Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi was proud of his team after their tough 2-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League yesterday.
Speaking in an interview with Italian broadcaster Sky Sports Italia (via La Lazio Siamo Noi) after the match, the 44-year-old Italian was positive.
Tonight was a risky match, if we didn’t come here to Munich and play a serious match we would have risked it. The boys were in the game, at 0-0 we had a few good chances, then we conceded a goal from a penalty but what mattered was the performance.
We go out of this competition with honour, we were sorry for the 1-4 in the first leg but we played a good game here against the world champions.
Our goal was to go through the group, we did it undefeated and it’s a great pride. With Bayern we knew it would be tough, we could have played better in the first leg but we are proud of our European journey.
What makes Bayern a great team is their mentality, they deserve everything they are winning in these years.
Inzaghi touched on the importance of being in this competition.
We are back in the Champions League after thirteen years, we have taken the first step, now the other is to stay in this competition knowing that there is a lot of competition in Italy and that there are 11 games left that we will have to play at our best.
The 44-year-old Italian commented on some improvements that could be made.
These guys have given me a lot over the last five years and they continue to give. As far as the league is concerned, we were looking at seven victories, then some important players were missing and this is where we have to improve, to be better in difficult moments.
This year, compared to the other years, the squad has been enlarged, we missed some players in the same sector and we have suffered from that, but we have plenty of time to return to the top four knowing that we are up against very strong teams, but we will play until the end.
Inzaghi also spoke about the match to Italian radio broadcaster Lazio Style Radio.
It was a difficult match but the guys played it in the best possible way. We probably deserved more, we played a great match against a very strong opponent. I’m lucky enough to be able to coach Marusic, who’s having a great season, he’s versatile.
Tonight, he played the right centre back very well, I needed his characteristics there and he was ready. Fares had a knee injury, he looked like he could recover but then he had pain. Lazzari’s injury is to a finger, it’s very painful but we hope he can be there for Sunday.
He then discussed how all the Italian teams have now been knocked out of the competition.
We all could have done better. I can speak for Lazio, the objective was to get through the groups and we did it, we finished unbeaten. Udinese will be a difficult match, they’re healthy and they’re getting good results, we need to recover energy to prepare for it.
I wanted a strong performance, it was a high-risk game. There is some regret for the moments, the penalty not given in the first leg and the one given tonight.
It would have been tough against Bayern anyway, we hope to return to the Champions League as soon as possible. Bayern is the number one favourite for the final victory, but Manchester City can also go all the way.
