Maurizio Sarri maintains Lazio paid for missed scoring opportunities in their defeat to Atalanta and recognises some of his key players ‘lost sharpness’ after the triumph over Milan.
The Biancocelesti’s form has really crumbled in recent weeks, as they went out of the Coppa Italia quarter-final to Juventus, were held to back-to-back 1-1 draws in Serie A and now suffer this 2-0 home defeat.
It is the same result that saw Lazio win in Bergamo back in October, this reverse sealed by a Davide Zappacosta curler into the top corner and Rasmus Hojlund meeting the Ademola Lookman roll across the six-yard box after Luis Alberto had given it away in midfield.
Last week, a win against Verona would’ve put Lazio clear in third place, but instead they now remain on 39 points, behind Milan, Roma and Atalanta all on 41, and they were jeered off the field.
“We lost our heads after conceding the second goal. It wasn’t a bad start, we had the chances to take the lead and then to equalise, but when we failed to convert them and then let in the second, we never recovered,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.
Those were both Ciro Immobile misses, as the centre-forward still looks a long way off full fitness.
“Clearly, when talking about certain players, having them at 100 per cent is decisive. He is fortunately playing consistently over the last 10 days, we hope he can continue and then rediscover his form.”
Sarri has said repeatedly that the top four has to be a ‘dream and not an objective’, so after this latest slide down the standings, is he ready to declare their target is Europa League qualification?
“There are battles during a season, we certainly won’t surrender the war. There are 16 rounds to go, the table is tight and we cannot think of just giving up now. There are teams ahead of us who are better equipped, but that doesn’t mean we won’t try to the very end.”
The highlight of Lazio’s season was a 4-0 victory over Milan, but that was followed by two Serie A draws against Fiorentina and Verona, this defeat to Atalanta and a Coppa Italia exit to Juventus.
“Some of our key players lost sharpness after the Milan game and they had made the difference during that period of the season. At the moment, we are struggling to be sparkling and effective in attack, but they will get back there.
“We had the chances to score today and get back into the game, getting the feeling that if we had equalised, the inertia of the whole match would’ve shifted over to us.
“When Atalanta are in a mood like this, they are extremely difficult to face. I don’t think we made it any easier for them, aside from after the second goal, and we were still in it until then.”
Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini also said in his interview that Lazio deserve credit for their performance, making this an open and entertaining match.
“When Atalanta are not at their best physically, they become ‘normal’ and that was how we faced them last time. Tonight they were at a very different level to October and we knew it would be like that.”