Simone Inzaghi accepted the pressure of the occasion got to his Lazio players after being thumped 4-1 by holders Bayern Munich in Tuesday's Champions League last-16 first leg.
Competing in their first Champions League knockout-round tie in 21 years, Lazio found themselves three goals down by half-time against the German visitors in Rome.
Bayern star Robert Lewandowski pounced on a weak Mateo Musacchio backpass and rounded Pepe Reina for an early opener – his 72nd Champions League goal, moving him ahead of Real Madrid great Raul and behind only Cristiano Ronaldo (134) and Lionel Messi (119).
Jamal Musiala doubled the lead 15 minutes later to become the second-youngest goalscorer in the knockout stages behind Bojan, before Leroy Sane fired in number three at the end of an attack that came about as a result of Lazio's Patric losing possession.
A bad day for Serie A outfit Lazio got even worse 62 seconds after the half-time interval when Francesco Acerbi turned Sane's cross into his own net under pressure from Alphonso Davies.
Joaquin Correa pulled one back with a fine solo goal but, having seen his side ship four or more goals in a home European match for just the third time in their history, Lazio head coach Inzaghi was left to rue some horror defending.
"Unfortunately, we'd said this week with the lads that we should play our game," he told Sky Sport Italia. "We felt the occasion too much. We were tense against the world champions, but we basically scored three of the four goals for them.
"Disappointment in the locker room is natural, but it's already an achievement for us to be here. In games at this level, you need to be at 100 per cent, to do everything right and hope the opponents aren’t at their best.
"If we look at it, we're talking about the Club World Cup winners and we scored three out of four goals for them. You can't make those mistakes at this level."
However, Inzaghi felt that the game may have panned out differently had Lazio been awarded a penalty when trailing 1-0 for a challenge on Sergej Milinkovic-Savic inside the box.
"We knew the kind of team we were facing. I think we'd started well before the error for the opening goal, and there should've been a penalty when it was still 1-0," Inzaghi added.
"If the penalty had been given for 1-1, that might've changed the game, but none of it went our way tonight. We can learn from this experience in order to grow and be stronger in future."
Bayern are now unbeaten in their last 18 Champions League matches – the fourth-longest run in the competition's history – winning all but one of those games since the start of last season.
Hansi Flick was delighted with the Bundesliga champions' display but is refusing to take a place in the quarter-finals for granted ahead of the return fixture in Bavaria on March 17.
"Generally speaking everyone has met the expectations today. We won the ball high up the pitch and put the opponent under pressure. We are very satisfied today," he said at a news conference.
"The Champions League is a special competition for us. Everyone was ready to do something special. The win was well deserved.
"But we now have to play the second leg against Lazio first. We want to go to the quarter-finals and today we have come a lot closer to achieving that."
Thomas Muller has missed Bayern's last four matches after testing positive for coronavirus and Flick is unsure if the attacker will be back for Saturday's league visit of Cologne.
"There are still tests to be made," Flick said. "He will be back when the doc gives the green light. The earlier he returns, the happier we are."
We have made some mistakes – Andrea Radrizzani sorry after Leeds’ relegation
Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani has apologised to the club’s fans following relegation from the Premier League.
In a personal statement posted on Twitter, Radrizzani admitted the board of directors had made mistakes and hoped to make some “key appointments in different areas of the club”.
But the 48-year-old Italian, who is part of a consortium that has completed a takeover of Sampdoria, made no mention of a possible change of ownership at Leeds.
Radrizzani said: “The last few days have been very difficult for everyone associated with Leeds United.
“I find it very hard to find the right words to say, other than to apologise to all of our fans for the club’s relegation. I am sincerely sorry for how this season has unfolded.
“We have made significant investments to try to keep Leeds United in the Premier League, but in working hard to improve the club, we have also obviously made some mistakes.
“We are reflecting on the decisions that we have taken to ensure we learn the lessons to improve our club and make progress in the future.
“Leeds supporters deserve more than this. You understand the journey on which we have embarked, and I hope that once the anger and disappointment has subsided you will see that we can come back stronger.”
Radrizzani’s company Aser Group, in partnership with finance company Gestio Capital, announced on Tuesday night that they had concluded a deal to save financially-stricken Sampdoria, recently relegated to Serie B.
It had been expected that that deal would lead to Radrizzani selling his 56 per cent stake in Leeds to American co-owners 49ers Enterprises.
The financial arm of NFL franchise the San Francisco 49ers increased its stake in Leeds to 44 per cent at the end of 2021 with a deal in place to buy Radrizzani’s stake and take full control before January 2024.
But that deal was contingent on Leeds remaining in the Premier League and it would appear Radrizzani is now intent on leading them back to the top flight.
“We have invested heavily in Leeds United since 2017 and worked hard to get back to where the club deserves to be,” he added.
