Lazio were defeated yesterday at the Stadio Olimpico, in a game that could decide the fate of the final Champions League qualification spot. Atalanta’s victory now puts them three points clear of fifth place Roma. Marco Parolo spoke to Lazio Style Radio 89.3 about the game, here are his words:
“In the second half we didn’t get off to a good start, but then we got settled in. The goal affected us, Wallace was unlucky. We didn’t do anything to make up for his distraction, it’s everyone’s fault. We didn’t have the strength to contain Atalanta, who didn’t do that much but are very keen to pursue their dream and fight until the end. Now we have to be good during an important 90 minutes in the Coppa Italia, that’s our dream. We’ll have to analyse this game well and find the right counter moves, with the right wickedness from start to finish. The next game will be my 200th with this jersey, I’d like to celebrate that with a victory. If you score and don’t win, like today, the joy lasts a few seconds. We want to give ourselves a goal that can create a positive change this season.
“Now we have to close ourselves off and analyse this defeat, so we can put all our season’s efforts into one game. Raising a trophy is always something good and it would allow us to reach Europe. When we put our backs to the wall, we’ve shown that we know how to react.”
Parolo also spoke in the mixed zone after the game, here are his words:
“In the first half we didn’t hurt Atalanta, they were lucky to find a moment where the ball wandered in the area, causing a goal that was crucial to direct the game. We didn’t have the strength to turn it around and change the direction of the game. We’re sorry, we were wrong, but in ten days we’ll get revenge and get the trophy. Now we have to analyse the game, see the mistakes made and take the positive things, because there must have been some. After their second goal we tried to attack for at least a draw, but then they were good at closing the game out. We didn’t have the wickedness and the desire to get ourselves back on our feet. When goals are scored like that it’s normal that you lose a bit of enthusiasm and confidence, they’re a physical team and we should have played a tough game like they did for 90 minutes. They have the enthusiasm, the desire and the humility to fight for every ball to achieve a goal, and that makes the difference. We try this, especially when we are in a tough spot, but we didn’t have the consistency to keep it going throughout the game: it was the big flaw this season, now we have the final to figure out who we are.”
