Sarri on ‘amazing’ Lazio goalkeeper and fan hope for Coppa Italia Final
Maurizio Sarri hails ‘amazing’ goalkeeper Edoardo Motta after a penalty shoot-out win over Atalanta, and hopes Lazio fans suspend their boycott for the Coppa Italia Final with Inter on May 13.
It was a dramatic semi-final overall, as at no point were Atalanta leading, with Lazio twice throwing away a lead in the first leg, and doing the same in Bergamo.
Within two minutes of Alessio Romagnoli’s volley, Mario Pasalic’s deflected effort had drawn them level again, 1-1 on the night, 3-3 on aggregate.
Unable to be separated during extra time either, it went to a shoot-out, and Edoardo Motta was the hero by saving four penalties in a row.
Even before that, his fingertip save to push a Gianluca Scamacca header onto the upright forced extra time.
Sarri feels Lazio deserve Final
“Tonight’s game was extremely complicated, a knockout tie against a strong side in a stadium that is tough to play in for most European teams,” Sarri told Sport Mediaset.
“This has been a great journey for us, we eliminated both last season’s Finalists Milan and Bologna, then tonight a wonderful opponent like Atalanta. It has been a tough, complicated campaign, and we achieved this satisfaction of reaching the Final.”
This was a fixture that could salvage their season, because not only are Lazio now in the Coppa Italia Final against Inter on May 13 on home turf, but it also guarantees qualification for the Supercoppa Italiana Final Four.
Winning the trophy would also give them direct access to the Europa League for next season.
“We’ve had a problem all season, which is that we struggle to score goals. The team has become solid and tough to play against, but we don’t find it easy to get the ball in the back of the net,” added Sarri.
The coach had said in January he did not agree with Lazio’s decision to sell Christos Mandas, but when Ivan Provedel suffered a season-ending injury, 21-year-old mid-season signing Motta really stepped up.
“He is amazing on penalties, he saved four out of five in the shoot-out, plus one in Serie A against Bologna, so that’s five out of six in the Lazio shirt,” smiled Sarri.
“Motta has margin for improvement, especially playing the ball with his feet, but he has important prospects. He must have in his mind the desire to keep improving.”
The Coppa Italia Final is meant to be on neutral turf, but it just so happens to be at the Stadio Olimpico, which is also Lazio’s home venue.
However, there is no guarantee the fans will attend, as they have been boycotting home games for several months in protest at President Claudio Lotito’s strategy. Would the coach appeal for them to suspend it for this Final?
“I always said that I respect people’s decisions, so if our fans made this choice, I respect that. Having said that, if they were to attend, I and the team would be overjoyed. Yesterday, they came to the airport to encourage us, so if they came, I’d be the happiest coach in the world.”
Sarri seemed to be looking for someone in the stands after the penalty shoot-out, so who was it?
“A friend of mine was in the stands, someone who historically brings good luck. He’s been telling me since yesterday that we’d go through, so I was looking for him.”
