Stefan De Vrij folded himself up small and hid his face underneath a training top, but he could not stop the cameras from honing in on him as he sat for the final time in Lazio’s home dugout. The curtain was coming down on the 2017-18 Serie A season, and the team whose shirt he was still wearing had just lost its Champions League spot to the one he will play for next year.

A messy situation under any circumstances, but even more so for how events unfolded. Lazio had led 2-1 with 12 minutes remaining against Inter, in a game they only needed to draw. That was before De Vrij gave away a penalty, scything down Mauro Icardi. The Argentinian converted, and the Nerazzurri went on to win 3-2.

Of course, there was more to it than that. Between Inter’s goals, Senad Lulić got himself sent off for a needless second yellow. Even before the penalty, Lazio’s manager, Simone Inzaghi, had ceded the initiative by taking off lone striker, Ciro Immobile, and sending on a full-back, Jordan Lukaku. There were echoes here of Inter’s collapse at home to Juventus last month.

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We might also point out that De Vrij was forced into his desperate challenge as a result of team-mates’ mistakes. Éder was granted too much space as he played a ball over the top to Icardi, whose run should have been tracked by Bastos. Thomas Strakosha could have been out quicker to close the angle too, but instead De Vrij was left scrambling.

He might have been better served by keeping his feet, but would critics have been mollified if doing so had allowed Icardi to breeze past and bury a shot from open play? De Vrij, solid otherwise, was caught making a split-second decision for which there might not have been a right answer. The greater question is whether he ought to have been on the pitch in the first place.

Then again, the dilemma facing Inzaghi was hardly straightforward. Lazio were without two key men – Luis Alberto and Marco Parolo have combined for 15 goals and 20 assists, before we even get into their broader contribution – and with Immobile only just back from injury. To deprive himself of De Vrij, his best centre-back, on top of that could hardly be done lightly.

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Inzaghi’s comments at the start of the week suggested he was considering his alternatives. It was only after a reported meeting between the defender and a group of the team’s ‘senators’ – senior players including Immobile, Parolo, Lulić, Lucas Leiva, and Ştefan Radu – that the final decision was made. The manager might also have considered how De Vrij saved Lazio from a potential defeat in their previous game, against Crotone, with a goal-line clearance.

He refused to throw De Vrij under the bus, reminding reporters his team had opportunities to seal the deal sooner. Fourth place was theirs to lose after Inter lost at home to Sassuolo. If Lazio had just beaten Crotone – themselves relegated this weekend –Sunday’s match would have been a dead rubber.

Instead, it is an occasion that may haunt this club for years to come. This has been an exceptional campaign for Lazio, whose 89 goals scored were both a club record and the most in Serie A. Inzaghi’s team also beat Juventus to the Supercoppa,reached the Coppa Italia semis as well as the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Inter’s Matías Vecino, right, celebrates after making it 3-2 in Rome. Photograph: Angelo Carconi/EPA

None of this was expected of a team whose budgetlags behind Inter, Juventus, Roma, Milan and Napoli. Credit is due to Inzaghi for forging a clear identity – that of a side who relinquish possession in favour of devastatingly direct counters – and sporting director Igli Tare, for building a squad so deep that Felipe Anderson, scorer of his team’s second goal on Sunday, can no longer hold down a regular starting spot.

Lazio have, in Inzaghi’s words, “come one centimetre away from everything”. They exited the Coppa Italia on penalties, and the Europa League after blowing a three-goal aggregate lead in Salzburg – conceding three in five second-half minutes. Even in Serie A, they still finished levelwith Inter, behind them only by virtue of head-to-head results.

Not that the Nerazzurri will feel much sympathy. The Stadio Olimpico will forever be the ground where they lost a title on 5 May 2002, with Lazio twice coming from behind to win 4-2 despite having nothing to play for on what was the final weekend. Inter, who began that day in first place, were overtaken by Juventus and Roma.

Their fans, nevertheless, have a long-standing gemellaggio (twinning) with Lazio’s, which permitted a convivial atmosphere on Sunday. The number of Inter supporters attending the game was estimated at between 12,000-15,000.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Internazionale players celebrate after the match. Photograph: Claudio Villa/Inter via Getty Images

They celebrated long into the night, and will no doubt carry on into the summer. Inter have not played in the Champions League since 2011-12. To return to that competition is a critical element of the business plan drawn up by their Suning ownership group and might also have been the difference between hanging on to Icardi – who finished level with Immobile as Serie A’s top scorer on 29 – or seeing him depart.

“Finally, all these goals are worth something,” said Icardi. He has scored 100 in five league seasons with Inter. Asked about De Vrij, he dismissed any suggestions of a conspiracy: “I don’t think he did it on purpose. Every professional tries to do things to the best of their ability, so if something like this happens it’s just fate.”

Not everyone in Rome was feeling so generous, though De Vrij’s late substitution did not bring down the universal cacophony of jeers some might have expected. He has been a committed servant and key figure for Lazio these last four years. And now, in part thanks to his own foul, he is off to play in the Champions League for someone else.

Talking points

• Some way to sign off for Milan, who thrashed Fiorentina 5-1 to tie down sixth and spare themselves Europa League qualifying in July. It also guaranteed that Atalanta return to Europe, despite losing to Cagliari.

• Crotone were unable to repeat last season’s great escape, losing 2-1 to Napoli. Walter Zenga appeared legitimately crushed, describing himself as “dead” and lamenting with understandable bitterness how direct rivals had put together runs of two or three wins at the end.

• As for Napoli, victory meant they become the first team to break the 90-point barrier and not win a Scudetto. Whether Maurizio Sarri will still be in charge next season remains to be seen. The manager said he still needs to speak to his family, but owner Aurelio De Laurentiis indicated there was no more time for stalling.

• And finally, farewell to Gigi Buffon – for Serie A, at least. There’s no way I could say everything that needs to be said in the few words left to me here, but this league will not be the same without the greatest keeper I’ve had the privilege to watch. Here’s hoping the next adventure proves as eventful and entertaining as the past 23 years.