LITTLE SEPARATED LAZIO AND AC MILAN the season prior. A late-season collapse by the Biancocelesti allowed the Rossoneri to sneak ahead of them and win the Scudetto. But Alberto Zaccerhoni's Milan were far from convincing champions. If Christian Vieri hadn't hit the crossbar in Lazio's 1-1 draw with Fiorentina in the penultimate game of the season, they likely would've gone on to win the championship.

Vieri ended up leaving for Inter the following summer, and both Lazio and Milan set about reinforcing their squad. Argentinians Diego Simeone and Juan Sebastian Veron joined Sven-Goran Eriksson's side, and Simone Inzaghi arrived from Piacenza. Milan also unveiled a certain Andriy Shevchenko as George Weah's days became numbered.

Shevchenko's first hat-trick for Milan helped shap the eight-goal thriller that followed. He was a skinny but pacy forward back then and the first Ukrainian to really make it work in Western football. He'd end the season as Serie A's top scorer, becoming one of only a handful of foreigner players to do so in their debut campaign. But Lazio would finish as champions for the just the second time in their history.

The lineups

A quick run through the pregame formations.

Eriksson runs a 4-4-2 formation with a number of notable names in the lineup. Future Milan managers Sinisa Mihajlovic and Sergio Conceicao and eventual Milan players Giuseppe Favalli and Alessandro Nesta fill a decent chunk of it. Zaccheroni's Milan stick with the 3-4-1-2 formation that underpinned their Scudetto run. New signing Serginho starts on the left, and Gennaro Gattuso, who recently arrived from Rangers, is on the bench.

The match

Reviewing the most important plays, including footnotes with tidbits about the teams and players in action. You can watch the game here.