Gattuso impressed as Lazio beat Under-20 side 3-1

Coach Gennaro Gattuso said Lazio ‘know we need to improve’ after the first pre-season friendly match saw them beat the Under-20 team 3-1.

The new boss set his side out in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the game against the club’s own youth team, which had a few of the senior players sprinkled in there too in order to make up the numbers.

Surprisingly, the Under-20 team went into the half-time break ahead thanks to Avram, who burst through a large gap down the left side of the defence.

It came after some big misses for Mattia Zaccagni, Tijjani Noslin and above all Petar Ratkov.

Lazio begin pre-season training ROME, ITALY – JULY 20: Gabriele Artistico of SS Lazio during the friendly match between SS Lazio and SS Lazio U20 at the Formello Sport Centre at Formello Training Center on July 20, 2026 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images) Gattuso made changes for the restart and the key figure was ex-Spezia striker Gabriele Artistico, who was brought down and then converted the penalty to equalise.

Artistico also stepped up when Fisayo Dele-Bashiru was fouled, and then Sana Fernandes added a third goal at the end.

Lazio announce Gennaro Gattuso as their new coach “We’ve got to compliment the lads, who had a really good week in training,” said Gattuso.

“We knew it would be a bit of a struggle, but we did some good things, and above all we’re glad not to have new injuries. We know that we have to improve in many areas, but we’ve got the right spirit and mentality.”

There were some players who missed out on the friendly, as Nicolò Rovella was struggling with flu symptoms, while Nuno Tavares has an inflammation in his knee.