Maurizio Sarri maintains Lazio played well in the 2-0 defeat to Juventus, but admits Ciro Immobile is ‘not easy’ to replace.

The Biancocelesti had more possession at the Stadio Olimpico, but barely tested Wojciech Szczesny at all, beaten by a pair of Leonardo Bonucci penalty kicks.

“We were in the game until the final 10 minutes, then opened up spaces in our attempt to get it back on level terms,” Sarri told DAZN.

“We played well, at times very well, but unfortunately were lacking in the final third. Unfortunately, Danilo went off early and Juventus changed system, making it a 4-5-1 with everyone behind the ball, so once they took the lead, we ran into a brick wall.

“It’s disappointing we were unable to create more scoring opportunities, considering the number of potential chances that we managed to build.”

Serie A | Lazio 0-2 Juventus: Bonucci puts Sarri on the spot

Inevitably, missing all-time Lazio top scorer Immobile through a calf injury left the team without any real bite upfront, using Pedro as a False 9 and then Vedat Muriqi off the bench.

“It’s not easy to find an alternative to someone who scores 35-40 goals per game. You can’t find someone who can guarantee Ciro’s tally,” confessed Sarri.

“We usually go past men in one-on-one situations better on the wings, but it’s not something you can guarantee in every game. We played as a team, I just didn’t like the final 15 minutes, because we still had time and shouldn’t have been stretched out.”

2 thought on “Sarri: ‘No Lazio alternative to Immobile’”
  1. You had a summer to bring one in! Lolito and Tare should have done that for you! Why we keep Muriqi and not Calceido?

  2. The only reason we kept Muriqi rather than Caicedo was Tare trying to save face by not admitting straight away that his expensive signing was a complete failure. For some reason he hoped he would somehow improve by playing the odd minute here and there. Caicedo was made for his role and proved he could regularly score important goals from the bench. Obviously he might have, rightly, wanted a bit more game time but I’m sure if there was a desire to keep him from Lotito and Tare then he may have stayed. Another striker is imperative in January!

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