Simone Inzaghi maintains Lazio “did not deserve to lose” 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League and their second goal was offside.
Joaquin Correa had opened the scoring, but the Germans turned it around to become the first side ever to qualify from the Europa League group phase with a perfect record.
Simone Inzaghi maintains Lazio “did not deserve to lose” 2-1 to Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League and their second goal was offside.
Joaquin Correa had opened the scoring, but the Germans turned it around to become the first side ever to qualify from the Europa League group phase with a perfect record.
“The team did what it had to this evening and we didn’t deserve to lose. I am happy with the spirit and determination shown, so it was certainly not like the defeat to Apollon Limassol,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“There was no blackout this time after their opening goal. It was a stunning strike from 30 metres out and the second was offside.
“Our objective is to continue our journey. We know that because we finished second in the group, we’ll have a difficult draw for the Round of 32, but it’s a wonderful competition and all 32 teams will be fired up.
“It was a very tough group, we did well to secure our qualification after just four games. The last two matches were different, inevitably, but we didn’t deserve to lose this evening.”
Lucas Leiva was hoping to make his comeback from injury, but was not even given a spot on the bench.
“He had the training session, but it didn’t go very well. He’s coming off a relapse and we need to tread carefully. Along with the staff and the player, we decided to hold off, but there is optimism for Monday’s game against Atalanta.
“That is going to be a very difficult match, but we want to go there with a positive approach.”
There were far more Eintracht fans at the Stadio Olimpico than Lazio supporters, but they caused repeated trouble by throwing flares on to the pitch, towards the home crowd and even at police.
After the opening goal, some Eintracht fans even broke down a gate and staged a pitch invasion.
“These things should never happen. We saw some confusion in their end, but not much else was visible from the bench.”