Lazio harbour European ambitions

Edy Reja believes European qualification is a realistic ambition for Lazio ahead of Saturday’s clash with Sampdoria.

Lazio were surprise front-runners early in the Serie A season, but they have since slipped back to six points behind league leaders AC Milan.

While fans will retain hope that they can sustain a title challenge, former Napoli coach Reja believes the best his side can hope for is to secure a Champions League or Europa League berth.

“We cannot always expect to pick up as many points as we did in the first few months. We were top of the table and we couldn’t maintain that pace,” Reja said.

“Now we want to concentrate on Europe and I believe we can qualify. We’re still in a strong position and tomorrow’s game with Sampdoria becomes absolutely crucial. We’ll need the best Lazio to get a result.”

Reja and his players could be forgiven for having one eye on their Coppa Italia match against city rivals Roma, but the 65-year-old insists their entire focus has been occupied by the visit of Sampdoria to the Stadio Olimpico.

“To be honest, I haven’t yet thought about Roma or talked to the lads about that game. The Sampdoria match is far too important for that.”

Reja is also busy attempting to reinforce Lazio’s attacking stocks.

Genoa forward Giuseppe Sculli is expected to join, but any new additions are also likely to result in departures as Reja strives to retain a balance.

“If Sculli does arrive, then another forward has to go, because I don’t want too big a squad,” he said,

“Of course Sculli has great quality and can help us out. The club has spoken to Sculli and he can adopt attacking roles on the right, left or middle. He’d bring us more options and that is an advantage.”

“That’s not to say the only new arrival in attack must be Sculli, as he is not a very physical centre-forward. We’ll see, as the club is working on numerous targets.”