[D-Kin]

Delio Rossi reveals how he prepared Lazio for their gutsy performance in the 2-2 draw with Real Madrid.

“I have a fine squad and if we play our style then we can challenge anyone. We may not be Real Madrid, but we proved tonight that we belong in the Champions League,” smiled the Coach.

“I didn’t need to tell my players to be wary, as they knew that! I told them that they had earned the right to play this game and to give it all they had.

“We were certainly excited at the start with such a packed stadium and we thank the fans for staying so close to us on this great occasion.

“This was a huge event and the lads felt the tension of that, so my job was not so much to motivate as to calm the atmosphere.”

Real went ahead twice with Ruud van Nistelrooy, but both times Goran Pandev scored a wonderful individual effort to pin them back.

“We risked losing because they have great quality and we caused them a lot of problems by keeping the tempo up,” added Rossi.

“Real are masters at passing the ball around and driving the opposition crazy, but I must compliment my men as they remained united and never stopped rushing at them.”

The big surprise was Tommaso Rocchi, who had been given only a 50 per cent chance of featuring 24 hours earlier due to a sprained ankle, yet was in the starting line-up.

“I would choose Rocchi again. He was ready and healthy and Tommaso – like his teammates – deserved to play this match.”

There are reports the striker agreed to come back early if it meant missing out on Sunday’s Serie A clash with Milan.

“I evaluated the situation and it is not certain he won’t play against Milan, but he really wanted this game. We earned this last year, the chance to face Real at the Olimpico in front of our fans and I didn’t feel I could take that away from him.”

Rossi also revealed the reason behind the touchline confusion when Pandev was about to be substituted, spoke to the bench and Stefano Mauri came off instead.

“Goran has this habit of holding his thighs. I had already made two changes and didn’t want to leave in someone who would then go off injured, but it turns out he was just taking a rest!”

channel4.com - Football Italia