Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri said the Derby della Capitale was ‘an important test’ for his players, waved away the complaints from Roma and focused on the game against a ‘tough’ Lokomotiv Moscow.
The Biancocelesti arrive from a big win against the Giallorossi in Serie A, but Sarri said the big test is to continue with the same motivation.
“Everyone can play a game with high motivation,” Sarri said at a press conference. “Only a few can play two months like that, only the winners for 10 months. For us it’s an important test.”
The coach revealed he will evaluate the squad ahead of the match against Lokomotiv Moscow in the Europa League on Thursday.
“We will assess today, yesterday the team was still divided according to the minutes in the derby,” Sarri revealed. “The League gave us a League match 61 hours after the European game, it’s something out of this world, but we must adapt.”
Roma have been protesting about the incidents during the Derby della Capitale, but Sarri said it was never a penalty for Nicolò Zaniolo.
“The red card for [Lucas] Leiva? He didn’t do it, if anything he suffered it,” Sarri said. “The penalty in the first half? Zaniolo was offside, it couldn’t be.
“And then the penalty in the second half was seen only by the referee and VAR. In two days I haven’t seen the contact: if there is, it’s Zaniolo who takes Akpa.
“But I don’t care, we got the points, and we must think about the future. A season can’t be based on a derby, however much it’s important.”
Sarri doesn’t know if the win against their local rivals can prove to be the turning point for Lazio and wants to ‘focus on the Europa League’ match tomorrow.
“I don’t know, the groups are always different. I ask them to focus on the Europa League,” he continued. “We lost the first, tomorrow it’s very important. Lokomotiv Moscow are a tough opponent.
“I played there two years ago with Juventus, we won but we suffered. In the first leg we went down, then [Paulo] Dyabal took care of it with two goals.
“In the return we won thanks to an action by Douglas Costa.”
Vedat Muriqi could be back in the team for the European games and Sarri said the striker is contributing.
“He is giving us a hand,” he said. “He got the penalty against Torino, he’s a guy who can have something more, we will see in the future.
“He’s playing the role with an uncommon determination.”
Sarri was asked about Basic and Stefan Radu ahead of the game against Lokomotiv Moscow but was coy about the formation.
“I have already answered this before, I don’t know who will play tomorrow,” he said. “It’s a bit too early, yesterday’s training sessions are not giving any indications.
“I haven’t seen if there is anyone who needs rest.”
Luis Alberto was not happy being substituted in the Derby della Capitale, but Sarri said he’s ‘happy’ with the reaction from the midfielder.
“It doesn’t matter to me that he’s not calm after the substitution, on the contrary,” he said. “I’m happy. I worry if a player accepts a change passively.
“I don’t like to think about percentages, I think he’s a great player who still has great room for improvement. I will always expect more from him and he will too.”