Conference League, Sarri: “Cup to be respected. Immobile is running because…”

by our correspondent Stefano Cieri

February 15th
– Formello (Rome)

Lazio are back tomorrow to play in Europe, but the competition to face is not the same as it was in the autumn. From the Europa League, Sarri’s team is relegated to the Conference League and must now go through the play-offs – against the Romanians of Cluj – to access the round of 16 of this new European cup born last year. The coach has no intention of snubbing her, even if he admits bluntly that the priority objective is to win a place in the Champions League. “Finishing in the top four means having a different income and this would be very important for the growth of the club. Having said that, we will play a competition that must be taken seriously and tackled in the best possible way. It is an event which among other things gives away a trophy European which, in the event that one wins it, remains forever”.

Reasoned turnover

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So, while giving priority to the championship, Sarri will also try to move forward in the Conference. Yes, but with which men will she do it? With the very titular or drawing heavily on the bench? “The choices – reveals the coach – will be made not on the basis of the competition to be played, but on the tiredness of the boys”. However, it is probable that there are many new features compared to the team lined up against Atalanta last Saturday. Immobile’s presence is certain among the starters: “He has to improve in condition – says Sarri – and then he has a bit of dizziness because lately he hasn’t scored much. But these are things that happen to all forwards”. And, speaking of turnover and double commitment, to those who point out that three years ago Inzaghi’s Lazio (after being eliminated by Cluj) came to fight for the Scudetto with Sarri’s Juve thanks to the possibility of playing a only game a week, the coach replies as follows: “When we started playing again after the lockdown, the Juve managers told me to be careful of Inter (which was third, ed) and not Lazio (second by one point, ed) )”. Because (Sarri doesn’t say it, but it’s understood) with so many close matches Lazio would have struggled to have a high performance.

Trust Hysaj

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The team still wants to go ahead and Elseid Hysaj reiterates it on behalf of his team-mates: “Of course we want to win and go all the way. A trophy to put on the case is always a nice thing. It’s true that it’s not easy to play every three days, but each of us must find within ourselves the right motivations to do so”. The Albanian full-back, after an unexciting first season at Lazio, is doing very well this year: “I’ve settled in better and now I’m more serene. I want to continue like this and not give up”. He is a loyalist of Sarri, having already had him as a coach at Empoli and Naples. “He hasn’t changed at all. I like his way of making the players understand what he wants. We have achieved very important results with Empoli and Napoli, Lazio are still missing something to get to the top, but we are trying. We have to learn to be competitive every three days”.