St. Petersburg – Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said his team had only thirteen players due to injuries and COVID-19 cases for his 1–1 home draw with Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League on Wednesday.
“It’s very satisfying to have an organization like this and it’s hard to ask for more,” said Inzaghi, who faced a similar outdoor challenge from club Bruges a week ago.
“We played the last two open-air Champions League matches with thirteen players; this morning (the defense) Luiz Felipe has also had trouble walking, but we exceeded all our expectations.
“It’s frustrating to be in those conditions, it’s very complicated and we hope to get some players back,” he added.
Lazio said before leaving Italy that several members of his team had tested positive for COVID-19 and were not named, but Inzaghi said goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha, midfielder Lucas Leiva and sensible scorer Ciro Immobile were among those left behind.
The official UEFA squad consisted of 22 players from Lazio’s squad, while at least part of a dozen belonged to the youth squad.
There is confusion in the Trials, as Immobile does not oppose Bruges and Zenit, but played in a Serie A setting outside Turin between the two.
The Italian football federation (FIGC) on Tuesday opened an investigation into Lazio for possible violations of COVID-19 fitness protocols and testing. He inspected lazio’s sports centre near Rome and learned of the effects of swab testing on players.
Prior to Wednesday’s match, Lazio’s sporting director, Igli Tare, said the club had acted in intelligent faith, cooperated fully with FIGC and noticed a difference between Serie A and those conducted through European football’s governing body, UEFA.
“There’s something wrong, ” he told Sky Sport Italia. ” In my opinion, we want consistency, that’s the only way we can move forward. If not, we’re going to talk about it here every week. “(Written through Brian Homewood and edited through Tothrough Davis)
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