Felipe Anderson underlined Lazio’s incredible belief and grit following their hard-fought 2-2 draw with Juventus.
The Biancocelesti went into the second half of the match at the Allianz Stadium 2-0 down following a frustrating first half in Turin, but an own goal from Alex Sandro and a late equaliser from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic salvaged a point for the Roman side, who are now on the cusp of guaranteeing a fifth place finish in the league table.
Speaking to Lazio Style Radio (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Felipe Anderson first reacted to the comeback draw against Juventus.
We started the match well, we dominated right from the start with the awareness that when we play our game and believe in it we can play against anyone and on any pitch.
Apart from some carelessness where we conceded the first goal, which we didn’t expect, then we got into confusion then we recovered, we talked. We have to believe until the end because we are a strong team and we can overturn the result.
He touched on Lazio’s emotional celebrations after the full time whistle.
The final celebration is because we know that we deserved more, we missed many games that we knew were in our hands. Now we have to focus on fifth place, we want more. We have qualified and now we want to give everything in the last game for the fans.
I haven’t played for a long time so I have adapted to the coach’s game and I want to give satisfaction to everyone who trusts me.
The Brazilian winger looked ahead to the final game of the season against Hellas Verona.
When you wear the Lazio shirt you have to give everything every game, you have to try to win especially with this mentality that we’re having on the pitch. We can also lose but we go onto the pitch with the awareness that we have to play the game to lead and win.
Now at home in front of our fans it will be no different, we have to give everything until the last minute. What I tried to do this season even if I wanted to give more with goals, assists and dribbling, but the sacrifice was worth it.
Felipe Anderson reflected on his season as a whole. He’s scored five goals and provided seven assists in 37 Serie A appearances.
Italian football since I left it is much more technical. All the teams want to play from the back and it’s a game I like a lot. What I’ve felt is a huge satisfaction to be able to contribute and be available, to be able to give my contribution in every game.
I am very happy with this season. I know I could have done even better but I’m confident for the future that we will be able to show everything they expect and that I expect of myself.
Finally, Felipe Anderson discussed the importance of maintaining a clear head when fighting from behind.
There have been many games, like today’s, in which we conceded goals and were unable to react as we did today.
We must continue to believe in it and take this match as an example, we must learn to be more careful at the start of games and when we come back for the second half knowing that we can play until the last minute because we have players like Milinkovic-Savic, Basic, Luis Alberto who can decide the match.
So also Pedro and Zaccagni, not to mention Immobile who can decide the game with every ball. We have to stay there, on top and believe until the last minute because what we did today shows that we are a strong team.
