Maurizio Sarri expects his Lazio to fight for victory in their Europa Conference League clash against CFR Cluj, underlining the importance of the competition.
The Biancocelesti were relegated to the third tier of European competition this season after finishing third in their Europa League group, behind Feyenoord and FC Midtjylland.
The drop to the Europa Conference League caused embarrassment for sporting director Igli Tare, who suggested that it was “a competition for losers like Roma” when discussing it back in October.
Speaking in a press conference (via TMW), Sarri first suggested that the Europa Conference League wasn’t an afterthought for his Lazio squad.
Like any European competition, it must be respected and we will do that.
The Italian coach touched on the priorities for this season and if he’d make changes to his squad.
The league can give us access to more money and for a club that is important. If we talk about the sporting aspect, a European competition must interest us.
I will make my choices based on the tiredness of the players. I still don’t know who will play in goal.
He spoke about the adaption of new signing Luca Pellegrini and if players like Toma Basic would have the chance to impress against Cluj.
They have to show it in training, otherwise they will be given a chance on the bench a few times.
Pellegrini is improving, he has to fit into a different line up to the other Italians, he’s not ready for that yet even if he’s putting in his best. We’ll see tomorrow.
He commented on Ciro Immobile’s recent on-pitch struggles following his injury problems.
He has a slight undertone of dizziness, like those who are used to scoring a goal a game and haven’t for a couple of months.
He can’t play two full games in three days, we’ll see tomorrow whether or not he’ll play the full match.
Sarri highlighted the pitfalls of the clash with Cluj.
At European level all games come out tight, there are no games that are not tough. If we thought like that we would be sinning in superficiality.
He underlined how long it takes to change the mentality of a team.
To build a mentality takes years, three or four days are not enough. It is born in the everyday.
The Lazio coach was asked if Mario Gila would be returning to the starting lineup following his recent foot injury.
I’ll take him into consideration, he had a nagging injury and wasn’t at his best. Now I’ve seen him better and with Romagnoli out I’ll take him into consideration.
He spoke about the work of Toma Basic and Matias Vecino, two players who have hardly featured in 2023.
Basic has had a period of tiredness, he seems to me to be growing. Vecino suffered from the World Cup from a mental point of view, he felt responsible for the elimination. Now he’s better and will be useful to us.
Finally, Sarri was asked if he expects a strong response from Lazio following their loss to Atalanta.
The situation is not dramatic, we lost a game after so much. We have to help ourselves and I think the boys are capable of doing that.
