At a time when the world is at war, Italy’s minister of foreign affairs Antonio Tajani is a busy man.

There has been a drone strike on an Italian base in Kuwait. Matteo Salvini, his coalition partner and fellow deputy prime minister, has broken ranks and argued the EU should follow the Americans and ease oil sanctions on Russia. Donald Trump, meanwhile, wants allies to send warships to help open the Strait of Hormuz. Matters of state did not, however, prevent Tajani from taking the time to show solidarity to a party colleague.

On Sunday, he condemned the latest graffiti threatening Claudio Lotito. It was sprayed in blue on the wall of a Roman church, and read: “You’re only welcome here feet first.” In other words: in a coffin.

It followed another scritta left in English on one of the walls near Lazio’s training ground in Formello. “Message for Donald Trump,” it said. “Lotito has a lot of oil and he’s a dictator.” The supporter behind it desires regime change. “Dissent,” Tajani made clear, “must never turn into hatred and violence, and that includes verbal abuse.”

Lotito is no stranger to death threats. They have accompanied him throughout his ownership of Lazio and have been taken seriously given the links to organised crime in sections of the Curva Nord. Its most famous leader was executed in broad daylight by a hitman while sitting on a park bench in 2019.

Tajani’s dismay at the graffiti is not because he is a Lazio fan. He supports Juventus but belongs to the same political party, Forza Italia, as Lotito. A senator since 2022, banners have been left outside Italy’s chamber of deputies calling for Lotito to “free Lazio”.

As Italians prepare to vote in a referendum on the reform of the justice system, Lazio fans unwound another banner in the square where Forza Italia has an office in Rome. Forza Italia is backing the reform, as are the protesting Lazio fans. But they vowed to vote against it because of Lotito. “Thank senator Lotito of your party,” it said, if the bill is defeated.

This is not the first time Lazio fans have escalated protests against Lotito. A decade ago, they deserted the Stadio Olimpico in an almost impeccably observed boycott of games. Supporters only returned to carry on the protest en masse, holding up sheets of A4 paper with “Dream Thief” and “Get out” printed on them.

These alternating forms of extreme dissent have made a comeback this year. Lazio began the season under transfer embargo. Unaware of it when he agreed to return for a second spell, rumours abounded that coach Maurizio Sarri was considering resignation. He didn’t out of respect for the fans.

Sarri is used to working in straitened circumstances from his time in the lower leagues and while he did not draw exact parallels with his time at Tegoleto and Valdema he conceded this has been his toughest season in Serie A.

Injuries have only compounded the situation, as have a number of refereeing decisions made at Lazio’s expense.

When, in January, the embargo was finally lifted, fans were dismayed to see some of the team’s biggest names leave. Taty Castellanos and Christos Mandas headed to the Premier League, with Castellanos sold to West Ham United and Mandas to Bournemouth, initially on loan with an option to buy. Matteo Guendouzi moved to Fenerbahce. The captain Alessio Romagnoli, a Lazio fan born-and-raised in Rome, looked on the verge of becoming one of Roberto Mancini’s first signings for Al Sadd in Qatar only for Lazio to deny he was ever for sale.

Sarri despaired. His teams have a very specific way of defending that takes months to teach. Losing someone of Romagnoli’s experience would have been deeply problematic. Luckily, he stayed. As for Mandas, his move was inopportune and hurt badly when Lazio’s first-choice goalkeeper Ivan Provedel suffered a season-ending injury. “I was completely opposed to Mandas’ transfer,” Sarri told DAZN.

Lazio did at least reinvest the Castellanos money. Kenneth Taylor from Ajax has impressed. Daniel Maldini joined on loan from Atalanta although he felt like a consolation prize as Giacomo Raspadori, a player Sarri courted, left Atletico Madrid for Bergamo instead. As for Petar Ratkov, the Salzburg centre-back, he was candid. “I don’t know him,” Sarri said in a press conference.

Maurizio Sarri  has had a turbulent season in charge of Lazio (Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images)

The supporters stepped up their protests. An investigation was launched by magistrates in Rome into an alleged disinformation campaign to intimidate Lotito and manipulate Lazio’s share price in such a way as to force a sale. Lotito has, incredibly, faced and seen off worse, including a takeover bid in 2008 from a company alleged to be a front for a Camorra clan.

Is this all the thanks Lotito gets for saving the club from bankruptcy two decades ago? Trophies have been won under Lotito. In fact the 2013 Coppa Italia final might rank as the best day in Lazio’s history, given who they beat; eternal rivals AS Roma. He has signed big names like World Cup winner Miroslav Klose, found talent like Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and made new legends like Ciro Immobile.

Lazio even challenged for the title during Covid under Simone Inzaghi.

But Lotito’s reputation for being cheap and his unwillingness to indulge the ultras has contrasted starkly with the largesse of his predecessor Sergio Cragnotti who broke the world transfer record for Hernan Crespo and assembled star-studded teams featuring Diego Simeone, Pavel Nedved and Marcelo Salas.

Hernan Crespo celebrates after Lazio won the Supercoppa Italiana (Claudio Villa /Allsport)

That Cragnotti wound up, briefly, in jail after Cirio, Lazio’s old front of shirt sponsor went bust, did not matter to them. He had made their dreams come true. Unless a sovereign wealth fund buys Lazio, it is hard to imagine the era of the late 1990s and early 2000s ever returning (and that’s true of Serie A as a whole).

