Lazio managed to keep it’s good form and won a second game in a row and is back in the battle for a Champions League place. Stefano Mauri and Antonio Candreva scored the goals that gave Pioli’s team a very important victory. Here is what the coach had to say right after the game:

A hard victory against a tough opponent:

“I agree, it was a hard game against an opponent which played a similar style to what Genoa showed against us at the Olimpico. Good defensive play and a lot of pressure in midfield. We knew that they won’t be able to keep up playing like this through the whole game and patiently waited for our chances. We played in a mature, intelligent way and showed a lot of character to win the match. We deserved the victory”.

Radu didn’t play that good today

“I disagree with that statement. The difficulties he had when the ball was in his feet was mainly because of the skills Palermo’s players had. We always tried to play the ball even when we were under pressure from our opponent. That is why our defenders had some problems during the game. We didn’t play well in some of the situations during the match”.

Candreva often tried to finish off the situations on his own…

“Players with similar qualities as Candreva’s should look for such opportunities. In previous games some of his decisions were wrong but today I think they were right”.

Why was Klose changed by Keita?

“We needed more speed and Klose was too tired”.

How do you work to prevent individual mistakes in the team?

“Mistakes are part of the game. It’s better to make one mistake and have a chance to correct it then to make a lot of mistakes that are difficult to correct. Even when we are under pressure we have to be concentrated and try to prevent mistakes from happening. We work hard every day to make as few mistakes as possible”.

Is Lazio on the right path towards Europe?

“I think that we are on the right path and our last two games show that. We have to play as good as possible and be concentrated every game because our opponents are strong and if we aren’t fully concentrated we could suffer”.

Why was Biglia changed?

“He wasn’t fully ready for the game. During the week he had the flu and that was why I decided to change him”.