Simone Inzaghi hinted at changes for Lazio in their crunch Europa League trip to Olympique Marseille, but “you cannot play for a draw.”
It kicks off tomorrow at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT) and it’s a head-to-head for second place behind runaway leaders Eintracht Frankfurt.
“I still have a few doubts on the line-up, including who will be in goal,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“We came here with 16 players, so Luis Alberto and Alessandro Murgia have been left at home, as they weren’t 100 per cent fit. Then there are Joaquin Correa and Dusan Basta suspended.
“Valon Berisha had a slight calf problem, but I’ll talk to him tomorrow to decide if he’s ready to start or come off the bench. I could use Felipe Caicedo and Ciro Immobile together, or I could use only one and push Berisha up into a more advanced role.
“You cannot play a game to draw in the Europa League. We’ve got to step out there knowing that we’re up against last season’s Finalists, give our best and then see where we are at the final whistle. I don’t think it’ll be decisive, but it will probably indicate where the group is going.
“We know both Marseille and our next Serie A opponents Inter were built to win league titles. We might be a step back from that, but we’ve still got to give it our best. Last season, the only difference with Inter was the final head-to-head game.
“Lazio are on a journey and it is a growth process. We rely on our ideas to get the better of teams with much larger budgets, and it worked by beating Juventus to the Italian Super Cup. We are highly-motivated and want to do better, as last season we deserved to reach the semi-final.”
Rudi Garcia is no stranger to Lazio, as he was the Coach of Roma before going to Marseille, and now has Kevin Strootman there too.
“He’s a well-prepared Coach who did well at Roma. It might be a derby to him, but it’s not for us,” assured Inzaghi. “Our derby is only with Roma.
“Nonetheless, we respect Marseille and expect a tough game. There’s a lot at stake.”
Inzaghi famously scored four goals for Lazio in a game against Olympique Marseille.
“That is certainly one of the most important memories of my career. It was a magical evening, as scoring four goals in a single Champions League match remains a record for an Italian player. We’ll see if someone else achieves it in future.
“We need to get points and knew from the moment the draw was made that we hadn’t been lucky, but we can’t complain about playing in such a wonderful stadium.”