta - lazio.
That contrast matters because it shows how much the mood around Lazio has shifted even on the eve of a match with a place in the Coppa Italia final at stake. The team will now have to carry that tension into Bergamo, where the result will decide whether this protest-filled buildup is remembered as background noise or as the latest sign of a deeper split between the club and its fans.