Lazio’s team meetings must appear more an infirmary than a professional football club these days. Inzaghi has been forced, both at home to Sevilla and away to Genoa, to juggle lineups and gerrymander tactics – both without success. In both cases, a severely depleted squad put up a scrappy and valiant effort but without the required personnel and due to many players playing out of position or being unaccustomed to starting, the results have been predictable. Worse, the club managed to pick up a few more injuries along the way.
Now it appears that a group of injured players have lost faith in the club’s medical staff. Il Messaggero reports that a group of battered Lazio players flew to Serbia to seek second opinions from medical staff there. Only Parolo turned up at Formello to train on Sunday. Meanwhile, Luis Alberto, Milinkovic, Durmisi, Berisha, Wallace, Bastos and Luiz Felipe flew to Serbia to seek help getting back to health as soon as possible.
The decision is perfectly within the rules. Players are entitled to seek additional medical advice on their own dime. However the scale of the injuries coupled with the number of players who feel the need to seek medical attention elsewhere raises serious questions about the relationship between the club’s medical staff and the players. Clearly, many of them no longer have confidence in the quality of care on offer at Formello.
Nevertheless, Lazio limp on. The return leg of the Europa League match away in Sevilla takes place Wednesday. Lazio managed to escape the home leg with a relatively painless 1-0 loss. This must leave the Biancocelesti with some confidence that if they can get a few of their stars back from injury they have a chance. Luis Felipe seems to have recuperated from his ankle injury only to have picked up a left leg injury and Radu is suffering from a gastrointestinal issue but there is cautious optimism that Luis Alberto and Ciro Immobile will play in Spain. Unfortunately Bastos, Milinkovic, Wallace, Bastos and Parolo will not be able to return for the match. It seems Inzaghi will have his work cut out for him again.
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