Igor Tudor looked for the silver lining after Lazio fell to Juventus in a tough 2-0 loss in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie.
The Biancocelesti impressed in their first match under the Croatian coach on the weekend, edging out a 1-0 win over the Old Lady after a late Adam Marusic winner, but they were unable to replicate this performance in their trip to Turin less than 72 hours later.
Lazio struggled to break down Juventus at the Allianz Stadium and ultimately suffered a 2-0 loss after second half goals from Federico Chiesa and Dusan Vlahovic, leaving Tudor’s side with a mountain to climb in their second leg later this month.
Speaking in a press conference (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Tudor was first asked what happened to Lazio in the second half against Juventus.
In three days, we played three good halves and one bad. Today Zaccagni came off, Patric had to come off and Casale didn’t sleep because his son was born.
I congratulate the boys, Juve were on the ball. We suffered and we conceded two goals which still keeps everything open for the return leg.
He was asked about the condition of Mattia Zaccagni following his concerning ankle issue.
Zaccagni had a bad sprain. The players are still very keen. Today was another Juve, it was very difficult. Playing after three days in Rome and Turin isn’t easy for both teams. We didn’t score up front today, but also the habit of some players to play with my style.
The Croatian coach spoke about his decision to play with a high line and the risks associated with it.
There are many consequences, the path is clear. We are going in that direction. We improve and grow, we spent a lot on Saturday, we take everything into account because every now and then it can happen. However, we played against a Juventus full of world-class champions.
We accept it, we start working. The team was built for a certain type of game, now it’s different. We’ll use these two months to understand who can improve and who can’t.
Tudor gave his thoughts on Ciro Immobile’s performance.
Ciro put his heart into it today. He was motivated but it wasn’t easy against Juve. I liked his attitude. We’ll see the differences already on Saturday.
He was asked if it would’ve been better to stick with Maurizio Sarri’s system.
Should I have played like Sarri? Not revolutionizing things? This is your idea, not mine. That wouldn’t be better, in fact our training is better.
Tudor spoke about what’s changed since the win over Juventus on the weekend.
They were different, they had a different spirit. Then they played at home and there was also the international break in which many of them left. When Juve play, they play against everyone, Real Madrid, Manchester City. We have our level which is good.
Finally, Tudor looked ahead to the upcoming Derby della Capitale.
I still have to see how the team are doing. We have to recover well first. We’ll work and prepare for the match as best we can.
Zaccagni is an important player for us, we need to see and let those who I think can do best try to win this great challenge. Provedel definitely won’t recover.
