Maurizio Sarri suggested that Lazio have recovered from their crisis period and was all smiles after the Derby della Capitale victory over Roma.
The Biancocelesti edged out a fiery 1-0 win over their intercity rivals in the Coppa Italia quarter-final on Wednesday evening, progressing in the cup after a Mattia Zaccagni penalty in the second half. The team will now face Juventus in a two-legged semi-final in April.
Lazio can now return focus to Serie A, where they’ll face Lecce on 14th January. Sarri’s side sit just three points behind fourth place Fiorentina, putting them in the thick of a fight for Champions League qualification.
Speaking in a press conference (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Sarri first discussed the penalty awarded to Lazio in the second half.
From the images I’ve seen, it’s a penalty. A fairly clear one, so much so that Orsato remained under VAR for eight seconds. I’m interested in the incident up to a certain point, excluding three to four minutes of extra time in which we were numerically inferior, Roma had zero chances to score.
We also had few in the first half where we entered a little blocked, after 20 minutes from the first goal it’s blasphemy not to score a second. The victory is not legitimate, it’s tight. Mourinho’s words have no effect on me.
He spoke about his team’s performance against Roma and the distractions of the derby.
The performance leaves me satisfied, I didn’t care at all about progressing in the Coppa Italia because when you play a derby, the last thing on your mind is that three points are up for grabs.
The derby is the only match you have to play for your people, for the people who live with you in everyday life, for the people who live for you.
You play it for them and therefore we are happy to have given satisfaction to the people of Lazio. Spending an evening of your birthday after losing a derby would be tough!
The Lazio coach commented on the work of backup goalkeeper Christos Mandas, who was thrust into action following Ivan Provedel’s illness.
The boy gave us great guidance in training, the feelings were positive. Being a boy we own, there was the opportunity to see him in the match too. I think he did very well well, he confirmed what he left us thinking in training.
Sarri was asked if Lazio had now escaped their brief crisis period.
At this moment yes. I hope it is the definitive version of this team’s mentality, but we are faced with a team that at times experiences completely different moments from these.
There are teams better equipped than us, we know it, we have done a longer journey for many reasons, injuries, drop in performance of some players who had performed better last year.
We must thank the new arrivals, who at a certain point kept us afloat, and now if the atmosphere in the group is like this it could be an opportunity for everyone to recover a little.
Finally, Sarri discussed Lazio’s approach to this Derby della Capitale against Roma.
When you lose a derby, you see the suffering of the people around you and you realize that it is not a normal match.
The next day I was ashamed even to enter Formello. Three slaps are needed to understand what the derby represents for the people who are out to suffer. We hope they have served definitively.
