Simone Inzaghi admits Bayern Munich are a team Lazio ‘simply cannot compete with right now,’ but they are ‘proud of our journey in Europe.’
The Aquile knew it was an impossible mission after losing the first leg 4-1 and fell 2-1 in Munich this evening, with Marco Parolo snatching a consolation late on.
Simone Inzaghi admits Bayern Munich are a team Lazio ‘simply cannot compete with right now,’ but they are ‘proud of our journey in Europe.’
The Aquile knew it was an impossible mission after losing the first leg 4-1 and fell 2-1 in Munich this evening, with Marco Parolo snatching a consolation late on.
“After the first leg result, we could’ve risked embarrassment here tonight if we didn’t have the right attitude,” Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia.
“However, I’d say we had an overall good performance, we leave this competition with honour, because we were unbeaten in the six group games.
“The regret is the first leg, but against the European and World club champions, I think we did well tonight.”
Inzaghi took Lazio back into the Champions League after 13 years and into the Round of 16 following a 20-year gap.
“We know that there are teams in the tournament we simply cannot compete with right now and Bayern Munich are one of them.
“Our objective was to qualify for the Last 16, we achieved that unbeaten, and are very proud of the journey we made in Europe. It was always going to be incredibly difficult against Bayern and the first leg mistakes made it worse.
“What you realise in these games is the mentality. When Bayern were 2-1 up four minutes from the end, David Alaba came crunching into a tackle right near my bench, and it showed the determination they have.
“Bayern Munich are the maximum anyone can aim for at club level. It would be wonderful to get closer to that level, but we must remember Lazio got back into the Champions League after 13 years and into final 16 after 20, so this was a big step for us.
“Now we want to gain some consistency and get back into this tournament again next year.”
Ciro Immobile was rested tonight and with only Luiz Felipe injured, Adam Marusic was used as a makeshift defender, so are Lazio lacking strength in depth?
“These lads have given me so much over five years and we had a run of six or seven consecutive Serie A victories, then missed important players. We have to do better at filling the gaps, because we did the same when there were players who had COVID.
“We’ve got to improve in that area, because football has changed, we have to play every three days and need more options to rotate.
“I must say, the squad is considerably bigger and stronger now than in previous seasons, it’s just that when we lost players, they tended to all be in the same area of the team.”