The Derby della Capitale (), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between Lazio and Roma. It is considered to be one of the fiercest intra-city derbies in the country, along with the other major local derbies, Derby della Madonnina (Milan derby) and Derby della Mole (Turin derby), and one of the greatest and most hotly contested derbies in Europe.
History
Football rivalry Lazio was founded in 1900 in Piazza della Libertà, Borough of Prati and initially played at the Rondinella field in the upper-class quartiere of Parioli. Roma began playing at the Motovelodromo Appio and subsequently, when the new stadium was built after only two years, moved to the working-class rione of Testaccio. Thus, the Lazio ultras traditionally occupy the northern end (Curva Nord) and Roma's the southern end (Curva Sud) of the Stadio Olimpico. Making ironic remarks, known as sfottò, focused on the origins of both sets of fans, is a traditional way of teasing between the supporters of Lazio and Roma.
Roma was founded in 1927 as a result of a merger between three teams: Roman, Alba-Audace and Fortitudo, initiated by Italo Foschi. It was the intention of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini to create a unified Roman club to challenge the dominance of northern clubs such as Juventus. Thanks to the influence of Giorgio Vaccaro, a member of the National Fascist Party, Lazio was the only major team from Rome to be excluded from the merger and remain independent, thus a kind of rivalry emerged from the very early years of the coexistence in the same city.
In 1979, Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli was hit in the eye and killed by a flare fired by a Roma fan from the opposite end of the stadium, becoming the first fatality in Italian football due to violence.
On 17 December 2000, Lazio's Paolo Negro scored an own goal in a 1–0 Roma victory. Roma eventually went on to lift the scudetto that season, as Lazio finished the season in third place. Negro continues to be taunted by Roma fans for the goal.
The derby on 21 March 2004 was abandoned four minutes into the second half with the score tied at 0–0, when a riot broke out in the stand; the president of the Lega Nazionale Professionisti, Adriano Galliani, ordered referee Roberto Rosetti to suspend the match. The riots began with the spreading of a rumour that a boy had been killed by a police car just outside the stadium. In fact, from last row of the stadium, some fans noticed in the square below a body covered with a white sheet. Later, medics who put the sheet explained that the boy had difficulty breathing, dangerously exacerbated by the air full of tear gas, and then the sheet was used as a filter. The denial by the police, spread through the speakers of the stadium, though it was not able to remove all doubt. Roma captain Francesco Totti then asked for the match to be called off, at which point President Galliani was reached by the referee by mobile phone—from the pitch—and ordered the game postponed. After the match was postponed, a prolonged battle between fans and police, with streets near the stadium being set on fire, eventually resulting in 13 arrests and over 170 injured among the police alone. The match was replayed on 28 March and ended in a 1–1 draw with no crowd trouble.
On 26 May 2013, the teams met in the 2013 Coppa Italia Final, the first cup final in the history of the fixture. Lazio won the match 1–0 with a goal by Senad Lulić in the 71st minute, a low right footed shot from a low cross from the right by Antonio Candreva after the goalkeeper Bogdan Lobonț failed to cut out the crossed ball.
On 15 January 2015, Roma's Francesco Totti, playing in his 40th derby, scored twice to salvage a 2–2 draw for Roma, becoming the all-time leading goalscorer in the fixture. He celebrated by taking a selfie in front of Roma's fans in the Curva Sud, having given his phone to the goalkeeping coach before kick off.
On 4 December 2016, Roma recorded their fourth victory in a row against Lazio and extended their unbeaten run in the fixture to seven games with a 0–2 away victory. However, the game was marred by controversy, with Lazio's Danilo Cataldi sent off for grabbing Roma's Kevin Strootman, after Strootman had thrown the contents of a water bottle in Cataldi's face after scoring the opening goal, sparking a mass brawl. Strootman subsequently received a two match ban for his role in the incident. Lazio's Senad Lulić was also given a 20-day ban for offensive comments made towards Roma's Antonio Rüdiger after the game.
Cultural rivalry The devout regionalism that is perceived throughout the country is one of the reasons that make the derby more heated, as the fans view it as a battle between two clubs fighting for the right to represent the city in the rest of the country and local bragging rights. This is partly fueled by the fact that Italian football has mostly been dominated by three clubs, all of which are based in Northern Italy – namely Juventus in Turin and Milan and Internazionale in Milan.
The Rome derby has been the scene of several actions related to the political views of the fan bases. Lazio's ultras used to use swastikas and fascist symbols on their banners, and they have displayed racist behaviour on several occasions during the derbies. In particular, at a match in the 1998–99 season, Laziali unfurled a 50-metre banner around the Curva Nord that read "Auschwitz is your town, the ovens are your houses". Black players of Roma have often been targets of racist and offensive behaviour.
In November 2015, Roma's ultras and their Lazio counterparts boycotted Roma's 2–0 victory in the Derby della Capitale in a protest against the new safety measures imposed at the Stadio Olimpico. The measures, imposed by Rome's prefect, Franco Gabrielli, had involved plastic glass dividing walls being installed in both the Curva Sud and Curva Nord, splitting the sections behind each goal in two. Both sets of ultras continued their protests for the rest of the season, including during Roma's 4–1 victory in the return fixture. Lazio's ultras returned to the Curva Nord for Roma's 2–0 victory in December 2016, but the Roma ultras continue to boycott games.
