Maurizio Sarri was still not satisfied with Lazio’s 2-1 win over Midtjylland and won’t give too many compliments to Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. ‘He can do much, much more.’
The Aquile temporarily put themselves top of the Europa League group with this victory, having to fight back from an early Mario Gila error on the Gustav Isakson goal, turning it around through Milinkovic-Savic and Pedro.
“We made it complicated for ourselves with the goal so early due to our own error, so we could’ve got the points under wraps a lot earlier,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.
It was another victory for the Biancocelesti, despite missing injured top scorer and captain Ciro Immobile.
“Our attacking moves were good. Matteo Cancellieri is young, he did better tonight as a winger than a centre-forward, but that’s natural considering it’s where he always played in his career.
“I liked Marcos Antonio too, he was involved in the error for the opening goal, but there were a few to blame for that, including the playing surface.
“I am fairly satisfied with the overall performance, in terms of chances we should’ve won it 4-1.”
Lazio are on a roll in Serie A, climbing to third place and keeping six consecutive clean sheets, but have not so far been able to replicate that form in the Europa League.
“If I manage to enjoy myself in training, that is transferred to the match situation. These lads are a joy to work with. We also have some very good technical quality, so when we are able to express them, Lazio are an attractive team to watch.”
Sarri was asked if Milinkovic-Savic is the best midfielder in Italy right now and put the brakes on.
“We mustn’t tell him that. We can think it, but I don’t give him many compliments, because he can do much, much more. He has so much quality and can do even better.”
Opta calculated that nobody except Kevin de Bruyne has been involved in more goals this season than Milinkovic-Savic, as the Serbian scored five goals and provided seven assists in all competition.
The Manchester City and Belgium star just has the upper hand with two goals and 11 assists.