Maurizio Sarri wants ‘the same character, determination and approach’ Lazio showed against FC Porto, desperate to avoid repeat mistakes against Udinese.
The Aquile had taken the lead in Thursday’s Europa League play-off through Mattia Zaccagni, but eventually lost that first leg 2-1.
Ciro Immobile should be back after suffering from a fever, but Lazio have struggled badly in previous games straight after playing in Europe this season.
“Tomorrow we need the same character, determination and approach seen against Porto, but the Europa League has to be considered a separate tournament,” Sarri told Lazio Style Channel.
“Now we must have the strength to focus on Serie A, avoiding the repeat of errors we already made this season after European fixtures.”
Because it was a late kick-off in Portugal and their trip to Udinese is on Sunday evening, Sarri changed their travel plans.
“It would’ve been uncomfortable for us to return to Rome for such a short time, so we preferred to remain in Portugal and rest a few more hours, hoping this can help us to recuperate.
“The two previous matches against Udinese this season tell us that it will be a difficult test. They always made us struggle to the bitter end, and we are currently in a classic situation where we already slipped up after European games.
“The difficulty of this fixture is clear for all, now we’ll see if we have made progress.”
🎙 Mister #Sarri ha presentato così la gara di domani con l’Udinese a #LSC!#CMonEagles 🦅 pic.twitter.com/sPMvEvdciv
— S.S.Lazio (@OfficialSSLazio) February 19, 2022