Cluj Coach Dan Petrescu is “worried” at facing Lazio in the Europa League tomorrow and reveals he’d love to follow Zdenek Zeman’s example in Serie A.
It kicks off on Thursday at 17.55 UK time (16.55 GMT), as part of a group with Celtic and Rennes.
“I watched Lazio’s performance against SPAL and they could’ve scored three or four goals in the first half, but they ran out of steam physically and struggled with the heat. With several players of a certain age, that can happen,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
Cluj Coach Dan Petrescu is “worried” at facing Lazio in the Europa League tomorrow and reveals he’d love to follow Zdenek Zeman’s example in Serie A.
It kicks off on Thursday at 17.55 UK time (16.55 GMT), as part of a group with Celtic and Rennes.
“I watched Lazio’s performance against SPAL and they could’ve scored three or four goals in the first half, but they ran out of steam physically and struggled with the heat. With several players of a certain age, that can happen,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“They also deserved to beat Roma before that and hit the woodwork five times. With a little more concentration, Lazio would have won all three Serie A matches.
“I am worried, because it’s rare for Lazio to lose two games in a row. All teams have weaknesses, whether it’s Lazio, Cluj or Barcelona. It’s exciting for us to be in a group with famous clubs like Celtic and Lazio.”
Petrescu is most famous for his time at Chelsea, but also played in Italy for Genoa and Zdenek Zeman’s Foggia.
“It was all attack for Zeman and in my first few years as a Coach, I did try to take that approach, but it wasn’t easy. I really admire him. I’d like to go back to Italy or England one day as a tactician.”
Cluj won the Romanian league title for the second year running and they were only eliminated from the Champions League play-offs by Slavia Prague, who just held Inter to a 1-1 draw at San Siro.
“The media might be surprised, but I’m not. I always knew they were a good team.”
Petrescu has some injury concerns to deal with, as Mario Rondon is still not 100 per cent fit, but he said Kevin Boli would only be used as a full-back if there were no other options.