Igor Tudor assures Lazio leave the Coppa Italia ‘with heads held high’ after their 3-2 aggregate loss to Juventus and warns the squad ‘lacks physicality.’
It had been the ideal start at the Stadio Olimpico, cancelling out the 2-0 first leg deficit with a Taty Castellanos brace, but they lost intensity after Felipe Anderson left the field and wasted some big chances.
Juve kept possession for long periods in the second half and eventually grabbed a crucial goal with substitute Arkadiusz Milik tapping in the Timothy Weah assist from point-blank range.
It means Juventus go through to the Final 3-2 on aggregate, but Tudor’s influence on the Aquile is already starting to tell with a third straight win in all competition.
“We leave with heads held high, we played a great game, it was not enough and we tip our hats to them,” Tudor told Sport Mediaset.
“There are many positives from the match, I am happy with the attitude, the mentality, the way we were set out against a top level opponent. It’s a shame for the lads, as they really believed and we then conceded that goal.
“Now we must recover, there is another big game on Saturday. The lads gave their all, we have a lot of players who are not fully fit and carrying knocks.”
Tudor looks to the future
Daichi Kamada pulled out of the squad entirely with a calf problem, joining Ivan Provedel in the stands, while Ciro Immobile was only ready for a substitute role and Mario Gila went off at half-time.
“Juve have physicality and pace, as well as options off the bench who can change the game. We gave it our all. We are on the right track, we played Juve three times in my tenure, we won twice and although we didn’t qualify, I am very happy with the mentality shown today.
“We need to improve, as these are all new ideas for the team and I just arrived recently, but we’re on the right track.”
Tudor took over at Lazio when Maurizio Sarri resigned in mid-March and immediately transformed their tactics from 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2, but this is not a squad built for his ideas.
“I am happy with the lads, we won three out of our four Serie A matches, there is a super important game against Verona coming up. I have been here for a month, we will work over the summer to find the right profiles to build this team, as we lack some physicality and hard running players.”