Francesco Acerbi believes Lazio left the Champions League ‘with heads held high’ and regrets the ‘tension’ that prompted those errors against Bayern Munich.
Qualification was already doomed after a 4-1 first leg home defeat, but Marco Parolo did get a consolation goal in this evening’s 2-1 loss.
Francesco Acerbi believes Lazio left the Champions League ‘with heads held high’ and regrets the ‘tension’ that prompted those errors against Bayern Munich.
Qualification was already doomed after a 4-1 first leg home defeat, but Marco Parolo did get a consolation goal in this evening’s 2-1 loss.
“It was a very good game, especially the approach. We wanted to play as a team, which we’ve been lacking lately,” the defender told Sky Sport Italia.
“We wanted to give a response to ourselves and go out with our heads held high. The regrets are for the first leg, because we were too anxious, too tense in the first leg.
“Bayern are the best team in Europe, but we played with less pressure today and it was a far more even encounter.”
Acerbi was asked what Lazio need in future to close the gap on sides like Bayern Munich.
“We need to above all be aware of who we are facing. I always said in the first leg we faced Bayern, and you can’t think of taking the initiative or pushing up to hurt them like that when we are in our first Champions League season.
“We have to be more solid, more humble and more prepared for the situation. Bayern have this calm about them, so confident in their abilities and the mentality that can only be built by winning repeatedly every year.
“They are winners and want to continue winning, even when 3-0 or 4-0 up, they don’t stop until the 95th minute. We beat Borussia Dortmund in the group phase and learned from that too. They don’t need to communicate much, as they just know what to do and get on with it. We should learn from that and follow their example.
“We are still in the race to qualify for the Champions League again next season, there’s a long way to go and we have to just start putting together a run of victories, because we deserve to be in the top four.”