Sarri: ‘Lazio should boycott Rome Derby if played at midday’

Maurizio Sarri explained Lazio’s tactical approach to the Coppa Italia Final with Inter, but above all said his team should ‘refuse to show up’ if made to play the Rome Derby on Sunday at midday.

The Aquile knew that they were the underdogs going into this Final, especially as they were beaten 3-0 here in Serie A only last week by the same opponents.

It was an uphill struggle after two big early errors, when Adam Marusic nodded a Federico Dimarco corner into his own net, then Nuno Tavares was caught napping by Denzel Dumfries to set up the Lautaro Martinez tap-in.

The coach was only able to watch from the stands due to a touchline ban, as his assistant Marco Ianni was on the bench.

“We had prepared the match by lowering the press in the first half, because we noticed on Saturday that Inter were less aggressive in the second half, it was not a level they could sustain for 90 minutes,” Sarri told Sport Mediaset.

“Unfortunately, during an otherwise very organised first half, we gifted Inter both goals and made everything more difficult for ourselves. We tried to get it back on track, we had chances with Noslin and Dia, but were unable to convert them.

“We were well aware that Inter were stronger than us on a technical level, but we had hoped the game would take a different path tonight.”

Patric was being used in midfield again to fill in for the not fully fit Nicolò Rovella, but having the Italian come on at half-time did improve matters.

“Thinking about the game in the long run, we couldn’t start Rovella because he was out for most of the season and has only been training regularly for 10 days. I had hoped in all honesty the Final would last 120 minutes rather than 90, but then Patric had a calf issue, so we decided to change at half-time,” revealed Sarri.

This Coppa Italia Final was the last chance for Lazio to qualify for the Europa League, having struggled in Serie A to stay in the top 10.

It means that because Inter are already in the Champions League, fifth and sixth in Serie A will enter the Europa League, with seventh place valid for the Conference League.

Does this affect Sarri’s future at Lazio?

“I have zero interest about my future at this moment. Besides which, if it is in discussion, it is on both sides,” replied the coach.

His implication was that it’s not Lazio who might want to move on from him, but the other way around.

“I am sad for the lads, because they looked troubled in the dressing room. I’m sorry for the fans, who returned here in numbers, but we had a great journey to get here, we were up against a very strong opponent who won deservedly, with a little help from us too.

“My team was not timid, we simply chose not to press them too high, because their goalkeeper’s passes kept catching us out. If you concede an own goal on a corner and gift another on the edge of your area, there’s not a lot about tactics there. We chose not to attack them from the start.”

The one positive from this evening was that it saw the Lazio fans back in the stands of the Stadio Olimpico, having suspended their months-long boycott of home games, which is squarely aimed at President Claudio Lotito rather than the players or coach.