Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto underlined the unique and tense nature of the Derby della Capitale against Lazio.
The Biancocelesti will be desperate for a good showing against their intercity rivals as they look to shake off their recent wobble, but facing off against the Giallorossi without key figures like Ciro Immobile and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic will prove tough. Jose Mourinho’s side have started to develop some consistency in recent weeks and are now looking to confirm that with a derby win.
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via LazioNews24), Tiago Pinto first discussed the impact of the Roma fans.
Fans should be respected, but Roma fans are really special. Many stadiums in the world are full, but the fans are not so intense.
When we don’t win for me it’s a shame, because here people cheer from the first to the last minute. My result is to bring home what the people want.
The Giallorossi sporting director then discussed the importance of the Derby della Capitale and the difficulties of the clash with Lazio.
It’s not a match like the others, but to win we must have a warm heart and a cool mind. The routine is the same, we have dinner together, the players rest.
Then when the game approaches we feel something, but we have to normalise the day. We have to bring home the three points, but playing against Lazio is not like playing against Empoli.
The market? We have three important games that we have to win.
What do we need to improve? Winning the derby.
Mourinho? Roma are the club where he feels happiest, but we’ll talk about the future later. Right now he just wants to win.
Last season, Sarri’s Lazio flew to a thrilling 3-2 win in their first derby meeting against Roma, but fell 3-0 in the return clash against Jose Mourinho’s side. They’ll be hoping to flex their muscles and prove their strengths without their talismans against Roma, keen to return to winning ways.
