Roma v Lazio preview: Rome derby finely poised for Coppa Italia semi-final, second leg
Wednesday 5 April 2017 16:14, UK
Roma will need to find their shooting boots when they take on city rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia semi-final second leg - live on Sky Sports - as they trail 2-0 on aggregate.
Goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile in the first leg a month ago saw Simone Inzaghi's men take the advantage in the tie, although Tuesday's designated home side have won their last four games in all competitions.
Lazio will also have to deal with one of Europe's most in form strikers in Edin Dzeko, who made club history this week as he netted his 32nd and 33rd goals for Roma and has now scored more in one season than any other player.
Despite being behind in the tie, manager Luciano Spalletti says his side are ready for the tie and is backing his players to take the game to their Rome rivals live on Sky Sports Mix.
"They [Lazio] have a better chance - they were the better team and they have the lead. But I'll always be behind my team. We're desperate to go through and we're convinced that we have a chance of qualifying," he said at a pre-match press conference.
"I think they will play in a very similar way to the first leg. They got some joy from it so I'm sure they'll do something similar, but we'll be ready if they do set up differently. Our chances of winning the game don't depend on how they set up. We're always ready for everything.
"We can learn from all of our matches, especially the way in which we've approached them. If you look at the numbers, you can see that Roma are consistent in their mentality and in playing as a team to achieve a common objective: to win. We have to keep doing everything we've done so far - that's the right way to go about it."
Daniele De Rossi has been passed fit for Roma and is part of the squad, while Kevin Strootman will also rejoin the team after his suspension for the weekend's win over Empoli.
Lazio's will continue to be without goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, who hasn't featured since November, while Marco Parolo is suspended.
But Inzaghi is not resting on Lazio's laurels, and has called the match 'the mother of all games' as they look to continue on their way to a sixth Coppa Italia title.
"We see it as half time. We're 2-0 up but we won't take anything for granted: we'll go out there and play our game, just as we did in the first leg," he also told a pre-match press conference.
"We have great respect for Roma and we know we'll have to work really hard if we want to get a result. We must remember our strengths but be willing to put in the effort and the legwork. If we've come this far it's because we've deserved it."
"We'll have to play with everything we have - hearts, heads and legs. This is the mother of all games."
Watch Roma v Lazio live on Sky Sports Mix from 7.40pm on Tuesday evening.
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