In 2017, Lazio fans left anti-Semitic stickers of Anne Frank in a Roma jersey, as well as graffiti, at the Stadio Olimpico. The resulting controversy sparked a police investigation. On 30 April 2017, Lazio beat Roma 3–1 in a Serie A match, and four days later, Lazio ultras hung dummies with Roma jerseys from a pedestrian walkway near the Colosseum in the Italian capital. The mannequins were accompanied with a banner read "a warning without offence... sleep with the lights on!"
Official match results
SF = Semi-finals QF = Quarter-finals R16 = Round of 16 GS = Group stage R1 = Round 1
Season Competition Date Home team Result Away team 1929–30 Serie A8 December 1929LazioRoma4 May 1930RomaLazio 1930–31 Serie A7 December 1930RomaLazio24 May 1931LazioRoma 1931–32 Serie A6 December 1931RomaLazio1 May 1932LazioRoma 1932–33 Serie A23 October 1932LazioRoma26 March 1933RomaLazio 1933–34 Serie A1 November 1933RomaLazio11 March 1934LazioRoma 1934–35 Serie A18 November 1934RomaLazio1 March 1935LazioRoma 1935–36Serie A13 October 1935LazioRomaCoppa Italia R1619 January 1936LazioRomaSerie A16 February 1936RomaLazio 1936–37Serie A18 October 1936RomaLazio21 February 1937LazioRoma 1937–38Serie A3 October 1937LazioRoma6 February 1938RomaLazio 1938–39Serie A15 January 1939RomaLazio21 May 1939LazioRoma 1939–40Serie A7 January 1940RomaLazio26 May 1940LazioRoma 1940–41Serie A24 November 1940RomaLazio16 March 1941LazioRoma 1941–42Serie A11 January 1942RomaLazio24 May 1942LazioRoma 1942–43Serie A22 November 1942LazioRoma7 March 1943RomaLazioCoppa Italia QF15 May 1943RomaLazio 1945–46 Serie A-B23 December 1945LazioRoma24 March 1946RomaLazio 1946–47 Serie A6 October 1946RomaLazio2 March 1947LazioRoma 1947–48 Serie A16 November 1947LazioRoma21 April 1948RomaLazio 1948–49 Serie A17 October 1948RomaLazio6 February 1949LazioRoma 1949–50 Serie A16 November 1949LazioRoma19 February 1950RomaLazio 1950–51 Serie A15 October 1950RomaLazio25 February 1951LazioRoma 1952–53 Serie A16 November 1952LazioRoma22 March 1953RomaLazio 1953–54 Serie A29 November 1953RomaLazio18 April 1954LazioRoma 1954–55 Serie A17 October 1954LazioRoma6 March 1955RomaLazio 1955–56 Serie A16 October 1955RomaLazio4 April 1956LazioRoma 1956–57 Serie A14 October 1956LazioRoma3 March 1957RomaLazio 1957–58 Serie A27 October 1957RomaLazio16 March 1958LazioRomaCoppa Italia GS21 June 1958RomaLazio12 July 1958LazioRoma 1958–59Serie A30 November 1958LazioRoma12 April 1959RomaLazio 1959–60Serie A18 October 1959RomaLazio6 March 1960LazioRoma 1960–61Serie A13 November 1960LazioRoma19 March 1961RomaLazio1961–62Coppa Italia R1625 April 1962RomaLazio 1963–64Serie A6 October 1963RomaLazio23 February 1964LazioRoma 1964–65Serie A15 November 1964LazioRoma28 March 1965RomaLazio 1965–66Serie A10 October 1965RomaLazio27 February 1966LazioRoma 1966–67Serie A22 October 1966LazioRoma5 March 1967RomaLazio1968–69Coppa Italia GS8 September 1968RomaLazio 1969–70Coppa Italia GS7 September 1969LazioRomaSerie A26 October 1969RomaLazio1 March 1970LazioRoma 1970–71Coppa Italia GS6 September 1970RomaLazioSerie A15 November 1970LazioRoma14 March 1971RomaLazio1971–72Coppa Italia R129 August 1971LazioRoma 1972–73Serie A12 November 1972RomaLazio11 March 1973LazioRoma 1973–74Coppa Italia R19 September 1973RomaLazioSerie A9 December 1973LazioRoma31 March 1974RomaLazio 1974–75Coppa Italia R122 September 1974LazioRomaSerie A1 December 1974RomaLazio23 March 1975LazioRoma1975–76Serie A16 November 1975LazioRoma14 March 1976RomaLazio 1976–77Serie A28 November 1976LazioRoma27 March 1977RomaLazio 1977–78Serie A20 November 1977RomaLazio19 March 1978LazioRoma 1978–79Serie A12 November 1978LazioRoma18 March 1979RomaLazio