Maurizio Sarri sees improvements in Lazio ‘maturity’ and ‘defensive solidity’ to send them clear in second place, suggesting the squad ‘unconsciously’ decided to snub Europe and the Coppa Italia.
The Aquile climbed into second place before the break for international duty and have now broken five points clear of Inter, who lost 1-0 at home to Fiorentina yesterday.
They kept their cool to conquer mid-table Monza thanks to an early Pedro goal and the wonderful Sergej Milinkovic-Savic free kick into the top corner, the Serbian’s first goal in all competition since January 24.
“Monza are a side who have quality and sooner or later, they do make you suffer, so inevitably you will have to chase after them at times,” Sarri told DAZN.
“It was a good performance, I just didn’t like the final stages, because allowing a counter-attack in stoppages when leading 2-0 is not ideal game management, but it went well.”
Sarri has repeatedly stated that the Champions League places are a ‘dream rather than an objective’ for Lazio considering the resources at their disposal.
Now that they are five points clear in second place awaiting Milan’s result against Napoli, does he still maintain that position?
“We have three important points in a race that is still very, very long. There are 30 points up for grabs, we were able to catch up on the others in a short period and the reverse can easily happen too.
“We have to take it for what it is. It was not impossible a month ago and it is certainly still difficult now.”
Milinkovic-Savic has struggled so far this season and was without a goal since January, but the coach still wants more from his midfielder.
“Sergej did the opposite of the rest of the team, his first half was difficult and he improved in the second half. I do see improvements and if he continues, then he can be important for us in the closing weeks of the season.”
This 2-0 result was also their sixth consecutive clean sheet in Serie A, one shy of the all-time club record set in 1998.
“Our defensive solidity is what allows us to stay in the top places of the table. There were already signs of improvement last season, we have stepped up another level. Danilo Cataldi for instance did really well today, he had to chase down either one or the other Monza trequartista today and was tired after 70 minutes.
“Since Friday I have been talking about maturity, which is understanding the moment, learning from past mistakes. We had huge problems after midweek European games last season, which has almost disappeared this term. Instead, we seem to have lost ground in Europe and gained it domestically, although I believe that is an unconscious decision from the squad and environment around us.
“It is a journey, it is in progress, tomorrow we will train and prepare for Juventus. If we want to be a mature team, we need to wipe out everything that happened before and focus only on the next fixture.”