Lazio lament missed chances

Edy Reja and his Lazio players are battling a mounting sense of injustice ahead of Saturday’s home match with Genoa in Serie A.

Lazio were clear of Udinese and Roma with just a handful of matches left this season and appeared on course to secure a Champions League place by finishing fourth in the table.

But three consecutive defeats have seen the team slide to sixth, two points off fourth with just two matches left.

What always appeared challenging games against Inter Milan, Juventus and Udinese ended in disaster for Reja’s side, as a combination of missed penalties, red cards and wasted leads cost Lazio dear.

But that sense of misfortunate could yet prove to be the impetus the players need to secure maximum points from their final league fixtures.

“The team feels it has been penalised,” Reja said.

“Of course things have gone badly but lately we’ve had reason to complain in the decisive part of the season.”

“We’ve made some mistakes ourselves but it’s (unfavourable) episodes that have affected our campaign.”

“Everyone has seen these but we’ve always tried to cancel them out and concentrate on our matches.”

“We’re still bitter because looking at the results of the others, even one point (from the last three games) might have been enough,” he added.

After Saturday’s match against Genoa at Stadio Olimpico, Lazio travel to Lecce on the last day of the season.

“Now we’ll concentrate on Genoa and getting six points,” Reja said.

“The points get added up at the end of the season but it doesn’t depend solely on us.”

“We hope Chievo (who play Udinese) and Catania (up against Roma) will take their responsibilities.”