Lazio sporting director Angelo Mariano Fabiani feels the team ‘didn’t deserve to lose’ to Bologna and clarified that the post-match silence was his idea.
The Biancocelesti had started to generate some momentum with a strong win away to Cagliari and an unexpected upset over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League Round of 16 tie, a result that gives them a good chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.
Lazio were unable to maintain this form against Thiago Motta’s Bologna, however, falling in a 2-1 defeat after initially taking the lead. It was another frustrating performance for Maurizio Sarri’s side, who look unlikely to secure a top four finish this season.
Speaking to Radiosei (via TMW) this week, Fabiani reflected on Lazio’s painful defeat to Bologna.
On Lazio-Bologna, I have to say something, net of what everyone saw, Lazio did not lose only because of the referee. Also, because I will get a rather long ban for what I did yesterday after the match because I did point out the mistakes to the referee.
We conceded two absolutely avoidable goals, especially the first, and we lost a game we didn’t deserve to lose.
He explained why he didn’t let Sarri, or any Lazio players, talk to the media following the loss to the Rossoblu.
I distinguish press silence from not wanting to comment on the match. You will remember that I made a similar decision in Turin when we conceded a goal against Juve due to a referee’s wrong assessment.
The decision not to speak to the press was taken by me and not the president. I did it to avoid any statements to the media by the coach and players against the referee, also because there were many who had something to say yesterday…
If I send members who have adrenaline pumping to speak with the press after the match, I risk doing major damage. In view of Torino-Lazio on Thursday, I didn’t want to add too much fuel to the fire, also because this is a particular environment.
We are all disappointed when we don’t speak to the press because we have great respect for the media, but it’s simply not wanting to risk doing more damage.
The decision is mine alone and the president had nothing to do with it. Lazio aren’t on press silence and we will talk again on Thursday for Torino-Lazio.
Finally, Fabiani discussed the growth of this Lazio project.
We are missing many players and fatigue is being felt, but it’s not only because of the referee’s errors that we lost yesterday. It’s not true that the club is absent, in fact it’s so present that it took this decision to not give excuses to anyone, including the players.
Despite the referee’s bad day, the match could still have ended differently. For example, I hope that Patric doesn’t have another sprained ankle caused by a bad foul that wasn’t sanctioned. Just as I find it wrong not to give the second yellow to Fabbian for the foul on Immobile.
i have lost all faith in the Lazio “project” being a Lazio fan is a god damn Rollercoaster! not the fun ones,but the ones with killer clowns..