How far can Gennaro Gattuso really go with his football philosophy? After his disastrous spell with the Italian national team — and, generally speaking, with everything he has managed throughout his career that was supposed to be serious football — he has now suffered a major embarrassment in his first official match in charge of the Rome club, even though the season has not officially begun yet.The famous Roman club had to kick off their Coppa Italia campaign immediately, and to make things easier, they were playing at home against a modest second-tier side.Lazio 🇮🇹 just got eliminated from 🏆 Coppa Italia in August. pic.twitter.com/N1uYtbbM4O— Football Meets Data (@fmeetsdata) August 16, 2026 Instead of being little more than a comfortable training exercise ahead of the new Serie A season, it turned into yet another slap in the face for Lazio. As if the club did not already have enough problems both on and off the pitch, this was the last thing they needed to set everything on fire before the season had even started. Lazio were beaten 2-0 at home by Mantova (0-0), ending their Coppa Italia campaign at the very first hurdle.People across Italy should not be surprised anymore by why the Romans are boycotting one of the two biggest clubs in the capital. The appointment of Gattuso was met with widespread disapproval, while the entire transfer window has been nothing short of an embarrassment for a legendary club like Lazio.##EDITORS_CHOICE##On top of all that, they have barely sold 2,000 season tickets for this campaign! Last season, 29,918 were sold. This time, hardly anyone wants to watch Lazio because supporters are protesting against owner Claudio Lotito and boycotting everything he represents.After 22 years, fans have simply had enough of what Lazio has become. The last time the club recorded such poor season-ticket sales was exactly a decade ago, when they sold just 4,000. Even last season was better, despite Lazio not playing in Europe and being banned from signing players. That is how bad things have become.The boycott, launched by supporters in January, is still ongoing. The fans have directed it at the owner rather than Gattuso's team. Their aim is to create financial pressure and force Lotito to sell the club. Average attendance last season was around 30,000 at the 70,634-capacity stadium, the lowest figure since the 2016/17 season, excluding the pandemic period.🚨 A huge protest from Lazio fans against president Claudio Lotito!Fans are fed up with the way the club has been run for years and their season ticket boycott seems to be having a major impact.Lazio have sold only around 2,000 season tickets for the 2026/27 season so far.…— Goal Gossip (@Goal_Gossip1) August 16, 2026 ript>The situation could escalate even further after Mantova stunned them at home, with goals from Ruocco in the 75th minute and Kahaza in the 96th after a counterattack. It was a truly catastrophic way to begin the competitive season, with Serie A yet to even get underway.Things could hardly get worse. It looks increasingly likely that the Olimpico will be greeted by empty stands when Lazio play there for the first time in Serie A…##NAJAVA_MECA_9895115##
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