“With the support of our partners, we can continue that journey to bounce back.
“I am proud of the progress we have made in recent years. We have become a club that can attract exciting players, we are strong commercially, we have seen improvements to the academy, introduced a women’s side and so much more.
“In many ways the club has been transformed and we are committed and determined to continue on this journey.
“I do not like to make false promises, there is still a lot of work to do and change is needed.
“We need a clear strategy to continue our vision for the club and work is underway to produce this, which we hope will be reflected in some key appointments in different areas of the club. We will keep you all updated throughout the process.”
Leeds’ three-year stay in the Premier League ended last Sunday when they lost 4-1 at home to Tottenham.
The Yorkshire club have employed three managers during a disastrous campaign, sacking Jesse Marsch in February and then Javi Gracia earlier this month before appointing Sam Allardyce for the last four games.
Tom Lockyer to leave hospital on Thursday and return for pre-season training
Luton have confirmed that captain Tom Lockyer will leave hospital on Thursday and is set to be available for pre-season training.
The 28-year-old fell to the floor during their Sky Bet Championship play-off final against Coventry on Saturday and was taken to hospital after being carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
Lockyer has since undergone tests at the Cavendish Clinic in London and the club confirmed he will be able to join their preparations for Premier League football next season.
A statement on the Luton website said: “The Welsh international has completed all the necessary medical tests and observations to be allowed home for a period of rest before the start of pre-season training, which he will be fit to take part in.
“We would like to thank everyone for their messages of love and support for Locks, who has had a season to remember and proudly led the team out on Saturday, with his team-mates completing the job for him.
“We can’t wait to see you back home at the Kenny with that trophy in your hands, Locks!”
Saturday’s final went to penalties after Jordan Clark’s opener was cancelled out by Gustavo Hamer to finish 1-1 after extra time, but the Hatters secured top-flight football with a 6-5 victory on penalties.
Luton players held up Lockyer’s shirt throughout their celebrations and the captain posted an update on Instagram after the game.
He said: “Well not quite where I thought I’d be celebrating at the final whistle!
“I would just like to say a massive thank you to the amazing physios and doctors at Luton and Wembley for the swift and thorough response.
“A much scarier moment for everyone else than myself I am sure!
“Commiserations to Coventry a fantastic opponent over 3 games which had to be decided by penalties.
“I am currently in hospital under precaution and will stay here overnight for further tests in the morning.
“I am feeling very much myself, helped by the way the lads left it all out on pitch! It’s such an honour to be part of this team.. Premier League baby.”
We’ve got to believe we can pull off a miracle – Inverness captain Sean Welsh
Captain Sean Welsh has told his Inverness team-mates they have to believe they can pull off “a miracle” in what will be the biggest game of his career this Saturday.
The cinch Championship side are big underdogs for their Scottish Cup final showdown with Celtic, who are bidding to complete a domestic treble.
Welsh knows it will take a huge effort to pull off an upset at Hampden but the 33-year-old is adamant his team have a chance.
“It ranks at the very top for me,” said the former Partick Thistle and Falkirk midfielder when asked about the size of the game in the context of his career.
“It’s not very often you get to play on an occasion like this, especially at my age getting to the latter stages of my career. I am thoroughly looking forward to it.
“We’ve got to believe, I’ve said that to the lads all week. We’ve got to believe we can pull off a miracle.
“We don’t just want to go there for a day out and get caught up in the occasion.
“We know it’s a massive challenge in front of us, but we’ve got to have belief in ourselves.
“We know we have a good group and we know we are going to be up against it at times in the game but we’ve got to stick together and have that belief that we can do it.”
Celtic won only two of their closing six Premiership matches as they had the title wrapped up with time to spare, but Welsh dismissed any notion that his team can draw encouragement from the champions’ recent form dip.
“I don’t think you can look too much into that,” he added.
“They wrapped up the title early doors and then had a few results they probably weren’t happy with but you saw at the weekend (when they beat Aberdeen 5-0) they can turn it on when they need to. I’m sure they’ll be right up for this.
“It’s not going to make much difference to us, we know how hard the challenge is going to be.”
Inverness will have gone more than four weeks without a competitive game by the time they run out at Hampden on Saturday.
Although Welsh admits it is “not ideal” in terms of maintaining match sharpness, he feels the month-long break has at least allowed them to banish any lingering disappointment after they lost to Ayr in their final Championship fixture and missed out on the play-offs.
“It was good to get some time to get over what happened in the last game of the season,” he said.
“That was a difficult night and we were all very disappointed to miss out on the play-offs so the time away was good for us to clear our minds and get over it.
“We didn’t want that lingering going into this massive game.
“We’ve come back in refreshed and excited and we’re looking forward to it.”
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