Lazio will be heading into their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie against FC Bayern Munich on a high note. Simone Inzaghi’s side picked up a 1-0 victory over UC Sampdoria, and they can now look ahead to the Bavarian club.
Inzaghi spoke with Sky Sport (via Corriere dello Sport) and provided an overview of what he saw from his team in their win. Luis Alberto provided the lone goal, but the 44-year-old did discuss what he liked and didn’t like from his side.
We had a challenging and complicated game. Sampdoria was in great form heading into this match.
We had an excellent first half, but we had to score one more goal.
Regardless of the defenders, Lazio was attentive.
Correa and Immobile helped us a lot. The guys behind them did well.
The victory is well deserved.
The Biancocelesti boss then went into detail about his squad, as they can now focus on Europe as they prepare to take down the German giants. Inzaghi named a few players that they’ll need their best form to pull off the upset.
My substitutes are the ones that allowed us to go through to the Champions League and be in a good position in the league.
Playing many games, there are several complications. We know that we should have more points than we currently do.
We haven’t had a full squad available since last season’s break. When we did, we played for the Scudetto.
Our two seasonal goals are: the Round of 16 and to stay in the Europe that matters.
Milinkovic? We need him in the non-possession phase for our idea of football. Luis Alberto and Sergej have to sacrifice themselves. I’m happy for them; they must continue like this.
The penalty shout? I haven’t seen the video again. Typically, the last few minutes are more exciting; we picked up three yellow cards.
Bayern Munich is the one team many wanted to avoid facing early in the knockout stages, and Lazio shares that sentiment. Nonetheless, they’re ready for the task, but Inzaghi does state that for matches such as this one against the Bavarian club, they would’ve liked to have the supporters in the stadium encouraging them.
We have to improve every year. Thinking about the trophies we have secured and Champions League; we cannot be satisfied. With application and work, we will do more.
Bayern Munich? The one team that we didn’t want to face. They are European and World champions. We will play against them the best we can, that’s for sure. But we have to enjoy the challenge.
I would have liked to enjoy a full stadium with all our fans. What existed before the pandemic between us and the fans was unique. We miss them: initially, we talked about 2-3 months, now we are over a year. We are sorry for this.
