Sarri: ‘Surprised by level of performance’ from Lazio talent against Juventus

Maurizio Sarri admits he was ‘surprised’ by the level of performance from Toma Basic and Gustav Isaksen against Juventus, but Lazio have been on the right track for a while.

The Aquile were in dire need of a boost and received it with Basic firing in after Danilo Cataldi gratefully received the poor Jonathan David back pass.

Both sides were angry about the refereeing of Andrea Colombo, as Weston McKennie was very fortunate to avoid a second yellow card, while VAR did not intervene when Mario Gila appeared to stamp on Francisco Conciecao’s foot inside the penalty area.

Nuno Tavares, Matteo Cancellieri, Taty Castellanos, Nicolò Rovella, Samuel Gigot and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru were out of action, so it was a remarkable victory in the circumstances.

“We suffered, but not really that much today, so we played with sacrifice, but also quality. I am happy for the players and for our fans,” Sarri told DAZN Italia.

Basic had been cut from the Lazio squad list at the start of the season and put on the transfer market, but was welcomed back only due to the injury crisis, and quickly became a key figure in their midfield.

“He had rather lost his way and was left off the squad list, but we needed him and he did really well to step up,” noted Sarri.

“I think he has really grown in terms of character and is giving us a big hand at the moment. We all thank him for that.”

Another player who had been out for a while was Isaksen, who spent much of the summer locked away with glandular fever for fear of being contagious to his teammates.

This was his first start of the season and he was named Football Italia’s Man of the Match in the Player Ratings.

“You could tell in training that he was improving his fitness levels, but frankly not to this degree. His performance today was a surprise for us too,” confessed Sarri.

Lazio are now unbeaten in four, having defeated Genoa and Juventus, interrupted by stalemates against Torino and Atalanta.

They are just one point behind Juventus in the Serie A standings now and have a midweek round with Pisa coming up.

“Missing an average of seven players per game, we’ve put together eight points in four matches, so the team has been doing well for a month, not just tonight,” insisted the coach.

He was asked how the meeting had gone with President Claudio Lotito and director of sport Angelo Maria Fabiani this week.

“I have no problems with the President or the director of sport. If something was written otherwise, then that is fake news. It was a perfectly normal meeting.”