Lazio Coach Simone Inzaghi admits “Roma are favourites” in the Derby della Capitale Coppa semi-final.
Tomorrow sees the first leg of the tie, with the capital clubs vying to face Juventus or Napoli in the final on June 2.
“We know what we’re going to face, I have huge respect for Roma and for Luciano Spalletti,” Inzaghi told reporters in his pre-match Press conference.
Lazio Coach Simone Inzaghi admits “Roma are favourites” in the Derby della Capitale Coppa semi-final.
Tomorrow sees the first leg of the tie, with the capital clubs vying to face Juventus or Napoli in the final on June 2.
“We know what we’re going to face, I have huge respect for Roma and for Luciano Spalletti,” Inzaghi told reporters in his pre-match Press conference.
“Tomorrow though I have great confidence in my squad, they're strong and together. We’re not in the semi-final or on 50 [Serie A] points by accident.
“I think on Sunday we were a bit subdued, which hasn’t happened much this season but can happen ahead of the derby.
“Maybe we were already thinking about tomorrow. We got the win, but we weren’t as sharp as we could have been.
“Tomorrow we’ll try to play our game, knowing that, unlike in other matches, we have to think in terms of 180 minutes. We’ll need to be focused, there’s the return match in a month.
“We have an important game where Roma are favourites. That said, I have great confidence in myself, my staff and my players. I repeat, we’re not here by chance.
“We’ve had six or seven exceptional months, which we earned with sweat.”
Lazio lost the first derby of the season 2-0, what did they learn from that defeat?
“It taught us a lot, that the derby is a special game and you pay for the slightest error. We played better than they did for 50 or 60 minutes, then we made some individual errors, as well as some other factors.
“We played on par with them though.
“Roma have a great squad, I’ve watched them in the last few games. The likes of [Diego] Perotti and [Stephan] El Sharaawy haven’t even been able to get on the pitch lately.
“We’re not afraid though. We’ll play this derby with our heads held high, knowing that this semi-final was coveted by every team in every division.
“But it was Lazio who got here.”