The Biancoceleste coach on the eve of the Rotterdam match, one year after the fiery Europa League match: “We know what awaits us”. Romagnoli: “We senators will show the way”
– rotterdam
One eye on the pitch and one on the grandstand. A year later Maurizio Sarri returns to De Kuip to challenge Feyenoord against Lazio (this time in the Champions League, twelve months ago in the Europa League) and the Dutch public will reserve him a special treatment. It’s all the fault of the statements the manager made after that match a year ago, when he defined the Feyenoord fans as the ugliest thing in Dutch football. “They threw everything at us, even containers full of urine.” The fans of the Dutch team had prepared a banner just for him, but UEFA did not give the OK to his display. Sarri comments on the story like this: “Better a banner than urine, for me they could have even put it up.” However, the coach prefers to focus on the opponent rather than on this. “That in the last Champions League match he played on par with Atletico Madrid. He lost, but he absolutely didn’t deserve that result. Last year he was already strong, now he seems to have improved further.” The danger is above all up front: “They always score and have many game solutions.” Plus there will be the usual De Kuip effect, a stadium where the pitch factor really counts, as Lazio themselves were able to see last year. “We know what awaits us and we will have to be ready.” Furthermore, Lazio fans were banned from traveling. “I don’t understand these decisions – comments Sarri -. What’s the point of preventing an entire fan base from attending a match? Responsibilities must always be individual. The same goes for our supporters, but also for those of Feyenoord. On Sunday, visiting fans were banned from traveling to the Serie D championship in Tuscany. It seems absurd to me.”
load Romagna
—
Alessio Romagnoli also pushes Lazio to believe in the undertaking: “We will find a warm environment, but we will not be unprepared. The Champions League is the best there is for a footballer. They are always beautiful matches and it is a privilege to be able to face them.” He, who has experience to spare, can help his younger teammates. “Yes, it’s up to people like me, Ciro, Pedro and Luis to show the way”. Romagnoli says about Lazio, which seems to have recovered recently: “At the beginning we weren’t very bad on the pitch. We have clarified this and now things are much better.”