Rational fans understand as much. All they want is someone who dares and shows them respect. Lotito thinks his record speaks for itself. A delegation from Lazio visited New York over the winter and closed the Nasdaq, a sign of broadening horizons. Plans to redevelop the old Flaminio and give Lazio a home of their own have been unveiled.

But fans have seen and heard it all before. They’re fed up.

In mid-January, the ultras invited supporters to boycott the game against Genoa. It brought furious condemnation from the club. “This is a serious and unacceptable act, which goes beyond any form of legitimate dissent and amounts to a genuine attempt to exert organised pressure and influence on the club, the team and the entire Lazio community,” a statement read.

To whom would match-going fans listen? The attendance in the 70,000-seater Olimpico amounted to 5,000. A fortnight later against Atalanta it fell further to 3,400. Then against Sassuolo it hit an all-time low of just 2,000.

“It’s a long story,” Sarri told DAZN. “And someone within the club will know what the biggest issues are and how to intervene. But, come on, something needs doing. We can’t go on like this. It’s depressing. In June I stayed at Lazio for the fans and now even I don’t know why I stayed. Something needs doing.”

On Sunday, the boycott was lifted for one night only and the Olimpico filled for Milan’s visit. It was described by the ultras as one “last act of love for this season”. They wanted to treat themselves, the coach and the team to a special atmosphere before reinstating the boycott and taking the “very painful decision” to abandon the rest of Lazio’s home games.

Milan’s players must have wished the Lazio fans stayed away. They did not need to play against a 12th man. After winning the Derby della Madonnina last weekend, Milan could reduce the gap at the top of the table to five points. Inter’s draw against Atalanta on Saturday seemed indicative of the league leaders’ fraying nerves.

Atalanta’s late equaliser at San Siro should, in the opinion of the sent-off Cristian Chivu, have been called back for a foul on Denzel Dumfries. Inter were then denied what they thought was a penalty on Davide Frattesi and called their own boycott after the game, refusing to do any media.

It felt like a big opportunity for Milan on a ground where they had fond memories. A big moment in their last Scudetto came away to Sarri’s Lazio when, in April 2022, they came back to win in stoppage time thanks to a goal from Sandro Tonali.

No such moment presented itself on Sunday. Lazio rose to the occasion like a falconer after penis enhancement surgery. No more pills in this case meant no more anti-depressives, as the players drew inspiration from the smoke and noise rising from the stands. Before the game, the Curva Nord unveiled a choreography showing a Lazio ultra with a shield and flag. It was a depiction of the Nord as the club’s true protector.

Biancocelesti scarves were held tight in outstretched arms, synchronising movements with the megaphone-led chants of LAAAAZ-ZIIIIO, LAAAAZ-ZIIIIO. They bowed up then down, up then down. Milan played as if distracted by it and who can blame them.

“We gave up more counter attacks in the first half than we did in the entire season,” Max Allegri said. The hero of the derby, Pervis Estupinan, was caught out by a long ball. Lazio’s Swedish winger Gustav Isaksen got the better of him, racing in behind to score the only goal of the game.

Milan in mitigation missed Adrien Rabiot. Not for the first time in this fixture, Rafa Leao also showed insubordination.

Last season he undermined Paulo Fonseca by going over to the other side of the pitch while the coach used a break of play to huddle his players together and pass on instructions at the Olimpico. On Sunday, he pushed Allegri away and wrestled himself free from his coach’s embrace after being substituted.

Massimiliano Allegri and Rafael Leao had a tense exchange (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)

While not a good look, it is nothing Allegri can’t handle.

Milan tried to get back into the game. They mirrored Lazio, switching from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3, Niclas Fullkrug, an actual centre-forward, replaced Leao and generally Milan improved in the second half. But it wasn’t enough even against a Lazio team without a first or second-choice keeper, without Romagnoli, without Nicolo Rovella.

Their centre-back Mario Gila was outstanding and will almost certainly get a big move in the summer. His partner and fellow Spaniard, Patric, also played well, having been reinvented as a midfielder out of necessity by Sarri.

“The fans were fundamental today,” Patric told DAZN. “When there was 15 minutes to go and we were starting to tire, you looked at the Nord and could draw energy from it even if you had nothing left.”

The win, Lazio’s second in a row, moved them up into ninth. It’s been 12 years since they finished this far down the table.

Given the circumstances, Sarri is doing a creditable job and may yet win a trophy, with Lazio still to play the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final against Atalanta next month.

As for Milan, they are now closer to fifth spot than first, prompting Allegri to remind his players that defending Champions League qualification now has to be the priority.

Napoli look resurgent and are now only a point behind. They also have Kevin De Bruyne and Frank Zambo Anguissa back for the run-in. Impressively, Como show no sign of letting up. They keep beating their rivals for fourth spot; first Juventus then Roma.

It is One Battle After Another even if, at Lazio, the Cold War against Lotito’s ownership resumed first thing Monday morning. The fans deserve an Oscar for the atmosphere they created over the weekend.