Simone Inzaghi insists Lazio are ‘accustomed to emergency situations’ by now, as they head to Zenit St Petersburg missing more star names.
It kicks off on Wednesday at 17.55 GMT in St Petersburg, but the Aquile are again decimated by injuries and COVID-19 tests, despite many of these players being given the all-clear by Serie A swabs.
“Unfortunately, as with Club Brugge, we are missing some players,” said the coach in his Champions League press conference.
Simone Inzaghi insists Lazio are ‘accustomed to emergency situations’ by now, as they head to Zenit St Petersburg missing more star names.
It kicks off on Wednesday at 17.55 GMT in St Petersburg, but the Aquile are again decimated by injuries and COVID-19 tests, despite many of these players being given the all-clear by Serie A swabs.
“Unfortunately, as with Club Brugge, we are missing some players,” said the coach in his Champions League press conference.
“We are without Thomas Strakosha, Lucas Leiva and Ciro Immobile. We also have Manuel Lazzari, Luis Alberto, Stefan Radu, Senad Lulic and Gonzalo Escalante at home.”
The COVID-19 situation is raising some eyebrows, as it seems as if the UEFA tests are different to the Lega Serie A ones, so a player can be positive for one tournament and not another, even with the same swab.
“It’s a strange situation. I would’ve liked to play in Brgues and in St Petersburg with all the men at my disposal,” continued Inzaghi.
“We are somewhat accustomed to emergency situations now. Since the lockdown was lifted, we’ve always had problems of some sort. Many players gave everything to get back into the Champions League and now they can’t play. I hope they’ll be with us soon.
“I am sure the team will put in an excellent performance. We’re up against a strong side, despite the fact they have zero points, but that will just make them even more motivated. We are ready, regardless of the many absentees.
“Zenit are well-organised and have important players in every area of the squad. In defence, Dejan Lovren is someone we all know. Upfront there’s Artem Dzyuba and Sebastian Driussi, a lot of quality.
“I watched both of Zenit’s Champions League games so far. They didn’t deserve to lose against Club Brugge, as they had more possession and more scoring opportunities, so were a little unlucky in the key moments.
“As for Dortmund, it was a little more defensive. They were in the game until the 70th minute, then went behind to a penalty and lost to a strong side like Borussia Dortmund.”