Lazio will look to end their poor form against British sides – winless in their last 11 meetings – when they travel to Glasgow to take on Scottish giants Celtic in the UEFA Champions League matchday two. Maurizio Sarri anticipates a tough encounter, given the Biancocelesti’s short timeframe to prepare due to the football calendar, citing which the tactician threatened to stop coaching.
Speaking to Sky Italia in his pre-match press conference, the former Juventus and Napoli manager urged caution against Celtic.
“I expect to get a result. Right now, we need it for the group standings. The match is difficult, especially the impact because it is the first at home in the Champions League for them after they lost the first game in a questionable way. They have intensity, we will have to be careful about the approach.”
He believes Lazio have a long way to go before they can compete against the cream of the crop in the Champions League.
“We earned it and we can afford it at the moment. If you ask me if we can be competitive in the Champions League, I say no on paper. Let’s see step by step, we have to gain points in the standings to be competitive in the group until the end.”
This will be the sixth encounter for Sarri in the space of less than three weeks, a schedule he is ardently against.
“If they continue to make the calendars like this I’m thinking of changing, in the sense that I want to stop. This is no longer football that amuses me. I wake up in the morning and I no longer look at who we’re playing with after 60 hours, it’s a delirium that I don’t like. In this period, we make several changes from game to game, but I haven’t decided who will play on Wednesday.”
Ivan Provedel’s stunning stoppage-time equalizer denied Atletico Madrid a win in the first group matchday, whereas Dutch champions Feyenoord beat ten-man Celtic last time out at De Kuip.
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