The Biancoceleste coach: “That goal scored before the break took away our belief. I’ve been thinking about the opportunities we missed in the first leg for two weeks. We end with more victories than defeats. Can we qualify for next year? Unfortunately, we’re at the limits”
“We were at a good level in the first half until the second goal against a team that took to the pitch like the real Bayern, unlike in recent times.” Maurizio Sarri’s regret for seeing the only chance his Lazio perhaps had of making it through this round of 16 of the Champions League disappear is for those minutes before half-time. “We had managed to stay in the game up to that point, we had also had the opportunity to score. If we had gone into half-time 1-0 down it wouldn’t have taken away our hopes, the 2-0 made us go back to the changing rooms with disappointment and little conviction that we could do it.”
journey, balance and…
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There are also regrets about the scoring opportunities thrown away in the first leg: “I’ve been thinking about it for two weeks, because the opportunities had been there. If we had come here after a good result in the first leg, conceding a goal wouldn’t have taken away our hopes and could have be another match. But the technical gap is there.” This does not mean, however, that for Sarri the balance of this Champions League “is necessarily positive: a team like us that manages to achieve more victories than defeats in such a competitive event is certainly positive”. But going back next year is difficult: “Unfortunately, we are at the limits there too. The season in the league was not at our maximum levels, with many contributing factors. In the Champions League we did well, in the Italian Cup well: let’s see if we can concentrate on the championship and to move up”.