After his performances for Atlético and at the 1998 World Cup, Vieri returned to Serie A with Lazio for a fee of €25 million. He partnered Chilean international Marcelo Salas for the Rome-based club, managed by Sven-Göran Eriksson. He had a successful season, scoring 14 goals in 28 appearances and won the Cup Winners' Cup. He scored the first goal of the 2–1 win over Mallorca in the final at Villa Park on 19 May, the last match in the tournament's history.