Maurizio Sarri felt positive when looking back at this season and suggested that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic would not move to another Italian club.
The Biancocelesti fought back to secure a tough 2-2 draw yesterday at the Allianz Stadium against Juventus, with an own goal from Alex Sandro and a late equaliser by Milinkovic-Savic securing a point for Sarri’s side. It was a frustrating evening for Lazio, who felt that they should’ve got more from the match.
Speaking to gathered reporters in a press conference (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Sarri first reflected on this season and if the goals had been achieved.
The goal at this point is to finish fifth and it’s important for us. I represent a people and I owe them respect. In the 29 games without matches on Thursday night the team has scored 58 or 59 points, an average of more than two points per game.
In the eight games after the Thursday night game we picked up an average of 0.6 points. So 1.4 times eight makes 11 and more, 63 plus 11 is Champions. So you have to understand why these numbers come out of this statistic.
Explanations could be that we don’t have the right mentality or structure to compete in two competitions at the same time. Most probably the truth lies in both of these assessments.
We have to make an evaluation on these aspects and try to intervene without making mistakes. It will not be easy.
The Lazio coach touched on the future of Milinkovic-Savic, who seems destined to depart this summer.
The boos were predictable, I hope they will applaud Milinkovic-Savic in our jersey next year too.
Talking to the president I became convinced that if Milinkovic-Savic leaves, which won’t be easy after what the president said to me, he won’t stay in Italy.
Finally, Sarri discussed the performance against Juventus, the team’s growth this season and what the next steps are.
We drew the game at the last second but with a supremacy in all the numbers concerning the statistics of the match that were impressive today. The game ended 18 shots to 4, 8 shots to 2 on target, 65% to 35% in possession.
I still have the satisfaction of the last-second equaliser and the point we were missing for Europe, but also the regret because the feeling from the pitch was that if we had scored ten minutes earlier we would have won it.
A minimum of regret I have. The construction in this season has been there, in the last three months I have seen this group change completely. There is unity of thought not only during the games, but during the whole time together, everyone is thinking football in the same way.
There is the strong orientation of each individual on the collective goal. There has been growth, we hope to change the squad as little as possible, the indispensable because my feeling living together is that we have built something.
Lazio’s final game of the season is against Hellas Verona on 21st May. A draw is enough to secure a fifth place finish in the table, ahead of intercity rivals Roma.
