Coaches play down Juve-Lazio importance

The coaches of third placed Juventus and second placed Lazio have been playing down the significance of Sunday’s clash at Turin’s Stadio Olimpico.

Lazio trail Serie A leaders AC Milan by three points with Juve a further three behind that.

And yet both Juve’s Luigi Delneri and Lazio’s Eddy Reja were keen to insist that defeat will not end their own title hopes.

“It’s not a decisive match but of course it will give us an important indication of where we are,” said Reja.

Delneri concurred: “This is not a crossroads for the season, just for this moment. It could be important on a psychological level but the championship has only just begun.”

In fact 15 games have been played and after four more, Serie A will have reached the halfway stage of the season.

Already Milan are threatening to run away from the pack as the likes of Inter Milan and Roma are already 10 points back.

The picture is also confused by the likes of Lazio and Napoli occupying higher standings than expected.

Neither was thought capable of mounting a title challenge before the season began but Lazio are second and Napoli fourth, level on points with Juve.

Many have been expecting Lazio to fall by the wayside for some time but last week’s victory over Inter proved they do have what it takes to challenge the front-runners.

And Reja sees this game as another opportunity to underline that point.

“Of course if we play well against Juve, and hopefully also get a good result, our ambitions will rise,” he said.

“Everyone would be obliged to pay more attention to us.”

However, Reja is still reluctant to talk up his team’s chances of actually going all the way.

“The scudetto doesn’t concern us. There are better sides than us in terms of quality and strength in depth,” he said.

“Of course you can never say never in football but we’re slightly below the level of the big teams.

“Without deceiving our fans, however, I can say if we maintain this humility, we can keep surprising.”

But while Reja remains coy about his team’s abilities, Delneri is not being fooled.

“It’s a match between two teams at the top of the standings who deserve their positions,” he said before praising his opposite number.

“He’s a great coach, he’s created a solid group, they’re strong with a good identity and the right spirit.

“Lazio have great individuals and a compact team structure. They don’t concede many goals and take advantage of all their chances.

“They’re a dangerous team, to win we’ll need to play the perfect game and we can’t give anything away.”