Tudor talks about the Zaccagni incident, the goalkeeping hierarchy and Gila’s return date

Ahead of Sunday’s game against Empoli at the Stadio Olimpico, Lazio coach Igor Tudor held his pre-match press conference where he discussed various topics, including the Mattia Zaccagni incident last weekend.

The Croatian coach decided to take the Italian winger off midway through the first half against Monza to avoid the risk of a second yellow card, sparking an angry reaction from the latter. There was also a similar incident with Luis Alberto later in the game. Nevertheless, the manager insists that these situations happen again and again in football but must remain within limits.

There isn’t a game in football where this doesn’t happen. That’s the nature of the sport, but it’s important to stay within the limits

The 48-year-old reveals that he saw good signals from his players at the training ground after the disappointing 2-2 draw against Monza.

We worked well this week. There are still three games left until the end of the season and we want to continue on the path we are on. The team was serious and focused, aware of the importance of the remaining games. I saw positive signs in training.

Tudor also insisted the club was fully focused on the pitch and postponed any transfer talks until the end of the season. He is also urging his player to aim for the class of 1974 as the club prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Scudetto triumph.

The team and I are concentrating on the games. There will be time for evaluations, but we have not yet conducted market analysis. At the moment we are just concentrating on the pitch. The past always inspires, especially from such historical sites. We must value successes like those of 1974.

The Croatian defended his work at the club and reminded us that since his arrival, no Serie A team has collected more points than Lazio.

Since I arrived, Lazio has been in first place in the table along with Inter and Atalanta. I’ll sign for the next ten years if we stay on this path!

Furthermore, the coach reconfirmed the returning Ivan Provedel as the club’s starting goalkeeper, despite Christos Mandas’ recent successes.

Mandas did well. But Provedel is our number one. He is recovering from a serious injury and is therefore not yet fully fit.

Finally, Tudor said he expects Mario Gila to return from injury next weekend in the game against Inter Milan at the San Siro, while leaving the door open for a call-up this weekend.

The defenders trained well. Gila will definitely be back against Inter. Let’s see if he will be on the bench this Sunday