Maurizio Sarri expressed profound dissatisfaction with his Lazio team following their defeat to Fiorentina, emphasizing a pervasive lack of mental sharpness throughout the match.
Despite securing a 2-0 victory over Torino earlier in the week with clinical finishing and effective counterattacks, Lazio found themselves on the receiving end of misfortune at the Stadio Franchi.
The team narrowly avoided conceding on multiple occasions, benefiting from three instances where the woodwork prevented Fiorentina from scoring. Eventually, Luis Alberto broke the deadlock, marking his first Serie A goal since October. However, Lazio’s lead was short-lived, as Fiorentina’s Michael Kayode equalized. The Viola missed an opportunity to take the lead when Nico Gonzalez’s penalty struck the upright.
In the closing stages of the game, Ivan Provedel’s save from a Lucas Beltran strike inadvertently led to Giacomo Bonaventura’s decisive goal, sealing a 2-1 victory for Fiorentina. Consequently, Fiorentina surpassed Lazio in the Serie A standings, claiming seventh place.
“The team did not react to an undeserved lead, to a missed penalty or to going behind. It was flatlining mentally throughout the match,” Sarri told Sky Sport Italia.
“There are a few reasons for that, we had three players on the field with flu symptoms, two or three players trained once in a month and really need to rest. There was the risk of this happening, but the drop was too evident tonight. At this point we have to doubt whether we have the physical and mental structure to sustain four competitions.”
Lazio faces another significant match on Friday against Milan, currently occupying the third position in the league standings. Following this encounter, they are set to contend in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 against Bayern Munich.
“I hope Vecino and Zaccagni are fully recovered now, but with Patric and Rovella I don’t know, we cannot make predictions right now.”
Sarri stated prior to the start of the match that he believed it was unreasonable to anticipate Lazio to contend for a top-four position once more.
“We are in a very difficult position, that is obvious. I urge the team to take it one game at a time. Unfortunately, this murderous run of fixtures will continue, I can only hope that we can rest some players at some point to get them into better physical and mental condition.”
Lazio has squandered a total of 16 points from advantageous positions this season, with their ability to recover and secure victories limited to just one instance, notably against Frosinone. This trend is emerging as a significant concern for the club.
“When you struggle to score goals, it becomes difficult to turn games around. We are scoring a bit more recently, but also losing some of our solidity. We’ll see if it is caused by using up energy or not.
“Fiorentina are very good at passing the ball around, but we made it easy for them by never once pressing high. I told the team at half-time that with this attitude, they could not take the result home. We had been allowed a fortunate opportunity to take the lead, but we did not make the most of it to get points.”
In the first half, there arose a moment of concern when Provedel signaled to the medical staff that he experienced dizziness. However, following the administration of vitamin supplements, he received medical clearance to resume play.