Luciano Spalletti trusts Roma can overturn the 2-0 first leg Coppa Italia semi-final defeat, but implied Lazio only “play on the counter-attack.”
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile were on the scoresheet either side of the break and the second leg will be in April.
“We will see over the next few games and with our reaction whether this team really is mature or not,” Spalletti told Rai Sport.
Luciano Spalletti trusts Roma can overturn the 2-0 first leg Coppa Italia semi-final defeat, but implied Lazio only “play on the counter-attack.”
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile were on the scoresheet either side of the break and the second leg will be in April.
“We will see over the next few games and with our reaction whether this team really is mature or not,” Spalletti told Rai Sport.
“Losing the derby is irritating, and we now have to overturn a difficult result to reach the Coppa Italia Final. It’s a tricky result, as Lazio will play on the counter-attack again, as those are their characteristics, and we have to do better.
“Having said all that, a 2-0 away result is absolutely open to being overturned.
“We did very well at the start, though should’ve controlled the ball better and made other choices to break through the traffic and density of their team, as Lazio were all pegged back and waited to counter-attack.
“When they are so tight at the back, it means that when they do break, there are a good 60 metres to run into. We dominated possession, but that was irrelevant.
“We weren’t good enough at passing our way through the density of their final third. There was very little space to move in, as they were so clammed up. We needed to spread Lazio apart with the trequartisti and wingers, but we often lost the ball.
“Edin Dzeko had a few crosses that could’ve been interesting, but nothing came from them. Lazio played the way we expected them to and they stuck to the plan, whereas we lost the ball in traffic too often and we shouldn’t have been so hasty.
“Immobile can cause any defence problems if you let him get into gear. If you suffocate him the moment he starts that run, stopping him from sprinting into space, that’s how you neutralise him.”
Radja Nainggolan was surprisingly quiet just days after bagging a sensational brace to beat Inter 3-1 in Serie A.
“I don’t think Nainggolan had a bad game at all. He won back possession, chased players down, but if we expect him to score a wondergoal every time, that’s going to be difficult.”
Roma host Napoli on Saturday, another team fresh from a Coppa Italia semi-final defeat to Juventus.
“Napoli are in my view in good shape, despite the recent results, because they play good football and did so even in these games. We have to expect a tough match, but cannot seek an alibi of fatigue. We are ready, end of story.”